European leaders ‘outraged’ over Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers in LebanonThe leaders of France, Italy and Spain have released a joint statement condemning the recent targeting of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon by the Israeli military.
These attacks were “unjustifiable” and constitute a “serious violation of the obligations of Israel” under humanitarian international law, the statement said. It went on to say:
We recall that all peacekeepers must be protected and reiterate our praise for the continued and indispensable commitment of Unifil troops/personnel in this very challenging context.
France, Italy and Spain make up the largest European contributors to Unifil in terms of personnel.
In the joint statement, they called for an immediate ceasefire and said they counted on “Israel’s commitment to the security of UN and bilateral peacekeeping missions in Lebanon as well as international organisations active in the region”.
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Summary of the day so far
It’s 11.30pm in Beirut, Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least 61 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Friday, nearly half of who were killed in Jabalia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza’s refugee camps. At least 15 of the fatalities in Jabalia since Friday dawn were due to Israeli strikes targeting various areas, including a school sheltering displaced individuals, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Dozens of Palestinians were reported to have been injured when an IDF quadcopter drone opened fire on a school sheltering displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp.
At least 42,126 Palestinians had been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza since the war started a year ago, according to the latest figures from the health ministry on Friday.
Thousands of Palestinians are trapped in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, the charity Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières said, including five of its staff who are “fearing for their lives”. “Nobody is allowed to get in or out – anyone who tries is getting shot,” MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said. The charity called on Israeli forces to stop forced displacements and to stop the “all-out war on the people of Gaza”.
Two UN peacekeepers were wounded after the Israeli military fired on the UN mission’s headquarters in Lebanon on Friday for the second time in as many days. Two Sri Lankan members of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) were injured when the IDF opened fire near the peacekeeper’s base in Naqoura. Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry “strongly” condemned the attack. The Israeli army said that its soldiers had targeted what they believed to be a threat near the base. Two Indonesian Unifil peacekeepers were lightly wounded on Thursday when they were thrown from an observation tower that was hit by an Israeli tank round, and two other Unifil outposts had come under fire. Unifil said on Friday that an IDF bulldozer knocked over barriers at UN position 1-31 near the blue line in Labbouneh.
The incidents at Unifil positions drew outrage from countries who contribute soldiers to serve as peacekeepers in its ranks. Downing Street said that the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, was “appalled” to hear reports that Israel deliberately fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon. A joint statement by the leaders of France, Italy and Spain said the attacks were “unjustifiable” and constitute a “serious violation of the obligations of Israel” under humanitarian international law. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called on the international community to stop selling weapons to Israel. Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, condemned the firing as “unacceptable”. The French foreign ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador over an incident in which Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers.
An Israeli airstrike killed two Lebanese soldiers and wounded three others in the southern Bint Jbeil province on Friday, prompting futher concern over Israel’s escalating campaign. Lebanon’s army has not been involved in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and it withdrew its forces from the border between the two countries when Israel launched its invasion last month.
At least 60 people were killed and 168 wounded in the past 24 hours in Lebanon, the country’s crisis response unit said on Friday. The latest figure takes the total number of people killed in Lebanon over the past year to 2,229 killed and 10,380 wounded, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The crisis response unit also reported 57 airstrikes and incidents of shelling in the past day, mostly concentrated in southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. The UN human rights office said more than 100 medics and emergency workers had been killed in Lebanon since a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began a year ago.
Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut killed 22 people and wounded 117 when they hit a densely populated residential neighbourhood in the heart of the Lebanese capital overnight on Thursday. It was the deadliest strike on Lebanon’s capital city since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel started a year ago. A US-made munition was used in the strike, according to an analysis of shrapnel found by the Guardian at the scene of the attack. The Lebanese Red Cross said it deployed ambulances and volunteers “within minutes to treat and transport the injured, and search and rescue teams worked throughout the night” in Beirut on Thursday evening.
