Saturday, September 28, 2024
05:40 GMT — Hospitals in Beirut's south to be evacuated amid Israeli strikes
The Lebanese Lebanese Health Ministry has issued a statement urging hospitals in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and unaffected areas to halt the admission of non-urgent cases until the end of next week.
According to the statement, this measure aims to free up resources for patients being transferred from hospitals in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which will be evacuated due to ongoing Israeli strikes.
The ministry added that it has called on hospitals and health centres to prepare for an influx of displaced patients arriving from the suburbs, anticipating that responsibilities and demands will increase as numbers continue to rise.
04:50 GMT — Israeli strikes pound southern Beirut suburbs
Israeli fighter jets bombarded the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut overnight, sending panicked families fleeing massive strikes reportedly targeting Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel said it was attacking Hezbollah's headquarters, while Israeli television networks reported that Nasrallah was the target, although a source close to the group said he was "fine".
The explosions that shook southern Beirut were the fiercest to hit the group's stronghold since Israel and Hezbollah went to war in 2006.
04:14 GMT — Israel launches fierce new wave of airstrikes on Beirut
A violent wave of airstrikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs early on Saturday as Israel intensified its bombardment, after a massive strike on Hezbollah's command centre. An unprecedented five-hour barrage of strikes early Saturday followed Friday’s assault, marking Israel’s most intense attack on Beirut yet.
Reuters witnesses heard more than 20 airstrikes before dawn on Saturday. Abandoning their homes in the southern suburbs, thousands of Lebanese congregated in squares, parks, and sidewalks in downtown Beirut and seaside areas.
"They want to destroy Dahiye, they want to destroy all of us," said Sari, a man in his 30s who gave only his first name, referring to the suburb he had fled after an Israeli evacuation order.
03:40 GMT — Israeli airstrikes hit southern Beirut, level buildings
Israel's army bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut early Saturday hours after another airstrike destroyed several buildings, killing and injuring scores of people.
The new airstrikes came shortly after an Israeli military spokesman warned the residents of some localities to evacuate.
Israel confirmed that the air forces are striking areas south of Beirut.
Separately, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in several Israeli strikes that struck on Friday. The toll is likely to rise significantly as teams are still combing through the rubble of six buildings.
03:00 GMT — Biden ready to 'adjust' US forces in Mideast amid tensions: White House
US President Joe Biden ordered US forces in the Middle East to be adjusted "as necessary," the White House said on Friday, after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Lebanon's capital Beirut.
"He has directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary US force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of US objectives," the White House said in a statement.
Biden also ordered US embassies in the region to "take all protective measures as appropriate," it said.
02:30 GMT — Israel attack on Beirut is 'flagrant war crime': Iran
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Israel's air strikes on the Lebanese capital's densely populated southern suburbs Friday as a "flagrant war crime."
"The attacks perpetrated ... by the Zionist regime in the Dahiya neighbourhood of Beirut constitute a flagrant war crime that has revealed once again the nature of this regime's state terrorism," Pezeshkian said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency early Saturday.
Pezeshkian vowed Iran "will stand with the Lebanese nation and the axis of resistance".
For our live updates from Friday, September 27, 2024, click here.
