Iran says Israeli strikes in Lebanon ‘cannot go unanswered’
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, addressed the UN general assembly for the first time on Tuesday after his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
Pezeshkian said the world has witnessed the “true nature of the Israeli regime” over the past year, and urged the international community to bring about a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and “an end to the desperate barbarism” of Israel in Lebanon “before it engulfs the region and the world”.
The Iranian president said Israeli “state terrorism” over the past few days in Lebanon “cannot go unanswered”. He said:
The responsibility of all consequences will be borne by those governments who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe.
Key events
The president of the European council, Charles Michel, said Israel had the right to exist and defend itself but without inflicting “collective punishment” on civilians.
Michel, at an event on the sidelines of the UN general assembly in New York on Tuesday, said:
Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has the right to exist, and we support the right of Israel to exist and to defend itself. But defending itself, it doesn’t mean collective punishment. It needs a principle of proportionality.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will speak at the UN general assembly on Friday, NBC News is reporting, citing an Israeli official.
Netanyahu had originally been expected to address world leaders at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.
Iran says Israeli strikes in Lebanon ‘cannot go unanswered’
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, addressed the UN general assembly for the first time on Tuesday after his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
Pezeshkian said the world has witnessed the “true nature of the Israeli regime” over the past year, and urged the international community to bring about a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and “an end to the desperate barbarism” of Israel in Lebanon “before it engulfs the region and the world”.
The Iranian president said Israeli “state terrorism” over the past few days in Lebanon “cannot go unanswered”. He said:
The responsibility of all consequences will be borne by those governments who have thwarted all global efforts to end this horrific catastrophe.
A senior Israeli official has claimed responsibility for the pager attacks targeting members of Hezbollah across Lebanon in simultaneous explosions last week, according to the BBC.
The official told the broadcaster that the pager attack was followed by the assassination of senior Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Aqil and leadership of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan special forces. They added:
The purpose of this is to strengthen the deterrence against Hezbollah and make it reach a situation where it allows Israel to return the residents of the north to their homes safely. Another goal is to deter the entire Iranian axis.
The UN security council will meet at 6pm ET (10pm GMT) on Wednesday to discuss the escalation in fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.
Slovenia’s mission to the UN, which holds the rotating presidency of the council, said:
After consulting with the delegations… the Presidency intends to schedule the briefing on the situation in Lebanon for tomorrow.
Syrian air defences intercept suspected Israeli missiles in Tartous – report
Syrian air defences intercepted suspected Israeli missiles targeting the city of Tartous, Reuters reported, citing Syrian army sources.
It comes after reports of multiple explosions heard over the Mediterranean port city.
From Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr:
MULTIPLE EXPLOSIONS HEARD OVER SYRIA’S PORT CITY OF TARTOUS … possible Israeli strikes
— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) September 24, 2024
Nearly 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Nuseirat and Bureij camp refugee camps in central Gaza on Tuesday, according to AP, citing hospital officials.
A total of 29 Palestinians, including 14 children and 6 women, died as a result of the Israeli strikes on Tuesday, officials at Awda hospital said.
Twins Osama and Bilal Fayad were two young men who were killed in the strikes in Nuseirat along with three women, the outlet reported. Their father. Ahmed Fayad. said:
I raised those two boys.. they were killed together after being struck. They were born together and died together.
UK to deploy 700 troops to Cyprus for potential Lebanon evacuation – report
The UK is expected to announce that it will send 700 troops to Cyprus to prepare for the possible evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon, according to the BBC.
Britain’s military has been preparing for months for the possibility of an emergency evacuation and the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) has urged British nationals to leave Lebanon.
UK defence secretary John Healey, after an emergency Cobra meeting on Thursday, said:
Our concern is always for the safety of British nationals and our advice to them is to leave Lebanon now, that hasn’t changed. This was a meeting simply to make sure that we’ve got plans in place for future developments.
A senior military source told the BBC that the UK’s next steps would depend on what Hezbollah and Israel do next and whether Lebanon’s international airport remains open.
Two British warships are already in the region and could be used to help evacuate people, Sky News reported.
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from Lebanon, where authorities say at least 569 people have been killed – including 50 children and 94 women – in Israeli strikes since Monday.
Dan Sabbagh
It is now clear that last Tuesday’s exploding pager operation was just a first step.
What is now unfolding is an Israeli strategy of military escalation against Hezbollah, premised on the risky belief that the militant group can be bombed into a ceasefire before fighting in Gaza ends.
Monday’s wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed at least 569 people and displaced many thousands, and there is little sign of the campaign slowing. Israel’s air force has said it had dropped 2,000 bombs in 24 hours – and there can be little doubt that this is now a full-on war, though it is not yet an all-out conflict.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, is in some disarray. First, hundreds of its operatives were wounded in the pager and subsequent walkie-talkie attack; then, commanders in its elite Radwan military unit were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on Friday. On Tuesday, Israel claimed it had killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, the head of Hezbollah’s missile systems, again in an attack in the south of the Lebanese capital.
Nevertheless, Hezbollah is also escalating its attacks.
Read the full analysis by the Guardian’s defence and security editor here: Israel escalation based on risky belief it can bomb Hezbollah into a ceasefire