Israel strikes central Beirut as death toll passes 1,000: Latest news

Iran’s president has said a “decisive response” is needed following Israel‘s killing of numerous leaders of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

President Masoud Pezeshkian characterised the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah as crimes.

“The Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle,” Pezeshkian said during a Sunday cabinet meeting, his office reported.

Iran, which has armed and trained Hezbollah for decades, also condemned Israeli airstrikes on power plants and port facilities in Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Pezeshkian branded Israel a “brutal” regime and urged all Islamic countries not to be indifferent.

He won Iran’s presidential race in July, and is thought to be a reformist politician within Iran’s Shia theocracy:

Israel intensified its military campaign across the Middle East on Monday, striking central Beirut for the first time since 2006.

A drone attack also reportedly killed three senior leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group involved in the ongoing conflict with Israel. The airstrike hit a residential building near the Kola intersection, causing significant damage and killing at least two others on the scene, the group said.

The attack comes as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with a fifth of the population now displaced.

Meanwhile, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen, targeting infrastructure in the port city of Hodeidah. The strikes, which hit fuel facilities and power plants, were reportedly in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel. At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the Yemeni strikes.

Bombing has forced a fifth of Lebanese to flee, a minister says. Full report:

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, to his cabinet. The move expands Netanyahu’s governing coalition and helps entrench the Israeli leader in office.

Under their agreement, Mr Netanyahu said Mr Saar would be given a spot in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees management of the war.

Mr Saar had hoped to replace defence minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Mr Netanyahu’s. But a deal for the job fell through after fighting intensified with Hezbollah.

The Israeli army has eased restrictions in parts of the country’s north – a move that appears to reflect a determination that the threat of incoming rocket fire has slightly diminished, although restrictions in the north still remain much stricter than other parts of the country.

The changes applied to parts of the Haifa Bay area and several adjacent towns. Schools will be allowed to operate if they have quickly-accessible shelters and restrictions on gatherings will ease.

Shortly after the announcement, sirens warned of incoming rockets throughout the Haifa area and Israel’s northern coast. The army said some 35 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel and two drones that crossed from Lebanon into the territorial waters of Israel were intercepted.

Thousands of Israeli children have been kept home from schools for the past week across the country’s north as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated.

Stone-throwing protesters in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi clashed with police who stopped them from reaching the US consulate during demonstrations over Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Protesters chanted “Death to America” while carrying posters of Nasrallah.

Police said seven officers were being treated in hospital for injuries from stones thrown by protesters.

“Police had to resort to baton-charging and tear gas against those who breached the cordons in a bid to disperse the crowd,” said Police Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza, adding that protesters had tried to reach areas beyond cordons agreed upon with organisers in advance.

The number of people displaced by the conflict from southern Lebanon now stands at more than 211,000, according to the United Nations.

The United Nations’ refugee agency says 70,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria to escape Israeli bombardment.

The total includes both Lebanese citizens and Syrians who had moved to Lebanon but are now returning.

Sarah Haj Hassan, who fled Shmustar near Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek, said: “I lost my house, and my parents’ house was damaged.”

She is one of 7,500 people who have registered in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of Damascus.

US president Joe Biden has said an all-out war “has to be avoided” in the Middle East and he aims to speak to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, but he did not say when.

“I’ll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him,” he told reporters. Asked whether all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, he replied: “It has to be. We really have to avoid it.”