Israel continues attacks on Lebanon and Gaza
Israel says it has struck 230 Hezbollah and Hamas targets in Lebanon and Gaza over the last 24 hours.
These included three command centres belonging to Hezbollah’s aerial unit, which the IDF says is responsible for drone attacks.
Ground activity also continued in southern Lebanon, it said.
Gaza
Troops also continued combat in Jabalia, northern Gaza, said the military, adding that “thousands of civilians have been evacuated”.
Yesterday, medics said Israeli military forces rounded up men and ordered women to leave Jabalia refugee camp.
The UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said Israeli authorities were preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas in the north of Gaza with critical supplies, including medicine and food.
“We are facing death by bombs, by thirst and hunger,” said Raed, a resident of Jabalia camp.
“Jabalia is being wiped out and there is no witness to the crime, the world is blinding its eyes.”
The Israeli air force also attacked Rafah, saying it struck a launcher and rockets.
IDF troops dismantled tunnel shafts and a launcher in the Beit Lahia area too, it said.
Hezbollah claims to bomb military intelligence base in Tel Aviv
Hezbollah has conducted a series of rocket attacks this morning, claiming to have bombed a military intelligence base in Tel Aviv.
It also launched rockets at a naval base west of Haifa, it said.
Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and central Israel, but there have been no immediate reports of casualties.
Sky News cannot independently verify these reports.
Israel’s multi-layered air defences have intercepted the vast majority of missiles and drones fired at it since the start of the war in Gaza.
Good morning
Welcome back to our live coverage of the conflicts in the Middle East.
Before we resume, here’s a recap of yesterday’s key developments…
- Israel claimed to have targeted Hezbollah’s financial capabilities with a series of strikes on bank branches overnight;
- The IDF also said it killed the head of Hezbollah’s money transfers in a strike in Syria, and that they had located a bunker full of “millions of dollars in gold and cash” in Beirut;
- A child was among four people killed in an Israeli strike near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in southern Beirut, according to Lebanon’s health ministry;
- In Jabalia, Gaza, footage emerged of Palestinians appearing to be “rounded up”, with men being separated from women and children, and ID cards checked, according to reports;
- UNRWA accused Israel of continuing to deny access to aid for northern Gaza and said some of its shelters were so overcrowded people were staying in the toilets;
- The US is set to make another push for a ceasefire as Antony Blinken heads back to the Middle East – his 11th trip since 7 October last year;
- And Israel said it broke up a spy network and arrested seven citizens who were passing on information to Iran.
Today’s key developments
That’s all for our live coverage of the conflicts in the Middle East this evening.
Before we go, here is a recap of the key developments over the course of the day:
Israel targets Hezbollah’s finances
Israel’s military targeted dozens of bank branches last night.
It claimed the al Qard al Hassan financial institution helped Hezollah pay fighters and buy weapons.
Sky News international correspondent Alex Rossi reported live from the site of one of the strikes, describing the devastation it had caused.
While Israel tries to justify its target, the bank branches are civilian infrastructure and often in the same buildings as apartments.
Israel also claimed to have killed Hezbollah’s head of money transfers, in an attack in Syria.
Syrian state media described it as a “guided missile attack” on a car and reports said that two people had died and three others were injured.
Palestinians ’rounded up’ in northern Gaza
Elsewhere, shocking footage emerged from Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, where Palestinians appeared to be being “rounded up”, according to reports.
Drone footage showed hundreds of people being lined up among the rubble and debris.
Further footage appears to show men being split up from women and children and ID cards seemingly being inspected.
Israeli operations have deepened in the area in recent weeks and one person in Jabalia told Sky News’ Adam Parsons Israel had attacked it daily for 17 days straight.
In other developments:
- At least four people, including one child, were killed in an Israeli strike near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in southern Beirut on Monday evening, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
- Israel claimed “millions of dollars in gold and cash” were located in a bunker underneath the al Sahel hospital in Beirut. The hospital was evacuated. Israel later said it wasn’t going to strike it.
- The US is set to make another push for a ceasefire as Antony Blinken heads back to the Middle East – his eleventh trip since 7 October.
- UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, accused Israel of continuing to restrict the flow of aid into northern Gaza and said some of its shelters were so overcrowded people were staying in the toilets.
- An Israeli security service said it had broken up a spy network and arrested seven citizens who were passing on information to Iran.
- Also in northern Gaza, Israeli forces blew up homes and besieged schools and shelters, Reuters said.
Watch: Israeli mourners take cover in cemetery during rocket attack
Video captured the moment mourners in northern Israel took cover in a cemetery as sirens wailed amid a rocket attack.
The strike came from Lebanon and anti-missile interceptions could be seen trailing through the blue sky.
People had been attending the funeral of an Israeli man killed over the weekend.
Watch the full video below…
Iran tells UN: ‘Biden has signalled approval for Israeli strike’
Iran told the UN that US President Joe Biden has signalled his approval for an Israeli attack on them.
Tehran claimed that Mr Biden had signalled his “tacit approval and explicit support for Israel’s unlawful military aggression against Iran,” the country’s mission to the UN said, citing remarks the US leader had made in Germany last week.
“The United States will bear full responsibility for its role in instigating, inciting and enabling any acts of aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran … as well as for the catastrophic consequences on regional and international peace and security,” Iran’s UN mission said in a letter to the UN Security Council.
Mr Biden also told reporters on his visit to Berlin that he has an understanding of how and when Israel will respond to the missile attacks by Iran.
He declined to elaborate.
Watch: Young girl carries injured sister for ‘over an hour’ in Gaza
A young girl carried her injured sister on her shoulders, walking barefoot for more than 2km in Gaza before they found help.
The youngster was hit by a car, but after over a year of Israeli attacks, the Gazan health system is crippled beyond use for many.
A Palestinian journalist came across the sisters and gave them a lift to the al Bureij camp in central Gaza.
According to an Anadolu Agency translation, journalist Alaa Hamouda, who is recording in the video below, asks the girl why she is carrying her sister.
She says that her sister has been “hit by a car” and they are seeking medical treatment, adding that she has been carrying her for “over an hour”.
One child killed in Israeli strike near Beirut hospital
One child was among the four people killed in an Israeli strike near a Beirut hospital, Lebanon’s health ministry has said.
Three adults were also killed, and 24 others injured – as we reported in our 9.52pm post – in the attack near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital.
While Israel said its campaign is aimed at driving out Hezbollah fighters from border regions, 1.2million people have been displaced from their homes in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s authorities.
‘Another pretty grim day across Gaza’ as violence focuses on Jabalia
Speaking on The World With Yalda Hakim, Sky News correspondent Adam Parsons described the “extraordinary scenes” and “dreadful attacks” in parts of the Middle East today.
He said it had been “another pretty grim day across Gaza”, with the violence focused on Jabalia in the north, where scenes of people being “rounded up” emerged (see our 7.11pm post).
Parsons said one person in Jabalia told them it had been attacked by Israel on 17 successive days.
He said:
“What we understand is that men have been separated from women and children… exactly what is happeneing to those people subsequently is a matter of dispute.
“Israel says these people are being told they are in a very dangerous place, that Jabalia is a place the IDF is going through… as they search for Hamas terrorist infrastructure and these people are being guided to safety.
“There have been other reports coming out of Jabalia that have been focused on maltreatment, particularly of the men.
“Meanwhile, attacks on Jabalia have been incessant and today airstrikes hit a number of buildings – including a school that was being used as a shelter – leading to very serious injuries and fatalities.
“Once the centre of the fruit trade, it [Jabalia] is now the absolute focus of Israel and the subject of repeated and very heavy attacks.”
Watch The World With Yalda Hakim, Monday to Thursday from 9pm, on Sky News.
Four killed and 24 injured after Israeli attack near Beirut hospital, health ministry says
At least four people have been killed and 24 injured after an Israeli strike near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital.
In our 8.54pm post, we reported on strikes on Beirut’s largest hospital.
Initially, the number of people killed was said to be three, with tens injured – as we covered in our previous post.
However, that has already risen to four dead and 24 wounded, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
This number could rise further.