► The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs arrived in Lebanon
The head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut on Friday October 4, at a time when Israel is intensifying its bombings in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian Shiite formation, announced the Lebanese national press agency.
This is the first visit to Lebanon by a senior Iranian official since the September 27 assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike.
► Israel carries out a new round of air raids on southern Beirut
The Israeli army carried out a new round of strikes on the south of Beirut, stronghold of the Shiite movement Hezbollah, in the night from Thursday to Friday, in one of the most violent raids since Israel intensified its bombing campaign on the country on September 23.
The Israeli army said on Thursday that it would continue to inflict “severe blows” to Hezbollah, after three days of ground fighting against the armed Islamist movement in southern Lebanon which cost the lives of nine of its soldiers.
Thursday evening, “Israel hit the southern suburbs (of Beirut) eleven times in a row”declared a source close to the Islamist movement, on condition of anonymity.
According to official figures, nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in a year of cross-border violence between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, including more than a thousand since September 23. The Lebanese government estimates the number of displaced people at around 1.2 million.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced overnight that 37 people had been killed in 24 hours in Israeli strikes on the country.
► Israeli raid cuts highway between Lebanon and Syria
Lebanese news agency ANI reported that an Israeli raid on the border with Syria had cut the main road linking the two countries.
Tens of thousands of people have fled in recent days from Lebanon, where Israel has carried out intense bombings against the Hezbollah movement, to Syria, mainly via this route.
► Iran: rare speech from Ayatollah Khamenei expected after the attack on Israel
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled to lead weekly prayers on Friday and deliver a sermon that could set the tone for Iran’s plans after its missile attack on Israel on Tuesday.
This rare speech must also come three days before the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, on October 7, 2023.
The ultimate decision-maker in the main issues of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei could shed light on the follow-up that Tehran intends to give to its attack, during which some 200 missiles were fired at Israel.
► The Palestinian Authority announces 18 dead after an Israeli strike in the West Bank
The Palestinian Authority announced Thursday evening that 18 people had been killed following an Israeli strike on the refugee camp of Tulkarem, a town in the northern West Bank where the Israeli army said it had carried out an air raid.
“Eighteen martyrs following the bombardment of the Tulkarem camp by the occupation”writes the Palestinian Ministry of Health on its Telegram account, revising upwards a previous toll of 16 deaths. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
“As part of a joint operation of the armed forces and the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security agency, Editor’s note), the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike on Tulkarem”indicates a brief Israeli military statement.
Reached by telephone, camp official Fayçal Salama said the attack was carried out by an F-16 fighter and targeted a cafeteria.
► “We can avoid” all-out war in the Middle East, says Biden
“We can avoid” a “total war” in the Middle East, declared American President Joe Biden, questioned on the subject at a time when the international community fears a large-scale conflict in the region.
“I don’t think there’s going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it. But there is still a lot to do”he told the press.
► The Security Council “fully” supports the head of the UN, “persona non grata” in Israel
The UN Security Council has provided its « plein » support for United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, whom Israel had declared the day before « persona non grata » for not immediately condemning Iran’s strikes on Tuesday.
Without ever mentioning Israel, the five permanent members of the Council and the ten other non-permanent members “stressed the need for all (UN) Member States to have a productive and functioning relationship with the Secretary-General and to refrain from any action that undermines his work and that of his services”.
Et “any decision that does not involve the UN Secretary General or the United Nations is counterproductive, particularly in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East”warned the 15 countries, including the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, in a written statement from the Council chaired in October by Switzerland.