Joe Biden, the US president, said he was asking Israel to not hit UN peacekeepers in its conflict with Hezbollah. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said there was deep concern in Asia about the prospect of conflict spreading in the Middle East, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, and urged “ensuring the safety of Unifil forces.” Austin reaffirmed ironclad support for Israel’s right to defend itself during the call on Thursday night, the Pentagon said.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, told Israel that attacks on the peacekeeping force were intolerable. “I have never seen in my time as secretary general any example of death and destruction as dramatic as what we are witnessing here,” Guterres said on Friday. “We see an enormous tragedy in Lebanon. And we must do everything to avoid an all-out war.” The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, declared Guterres persona non grata earlier this month, accusing him of “lending support to terrorists” after the secretary general’s calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said Tehran will not hesitate to take “stronger defensive actions” if Israel retaliates for last week’s missile attack. Araqchi said Iran’s missile attack on Israel had been in accordance with its right to self-defence under international law and followed much restraint as it sought a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN relief organisation for Palestinian refugees across the region (Unrwa), said people in Gaza had become accustomed to being moved about “like pinballs” by IDF operations. He feared that the people of southern Lebanon were facing the same plight. “One of the fears is that we replicate a situation similar to the one we have seen until now in Gaza,” he said on Friday.
UN officials voiced concerns that an Israeli offensive and evacuation orders in northern Gaza could affect the second phase of its polio vaccination campaign, scheduled to start next week. In Gaza’s north, the Israeli military has been pursuing an offensive in recent days, sending its troops into Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
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At least eight people were killed in Israeli airstrikes across villages in southern and eastern Lebanon on Friday evening, according to the country’s health ministry.
Three people were killed, including a 2-year-old and a 16-year-old, when an Israeli airstrike hit Baysarieh, a village in Sidon province. Three others were injured, the Lebanese ministry said.
Five people were killed and five others wounded in additional airstrikes in Baalbeck-Hermel province, located in the Bekaa valley, it said.
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We reported earlier that air raid sirens sounded in several areas in central Israel, which the Israeli military said was due to a “hostile aircraft infiltration”.
Roughly 20 minutes after the alert, Israel’s military said the incident had ended.
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Biden ‘absolutely’ asking Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers
Joe Biden said he is asking Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, after two incidents in which Blue Helmets were wounded by Israeli forces.
Asked by a reporter at the White House if he was asking Israel to stop, the US president replied on Friday:
Absolutely, positively.
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Air raid sirens reported in central Israel
Sirens have been heard in several areas in central Israel on Friday night.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said sirens sounded regarding a “hostile aircraft infiltration” on Friday.
It added that details are under review.
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Updated at 15.31 EDT
Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry has “strongly” condemned the Israeli attack on the UN peacekeeping mission’s base in southern Lebanon on Friday, which led to two Sri Lankan soldiers injured.
A statement from the ministry reads:
Sri Lanka strongly condemns the attack at Unifil’s headquarters in Naqoura, South Lebanon injuring two Sri Lankan UN peacekeepers. Sri Lanka upholds the obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and inviolability of UN premises at all times.
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The joint statement came after separate comments by the leaders of France, Italy and Spain at a summit of European and Mediterranean leaders in Cyprus, after the Israeli military confirmed two UN peacekeepers were injured after its forces fired at a “threat” near a UN mission position in southern Lebanon.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s prime minister, condemned the firing as “unacceptable” and said it “violates what is established under UN resolution 1701” which governs the peacekeepers’ presence”. Italy has more than 1,000 troops in Lebanon.
Pedro Sánchez, Meloni’s Spanish counterpart, demanded an “end to all violence” against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. He said:
This is absolutely unacceptable, it is totally unacceptable and we demand an end to all violence which, unfortunately, the Blue Helmets are suffering.
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that peacekeepers were “deliberately targeted”.
The French foreign ministry also summoned the Israeli ambassador, saying the incident constituted “serious violations of international law and must cease immediately”.
Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Malta’s prime minister Robert Abela, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez and France’s President Emmanuel Macron attend a press conference on the day of the Euro-Mediterranean Summit (EU-MED9) in a resort near Paphos, Cyprus, October 11, 2024. Photograph: Yiannis Kourtoglou/ReutersShare
European leaders ‘outraged’ over Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
The leaders of France, Italy and Spain have released a joint statement condemning the recent targeting of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon by the Israeli military.
