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caitlin cassidy
Up to 500 Australians and their immediate family members are set to board two charter flights from Beirut on Saturday, as the government intensifies efforts to relocate its citizens abroad following Israel’s ground invasion of southern Lebanon. .
The first flight departed from the Lebanese capital and was scheduled to land in Cyprus at around 11:30am local time (6:30pm AEST). From there, two Qantas flights will take passengers to Sydney on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Guardian Australia understands there were still seats available on the flight as of Saturday afternoon (Australian time).
Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King told reporters on Saturday that the government’s message to Australians in Lebanon was “no need to wait”, adding there was no guarantee everyone would be evacuated.
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Below is the Guardian’s latest report on the Middle East crisis, including a series of explosions that rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs early Saturday morning.
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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Damascus to discuss regional development and bilateral relations with Syrian officials, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman announced on Saturday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave an unusual public sermon in Tehran on Friday, warning that Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Gaza’s Hamas have re-emerged strongly with new leadership, calling for “legal and legitimate” ballistic missile attacks. This happened after I swore to protect them. This week it’s about Israel.
Regarding the diplomatic call, including with European foreign ministers, Araghchi insisted that Iran was not seeking escalation and that, unlike Israel’s attack on Lebanon, Iran’s targets were strictly military and not civilian.
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Images distributed by news outlets overnight showed thick plumes of smoke billowing over parts of southern Beirut after the capital was hit by a series of airstrikes early Saturday morning.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, October 5th. Photo: Bilal Hussein/APS Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, October 5th. Photo: Bilal Hussein/APS Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after the strike, as seen from Lebanon’s Shin El Fir. Photo: Amr Abdallah Darsh/Reuters Share
Updated to EDT 01.00
Opening overview
Hello. Welcome to our ongoing live coverage of the Middle East conflict. Here we summarize the latest developments.
Israel launched new airstrikes on Beirut overnight, and a series of loud explosions and huge plumes of smoke were reported in the south of the capital early Saturday. Israeli forces had earlier requested the evacuation of parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The attack was part of a larger offensive that forced more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes and is reportedly the most likely to replace Hassan Nasrallah as leader of Hezbollah. This followed heavy shelling on Thursday night targeting Hashem Saffieddin. His fate remains unknown.
Separately, Hezbollah said it continued to clash with Israeli forces near Lebanon’s southern border, saying Israeli forces were once again trying to advance toward the village of Adaiseh.
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Smoke billows after an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday. Photo: Bilal Hussain/AP
Hamas media reported on Saturday that a leader of the Hamas militant group was killed along with three of his family members in an Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. The leader of the Al Qassam Brigades was named Saeed Atallah. Israel did not immediately comment on the attack.
At least four hospitals in Lebanon have announced the suspension of operations as Israeli shelling continues. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the international community to put pressure on Israel to “allow rescue and relief teams to reach and move the bombing site” for the victims.
Israel has cut off a main road near Lebanon’s border crossing with Syria, which hundreds of thousands of people have used in recent days to escape Israeli shelling. Israel has accused Hezbollah of using its border with Syria to bring in weapons. According to the Lebanese government, more than 300,000 people, most of them Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 10 days to escape intensified Israeli shelling.
According to Lebanese government statistics, more than 2,000 people have been killed in nearly a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Most were killed within the past two weeks.
At least 41,802 people have been killed and 96,844 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October last year, the Gaza Health Ministry said in an update on Friday. The ministry said thousands of people were likely missing in the rubble.
At least 29 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military attacks across the Gaza Strip on Friday, doctors said. Israeli attacks continued across Gaza on Friday, with at least four people killed in an Israeli attack on a house in the city of Deir al-Bala, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. The military also fired bombs that set fire to homes in the Nuseyrat refugee camp, while Israeli military aircraft attacked several locations in the southern city of Khan Yunis, “causing further casualties and injuries,” Wafa reported.
Palestinians inspect the rubble of a destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike in Deir Bala, central Gaza, on Friday. Photo: Mohamed Saber/EPA
Areas of northern Israel were targeted by Hezbollah rockets almost continuously throughout Friday. The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah fired about 100 rockets into Israel on Friday.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has vowed that Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Gaza’s Hamas will re-emerge strong with new leaders. In an unusual public sermon in front of tens of thousands of people in Tehran on Friday, Khamenei said that Iran had “lawfully and legitimately attacked Israel,” which he claimed was revenge for the death of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah this week. ” defended the ballistic missile attack. and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
US President Joe Biden has said he does not know whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports a Middle East peace deal to influence the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election. He earlier urged Israel not to attack Iranian oil facilities.
Israeli forces carried out a major raid in the occupied West Bank’s Hebron province on Friday morning, resulting in the detention of more than two dozen people, including “minors,” the Palestinian news agency reported. Most of those detained were reportedly taken from the town of Beit Ummal. Human rights groups and international organizations allege widespread abuse of prisoners held by Israel in raids in the occupied West Bank.
Funerals were held on Friday for some of the 18 people killed in the occupied West Bank in an Israeli airstrike on the Turkum refugee camp. According to Palestinian reports, a family of four, including two children, was among the dead. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called the attack a “heinous crime” and “genocide.” The attack was condemned by the United Nations Rights Office. Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed that one of its commanders, Zahi Yasser Abd al-Razek Ufi, and seven other fighters were killed in the Israeli attack.
The US military confirmed on Friday that it had struck 15 targets in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels. Yemeni media reported new airstrikes, including near the capital Sanaa and Hodeida port airport, and Israeli airstrikes continued in Gaza and Lebanon. U.S. officials said the attacks targeted weapons systems, bases and other equipment belonging to Iranian-backed groups. The Guardian understands there was no British involvement in Friday’s airstrike.
The last British Government chartered flight for British nationals to leave Lebanon will depart from Beirut on Sunday. More than 250 British nationals left Lebanon on government-chartered flights, the British Foreign Office said on Friday. On Friday, a South Korean military transport plane evacuated 97 people and their families.
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Updated to EDT 01.02
