Biden urges Netanyahu to minimise civilian harm in Lebanon

1 month ago 9

As it happened

US President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to minimise harm to civilians in Lebanon, especially in the populated areas of Beirut, while reiterating support to target Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants, the White House said after their call. The plea came after Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel will carry out “lethal, precise and surprising” retaliation against anyone who attacks it, while discussing Iran’s October 1 missile strike on Israel. Read our liveblog to see how the day's events unfolded.

Issued on: 09/10/2024 - 06:02Modified: 09/10/2024 - 22:56

2 min

Damaged buildings, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in Lebanon, October 9, 2024.

This live blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage on the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, click here.

Summary:

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel will carry out “lethal, precise and surprising” retaliation against anyone who attacks it, while discussing Iran’s October 1 missile strike on Israel.
France will host an international ministerial conference over the crisis in Lebanon on October 24 focusing on the domestic political situation and humanitarian aid, the foreign ministry said.
Two people were killed in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona by Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon, Israeli authorities said, marking Israel’s first civilian deaths caused by Hezbollah since Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.
United Nations officials warned that Lebanon was staring down a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis as the number of internally displaced people hit 600,000.
More than 42,010 Palestinians have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.

Yesterday's key developments:

Israeli forces have killed the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said it appeared the presumed replacement for Nasrallah had also been "eliminated". Top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine had not been heard from publicly since an Israeli air strike late last week.
The Israeli army said it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters, Suhail Hussein Husseini, in a strike on Beirut.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 last year, with 1,000 of those occurring in the last week. The Lebanese government estimates that roughly 1.2 million people have been displaced. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon since Israel launched a ground operation across its northern border on October 1.