Iraq announces three days of mourning for Nasrallah
Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani has announced three days of mourning in all parts of Iraq, following the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel may be confusing tactical wins with strategic breakthroughs, analyst says
Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah will not give Netanyahu the “total victory” he craves, says Fawaz Gerges, professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics.
“Israel’s assassination of Hassan Nasrallah is the climax of this total war that Netanyahu has promised Israelis will bring them ‘total victory,'” he said. “This has proved to be elusive in Gaza and will prove to be more so in Lebanon.”
“Prematurely celebrating the killings of Hezbollah leaders and top operational commanders, Netanyahu and his associates confuse tactical wins with strategic breakthroughs,” Gerges said.
“This moment will be historically seen as Netanyahu’s ‘mission accomplished’-moment in both Gaza and Lebanon,” he added, referring to former President George W. Bush’s ill-timed declaration of victory in Iraq, only to be embroiled in another 8 years of war.
Heavy damage caused to property as missile parts fall in northern Israel
The Israeli Police say that parts of interception drones and “IDF items” have fallen near Ma’alot, a city in northern Israel just 15 miles from the border with Lebanon.
It said there were no reports of casualties, but warned people to stay away from the scene.
“We ask all residents to avoid congregating in the areas of the fall in order to avoid risking life and unnecessary injury to the body and so that the work of the saboteurs and the policemen on the spot is not interrupted,” the Israeli police said.
Gunfire erupts immediately after Hezbollah confirms Nasrallah’s death
Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon
Gunfire erupted immediately after Iran-linked Hezbollah confirmed that their longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah had been killed in a huge Israeli attack on southern Beirut yesterday.
The successive bursts of gunfire came in a the largely Shia neighborhood of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold.
A large column of smoke also rose from the area —almost certainly an Israeli airstrike near where bunker buster bumbs are believed to have killed Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah leaders.
Hezbollah confirms that Nasrallah was killed in Beirut attack
Hezbollah has confirmed that its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed yesterday. Israel carried out the strike on Beirut on Friday.
France says it has information confirming Hezbollah chief Nasrallah is dead
France’s foreign ministry said that according to its information Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was indeed dead, after Israel said it had killed him a day earlier.
“According to the information we have, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, would indeed have died,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement today.
Iran stands with Hezbollah, supreme leader says
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Israel is unable to inflict “meaningful harm” on Hezbollah, and that all resistance forces in the region stand alongside the militant group in support.
Though Khamenei did not address reports of his death directly, the statement was issued shortly after Israel’s announcement that it had killed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed militant group.
Khamenei said that wars in neither Lebanon nor Gaza could “weaken or bring down the strong structure of the resistance movement.”
“The fate of this region will be determined by the resistance forces, led by the resolute Hezbollah,” he said.
Emergency worker killed during an overnight rescue operation
Continuous Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon has meant that rescue workers are being killed and injured even as they sift through the rubble of earlier strikes.
Lebanon’s Civil Defense said one of its members was killed and another critically injured while carrying out a rescue mission last night, “due to the intensity of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.”
Normal Saturday in Tel Aviv as hostilies escalate in the north
From our hotel balcony in Tel Aviv, it looks like a normal Saturday.
There are plenty of people walking and cycling along the corniche in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood, and several sailboats and paddle boarders are out in the ocean.
Pool decks at the Intercontinental next door are packed.
IDF mobilizes three reserve battalions as tensions escalate
The IDF says it is mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions escalate with Lebanon.
On Saturday morning, the Israeli military carried out several strikes in southern Beirut and eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, while Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles across northern and central Israel and the Israel-occupied West Bank.
The military said Saturday morning they were activating three battalions of reserve soldiers, after earlier sending two battalions to northern Israel earlier in the week to train for a possible ground invasion.
Multiple airlines cancel flights to Israel
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority says Air France, Aegean, British Airways and Iberia have cancelled flights to Israel following the IDF’s announcement that it has assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Iran to send troops to Lebanon
An Iranian official has announced that Iran will begin registration for deploying forces to Lebanon in the coming days.
“With public registration, officials will certainly grant permission for the deployment of forces to Lebanon and the Golan heights,” Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Akhtari, Iran’s deputy for international affairs, said.
“We can send forces to Lebanon to fight against Israel, just as we did in the year 1981.”
IDF says Hezbollah chief Nasrallah killed in strike
The IDF issued a statement saying it has eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in yesterday’s strike on the Iran-backed militant group’s headquarters in Beirut.
“The IDF announces that yesterday (Friday), September 27th, 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organization and one of its founders, was eliminated by the IDF,” the statement said.
In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces said “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.”
Hezbollah has not commented on Israel’s claim, and yesterday denied that Nasrallah had been killed.
Syria sends medical aid to Lebanon
Syria’s Health Ministry dispatched a 20-ton convoy of medical aid to Lebanon this morning, delivered through the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing.
It said the shipment included essential items focused on emergency response needs.
IDF tells some residents of southern Beirut to evacuate
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee this morning warned residents of Dahia in Beirut to move from locations near “Hezbollah interests.”
In a post on X, Adraee referred to a map of the suburb, warning people to stay away from certain buildings.
“You are located near Hezbollah interests and for your safety and the safety of your loved ones, you are obliged to evacuate the buildings immediately and move away from them at a distance of no less than 500 meters,” he said.
Hospitals in Beirut to be evacuated
Hospitals in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, are being evacuated as conflict in the city escalates.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health issued a statement calling on hospitals unaffected by Israeli strikes to “stop receiving non-emergency cold cases” until the end of next week, in order to free up capacity to receive patients from evacuated hospitals.
Sirens sound in Israel as projectiles cross from Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces said projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory this morning, with some of the projectiles intercepted.
A surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanese territory also landed in an open area central Israeli this morning, the IDF said, with details of the incident under review.
Blinken: There is a path to diplomacy
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he is hopeful that diplomacy can win out and will continue pushing for that, while adding that Israel has a right to defend itself.
“The way it does so matters,” Blinken said. “The choices that all parties make in coming days will determine which path this region is on with profound consequences for its people now and possibly for years to come.”
Blinken continued, saying diplomacy is the course the U.S. government prefers.
“The path to diplomacy may seem difficult to see at this moment, but it is there and it is necessary. We will continue to work intensely with all parties to urge to choose that course.”
Blinken said violence will only lead to more bloodshed and instability in the region, causing “ripples of which will be felt around the world.”
America, Blinken said, will not shy away from defending itself against attacks on its interests.
“Anyone using this moment to target American personnel, American interests in the region, the United States will take every measure to defend our people,” he said.
Iran’s president calls Israel attack in Beirut ‘blatant war crime‘
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian called Israel’s attack on Hezbollah in Beirut an “undeniable and blatant war crime.”
Israel’s strike on Hezbollah amounted to “state terrorism” and a sign Israel is the “greatest threat to regional and international peace and security,” Pezeshkian said in a statement.
“I express my condolences to the nation and government of Lebanon and extend my sympathies to the families of the proud martyrs of this incident,” Pezeshkian said. “I share in the grief of you, the dear and honorable people of the Lebanese resistance.”
Iran will pursue the crime against Israel and stands alongside Lebanon, Pezeshkian said.
