Israel claims to have attacked Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut. Iran calls for a UN Security Council meeting. All developments in the news blog.
2:55 a.m.: Hundreds of people have fled to the city center from Israeli bombings in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. They gathered at night in parks and central squares, eyewitnesses said. According to a report by the Lebanese state agency NNA, people were called upon to secure a place in an emergency shelter via a telephone hotline.
1:55 a.m.: The Israeli military said it killed Hezbollah missile unit commander Muhammad Ali Ismail and his deputy Hossein Ahmed Ismail in southern Lebanon on Saturday.
1.20 a.m.: The Lebanese Ministry of Health reports that the death toll following the Israeli attack in southern Beirut has increased to six. The ministry added that 91 people were wounded. The Hezbollah broadcaster Al-Manar initially reported in the evening that only one death and at least 50 were injured.
1:12 a.m: The terrorist organization Hezbollah denies that there were weapons depots in the buildings hit in an Israeli attack on southern Beirut. The Lebanese group’s press office said this in a statement.
0.43 a.m.: US President Joe Biden instructs the Pentagon to assess the position of US forces in the Middle East and make adjustments if necessary. The White House announced this on Friday (local time) after the Israeli attacks in Beirut. “He also directed his team to ensure that U.S. embassies in the region take all appropriate protective measures,” the White House said.
12:10 a.m.: Israeli fighter jets struck Hezbollah rocket launchers and buildings storing weapons in various areas of southern Lebanon late Friday evening, according to military spokesman Daniel Hagari. The information cannot be independently verified.
0.01 a.m.: The Israeli military does not want to tolerate arms deliveries to the Shiite Hezbollah militia through the international airport in the capital Beirut. Israel knows about Iranian arms deliveries to Hezbollah, but these are being prevented, said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. The air force is now patrolling the area of Beirut airport. So far, Lebanon – unlike its neighboring country Syria – has acted responsibly and has not allowed weapons to be transported through the civilian airport. Enemy aircraft with weapons on board will not be allowed to land there, the spokesman continued.
11:20 p.m.: Israeli military plans to attack Hezbollah facilities in southern Beirut in the coming hours. The civilian population should leave these areas, said Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari in a televised speech. The attack on Hezbollah’s central command was “very precise.”
11:05 p.m.: According to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the USA is continuing to make intensive efforts to find a diplomatic way out of the spiral of violence in the Middle East. “The path of diplomacy may be difficult to see right now, but it is there and we believe it is necessary,” Blinken told reporters in New York on Friday.
“We will continue to work intensively on this,” assured Blinken. First, diplomacy must try to “stop the firing in both directions.” The ceasefire then won must be used to reach a broader diplomatic agreement.
9:37 p.m.: Hezbollah says it has fired rockets at the Israeli city of Safed. The terrorist organization left it open whether the shelling was a response to the rocket attack in Beirut.
9:03 p.m.: Iran’s political and religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called a meeting of Iran’s National Security Council in Beirut following Israel’s airstrike against Hezbollah. The meeting is expected to address Israel’s attack and its consequences for Iran.
7:56 p.m.: According to initial information from the authorities, at least two people have been killed after a new attack by the Israeli military on a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. 76 others were injured in the massive airstrike, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
