An Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, Lebanese health officials said. It was the first such Israeli attack on Lebanon’s capital in months and came shortly after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets.
In Gaza, Palestinian authorities said 15 people were killed overnight in Israeli attacks.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children.
Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Here’s the latest:
Weaponizing ordinary devices violates international law, United Nations rights chief says
UNITED NATIONS — Weaponizing ordinary communication devices represents a new development in warfare, and targeting thousands of Lebanese people using pagers, two-way radios and electronic equipment without their knowledge is a violation of international human rights law, the United Nations human rights chief said Friday.
Volker Türk told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council there must be an independent and transparent investigation of the two attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday where these devices exploded, reportedly killing 37 people and injuring more than 3,400 others.
“Those who ordered and carried out these attacks must be held to account,” he said.
Lebanon has blamed Israel for the attacks, which appeared to target Hezbollah militants but also saw many civilian casualties, including children. Hezbollah has fought many conflicts with Israel, including a war in 2006, and it has conducted near-daily strikes against Israel to support Hamas militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
When reporters asked Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon about speculation Israel was behind the two explosions, he said: “We are not commenting.”
Lebanon’s foreign minister urges United Nations Security Council to condemn deadly explosions
UNITED NATIONS — Lebanon’s foreign minister is warning the U.N. Security Council that if it doesn’t condemn this week’s deadly explosions and name Israel as the perpetrator a “Pandora’s Box” will be opened, and governments and extremists will target and kill civilians with similar communications devices.
Abdallah Bouhabib accused Israel on Friday of terrorizing the entire Lebanese population on streets, in markets and their homes where exploding pagers, two-way radios and other electronic devices reportedly killed 37 people and injured more than 3,400 others.
He held up a photo of a mangled and bloodied hand, telling ambassadors from the 15 council nations: “Look at the ugliness of what has happened in this picture.”
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon criticized the Lebanese minister for not mentioning Hezbollah, which started launching near daily attacks against Israel from Lebanon the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel. Many victims of the explosions were its supporters.
The Lebanese people are “trapped in the grip of this terrorist organization,” Danon said.
Before the council meeting, he was asked by reporters about speculation Israel was behind the explosions. “We are not commenting on the specific attacks you mentioned, but I can tell you that we will do everything we will do everything we can to target those terrorists to minimize casualties for civilians,” he replied.
Bouhabib warned that without condemnation of Israel, other countries and extremists will use similar ordinary devices on trains, planes and elsewhere to terrorize civilians.
Hezbollah confirms a top military official was killed in Friday’s airstrike
BEIRUT — Hezbollah announced the death of a top military official in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut Friday.
Israeli officials had earlier said the rare strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of the Lebanese militant group’s elite Radwan Force. The strike killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
In a statement, Hezbollah described Akil as “a great jihadist leader” and said he had “joined the procession of his brothers, the great martyr leaders, after a blessed life full of jihad, work, wounds, sacrifices, dangers, challenges, achievements, and victories.”
United Nations humanitarian chief calls for investigation into device explosions
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. humanitarian chief told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that weaponizing communications devices represents a new development in warfare and said targeting thousands of Lebanese people using them without their knowledge is a violation of international human rights law.
Volker Türk called for an independent investigation of this week’s mass explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies that killed at least 37 people and wounding about 3,000 others. The attacks have widely been attributed to Israel.
“Those who ordered and carried out these attacks must be held to account,” he told council members Friday.
Türk said the explosions also appear to violate international humanitarian law’s key principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack. He said international law also prohibits the use of booby-trapped devices that look harmless.
“It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians,” he added.
Lebanon urges United Nations to condemn attacks that used the synchronized explosion of devices
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s mission to the United Nations called attacks this week in which thousands of devices were blown up “an unprecedented method of fighting in its brutality and terrorism.”
It said targeting thousands of people of different ages and in heavily populated areas “is an act of terrorism and a violation of international law and human rights and is designated as a war crimes.”
The mass explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies on Tuesday and Wednesday killed at least 37 people and wounding about 3,000 others in attacks widely attributed to Israel.
Lebanon said the U.N. should hold an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East and should condemn the attacks. It also said the U.N should stop Israel’s attacks to avoid “a destructive regional war.”
14 killed in Israeli airstrike on Beirut
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry has raised the death toll from Friday’s Israeli airstrike on Beirut to 14. Dozens more were wounded.
The Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital flattened two apartment buildings.
The Israeli military said the strike killed Ibrahim Akil, a senior Hezbollah military official. There was no immediate confirmation of his death from Hezbollah.
Biden says he still has hope for a cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that his administration must keep working at trying to win a cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas as tensions rise along the Israel-Lebanon border.
The president’s comments came hours after Israel carried out what it called targeted strikes near Beirut. The action is raising concerns that the nearly yearlong Gaza war could spread into a larger regional war.
“We are continuing to try to do what we tried in the beginning to make sure that both the people of northern Israel as well as southern Lebanon are able to get back to their homes and go back safely,” Biden said in an exchange with reporters at the start of a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Asked if getting an agreement may be slipping out of reach in the final months of his presidency, Biden said he still had hope and that his national security team continues to work.
“If I ever said it wasn’t realistic, we might as well leave,” Biden said. “A lot of things don’t look realistic until we get them done. We have to keep at it.”
Israel says its airstrike killed a senior Hezbollah military official
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military announced that its airstrike Friday on a neighborhood of Beirut killed Ibrahim Akil, a senior Hezbollah military official. There was no immediate confirmation of his death from Hezbollah.
The Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital killed at least nine people and wounded nearly 60 others, according to Lebanese health officials, and flattened two apartment buildings. The Israeli military also claimed that its strike killed other “top operatives” of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, without elaborating.
A Hezbollah official has confirmed that Akil was supposed to be in the building in the Dahiya district that was hit.
Akil has served on Hezbollah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council, and has been sanctioned by the United States for being involved in two terrorist attacks in 1983 that killed more than 300 people at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks.
Netanyahu is shortening a planned United States trip
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shortened a planned trip to the U.S. because of rising tensions with Hezbollah, according to an Israeli official.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media on the matter. Netanyahu is supposed to travel to the U.S. ahead of a planned speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.
The decision to shorten the trip comes as tensions with Hezbollah threaten to spiral into an all-out war, following an Israeli strike targeting a senior Hezbollah leader in a southern suburb of Beirut.
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Associated Press writer Julia Frankel contributed to this report.
Israel carries out an airstrike on Beirut
BERUIT — An Israeli airstrike hit Beirut on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding nearly 60 others in the first such Israeli attack on Lebanon’s capital in months.
The Israeli strike on Beirut’s crowded southern suburbs hit during rush hour, as people headed home from work and children left school. Local networks broadcast footage that showed at least two buildings completely flattened and the main street ravaged in Dahiyeh, just kilometers from downtown Beirut where Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group holds sway.
The strike came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets earlier Friday and tensions threaten to spill into all-out war.
White House calls allegations against Israeli soldiers in West Bank ‘deeply disturbing’
WASHINGTON — The White House says a video showing Israeli soldiers pushing three apparently lifeless bodies from rooftops during a raid in the northern part of the occupied West Bank “deeply disturbing.”
An AP journalist in the town of Qabatiya witnessed three soldiers push the bodies off the roofs of adjacent multi-story buildings, sending them falling out of view.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday that “it clearly would depict abhorrent and egregious behavior by professional soldiers” if the video is found to be authentic.
“We reached out immediately to our Israeli counterparts about it, and we pressed them for more details,” he said. “They have assured us that they’re going to investigate this, and that there will be proper accountability if it’s warranted. And we’re going to be very eager to see what the IDF investigation finds.”
The Israeli military in a statement called it “a serious incident that does not coincide with IDF values and the expectations from IDF soldiers,” using the acronym the military goes by.
The United States says there is still time for a diplomatic solution
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration continues to hold on to hope that surging tensions between Israel and Hezbollah won’t escalate into all-out war following Israel Defense Forces air strike Friday near Beirut.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said he was unaware of Israel providing the U.S. any forewarning ahead of the operation.
“We still believe that there is time and space for a diplomatic solution,” Kirby said. “We think that that is the best way forward. War is not inevitable up there at the Blue Line. And we’re going to continue to do everything we can to prevent it.”
The Israeli strikes near Beirut followed two waves of deadly attacks earlier this week of hundreds of hand-held pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants exploding. The sophisticated sabotage operations are widely believed to be carried out by Israel.
The White House has declined to publicly comment on the electronic device attacks beyond saying the U.S. was not involved.
Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed overnight in Gaza
Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
In Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, another person was killed and several others injured when a vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike, the Civil Defense said.
Late Thursday, six more people were killed in a strike that hit a home in the center of Gaza City, while another was killed in Beit Lahya, north of Gaza City.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
Israel challenges international court request for arrest warrants
Israel’s foreign ministry said Friday it submitted two legal briefs in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against the country’s leaders.
The court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders. One of them was since assassinated in what was believed to be an Israeli strike.
The foreign ministry said it has submitted two legal briefs challenging the court’s jurisdiction to arrest Israeli leaders and claiming the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” wrote Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein on the social media platform X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
Israel is not a party to the court. Rights groups say the country has struggled to investigate itself in the past. Netanyahu has brushed off calls for a state investigation into the failings that led to the Oct. 7 attack.
Leader of Iraqi militia reportedly killed in Syria
BAGHDAD — A leader of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia was killed Friday in a strike in Syria, a war monitor and a militia official said.
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group — which is different from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — said in a statement that Abu Haidar al-Khafaji was killed “while performing his duties as a security advisor in Damascus.”
The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that a leader in Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group was killed and another person injured in a drone strike on the car they were traveling in on the road to the Damascus airport.
An official with an Iraqi militia confirmed that a car carrying a group of militia members was struck in Damascus, killing one person and injuring three others. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There was no comment from Israeli officials on the strike. Israel frequently strikes Iranian and Iran-linked groups in Syria but rarely acknowledges the strikes.
Tensions have heightened in the region following a wave of apparently remotely detonated explosions in Lebanon targeting pagers and walkie talkies belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The attacks, widely blamed on Israel, which has not commented on them, killed at least 37 people — including two children — and wounded about 3,000.
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Associated Press journalist Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.
Israel military says it killed 2 Hezbollah members planting explosives along the border
BEIRUT — Israel’s military killed two Hezbollah members who were planting explosives along the border over the weekend, Israel’s military and an official with a Lebanese group said.
The official with a Lebanese group said the two members of the militant group were killed Sunday and their bodies were taken by Israeli troops because they were too close to the fence along the tense frontier. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, Israel’s military released a video it said was taken by one of the fighters showing the militants coming under fire. The military said that the two fighters were killed by Israeli troops as they tried to plant an improvised explosive device near a military post.
In the days following the tense border interaction, thousands of devices exploded in different parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing 37 people and wounding around 3,000 others. The attack was blamed on Israel, and many of those killed or injured were members of Hezbollah.
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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.
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