These attacks were “unjustifiable” and constitute a “serious violation of the obligations of Israel” under humanitarian international law, the statement said. It went on to say:
We recall that all peacekeepers must be protected and reiterate our praise for the continued and indispensable commitment of Unifil troops/personnel in this very challenging context.
France, Italy and Spain make up the largest European contributors to Unifil in terms of personnel.
In the joint statement, they called for an immediate ceasefire and said they counted on “Israel’s commitment to the security of UN and bilateral peacekeeping missions in Lebanon as well as international organisations active in the region”.
Share
At least 34 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Friday, nearly half of who were killed in Jabalia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza’s refugee camps.
At least 15 of the fatalities in Jabalia since Friday dawn were due to Israeli strikes targeting various areas, including a school sheltering displaced individuals, Reuters reported, citing the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
As we reported earlier, dozens of Palestinians were wounded by Israeli quadcopter fire at the same school.
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Thousands trapped in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp as Israeli forces attack the area, says MSF
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières has said that thousands of Palestinians are trapped in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, including five of its staff who are “fearing for their lives”.
Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Jabalia camp on earlier this week “while carrying out attacks at the same time, preventing people from leaving the area safely,” the medical charity said on Friday.
“Nobody is allowed to get in or out – anyone who tries is getting shot,” MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said.
Haydar, an MSF driver trapped in Jabalia camp, said:
We were staying at the Al-Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital, but they bombed it. About 20 people were killed. I don’t know what to do, at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave.
The charity called on Israeli forces to stop forced displacements and to stop the “all-out war on the people of Gaza”.
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UN humanitarian chief says relief agency under unprecedented ‘assault and attack’
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini said the UN relief agency “has never, ever been as much under assault and attack”. He told Reuters:
A year ago, it was primarily a financial existential threat, but today it’s a combination of a political and financial threat. 2025 will be, again, a difficult year
Unrwa, one of the UN’s largest agencies, has 13,000 staff working in Gaza and more than 30,000 in the region providing health and educational facilities to Palestinian refugees.
In July, the Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that would declare Unrwa a “terrorist organisation”. Israeli leaders have accused Unrwa staff of collaborating with Hamas in Gaza, leading to many western donors to suspend funding.
Lazzarini has previously accused Israel’s government of campaigning to drive Unrwa out of existence, warning that it would “devastating consequences” for the UN and the Palestinian cause.
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Updated at 13.55 EDT
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, said most Palestinian refugees living in camps in southern Lebanon or near Beirut have fled after escalating Israeli strikes.
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini, in an interview with Reuters on Friday, said that repeatedly fleeing was sadly “part of the history” of Palestinians. Lazzarini said:
That’s part, unfortunately, of the plight, but if you compare with what happened also in Gaza recently, you might have heard me describing how people are constantly being moved like pinballs. And one of the fears is that we replicate a situation similar to the one we have seen until now in Gaza.
Many of the Palestinians who arrived in Lebanon after Israel’s creation in 1948, and their descendants, were living in 12 refugee camps around the country, which hosted about 174,000 Palestinian refugees.
Over the past three weeks, Israel has ramped up strikes across southern Lebanon and on Beirut’s southern suburbs, issuing evacuation warnings for more than 100 towns in southern Lebanon and neighbourhoods near the capital.
They include evacuation warnings and strikes on the Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs and Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp near the southern coastal city of Tyre.
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Israeli military says it fired at UN peacekeepers after identifying ‘immediate threat’
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed it was responsible for wounding two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Friday.
The UN peacekeepers were injured by an Israeli strike near their observation tower in south Lebanon, after Israeli forces “identified an immediate threat” and “responded with fire toward the threat”, according to the IDF. Their statement continues:
An initial examination indicates that during the incident, a hit was identified on a Unifil post, located approximately 50 meters (yards) from the source of the threat, resulting in the injury of two Unifil personnel.
The watchtower that came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at the mission’s main base in Naqoura.
As we reported earlier, Unifil said an Israeli bulldozer had also knocked over barriers at UN positions near the Blue Line denoting the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, while tanks had moved into the vicinity.
The IDF said it had instructed Unifil “to enter into protected spaces and remain there” hours before the incident.
The IDF statement came shortly after the military said it was “conducting a thorough review” to determine details of attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, after the four mission members were injured.
