UN says peacekeepers in Lebanon wounded by Israeli fire

Lebanon's Health Ministry says the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday has risen to 22. 

At least 117 were injured in the strikes. 

Israel has repeatedly pounded Beirut's southern suburbs, the bastion of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, over the last two weeks but Thursday's raid was only the third time the city centre has been targeted.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the strikes.

The Israeli military has said its forces opened fire in the area where UN peacekeepers have their headquarters in southern Lebanon, adding that Hezbollah fighters were operating nearby.

"This morning, IDF [Israeli military] troops operated in the area of Naqura, next to a UNIFIL base," the military said, referring to the UN peacekeepers' headquarters.

"Accordingly, the IDF instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, following which the forces opened fire in the area," it added.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said the United States is deeply concerned by reports that Israeli forces fired on UN peacekeepers' positions in southern Lebanon, and is pressing Israel for details about the incidents.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said on Thursday evening that Israeli strikes on two different areas in central Beirut had killed at least 18 people and wounded 92 more.

The ministry called its tally preliminary.

One of the strikes hit an eight-story apartment building in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood.

Rescue workers, vehicles and other people could be seen gathered around the damaged building's facade.

One person on a hydraulic crane with lighting attached was trying to look inside the windows for people in distress or in need of assistance.

In recent weeks, Israel has launched fairly frequent strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as a Hezbollah stronghold, but attacks on central Beirut have been more rare.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Thursday's strikes. 

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said after a meeting with Israel's ambassador that he had not heard an adequate explanation of why a UN peacekeeping base, the headquarters of the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon, had come under fire from Israeli forces. 

Crosetto had summoned the ambassador seeking an explanation earlier on Thursday, after UNIFIL announced several incidents over the past two days.

Crosetto said the "hostile acts committed and repeated by the Israelis could constitute war crimes." 

"This is not a mistake. And it is not an accident, and therefore we need formal, real explanations, as quickly as possible," he said. "We asked for an explanation of the acts that occurred. The reason why these shots were fired, and we demanded to know it officially. The ambassador was unable to provide explanations." 

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, alluded to the Israeli military's call before entering Lebanon for UNIFIL forces to leave some of its facilities and relocate further north. UNIFIL had responded by saying it would stay in every one. 

"We recommend moving UNIFIL forces five kilometers further north," Danon said. He said this was necessary to "avoid danger as fighting intensifies and as the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile due to Hezbollah's aggression." 

Crosetto responded to this by saying that the "UN and Italy do not take orders from Israel." He said the only way to organize such a proposal would be directly at the UN, "and not by giving orders to those who are there to defend international law." 

The head of the United Nations children's agency, UNICEF, has said humanitarian pauses have been agreed to allow a second round of polio vaccinations targeting 590,000 children under the age of 10. 

The vaccinations are to start in the Gaza Strip on October 14, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

"Area-specific humanitarian pauses have been agreed. It is critical that these pauses are respected by all parties. Without them, it is impossible to vaccinate the children," said Russell.

Italian Defense Minster Guido Crosetto has condemned the "shooting" at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Lebanon.

Crosetto, who summoned the Israeli ambassador, said the incident was "intolerable" after the force said Israeli tank fire had hurt two peacekeepers. 

"The shooting at the UNIFIL headquarters" and other incidents involving "small arms fire" are "intolerable, they must be carefully and decisively avoided," Crosetto said in a statement.

"For these reasons, I protested to my Israeli counterpart and the Israeli ambassador to Italy," he added.

Many of the UN troops on the mission come from Italy, Indonesia and India.

Israel's police and Shin Bet internal security said they have detained five Palestinians from northern Israel over an alleged plan to bomb a mall in Tel Aviv.

Shin Bet said the five men, linked with the so-called "Islamic State" group, were active in online discussions on how to plant a car bomb that would topple skyscrapers in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel's financial capital.

The suspects also allegedly watched videos of "Islamic State" attacks in Syria.

Police said they foiled the plan "in the early stages of its implementation" and seized weapons but did not provide further evidence. Two of the men had expressed interest in going abroad to fight with IS, police said.

Israel is deliberately targeting health facilities and killing and torturing medical personnel in Gaza, United Nations investigators have said in a new report. 

The authors have accused the country of "crimes against humanity."

"Israel has perpetrated a concerted policy to destroy Gaza's healthcare system as part of a broader assault on Gaza," the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said in a statement.

Israel is "committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities," it added.

The three-person commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged international law violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The report is the second since Hamas' October 7 attack a year ago, which sparked the ongoing war.

It also highlighted the abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israel and hostages in Gaza, accusing Israel and Palestinian armed groups of "torture" and sexual and gender-based violence.

Israel has accused the commission of "systematic anti-Israeli discrimination," flatly rejected the findings of an earlier report in June. 

That document also accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity, including of "extermination" in Gaza.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon has said two of its peacekeepers were wounded when its positions in the country's south came under fire.

UNIFIL said the peacekeepers were injured after an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank "directly" hit a watchtower.

"This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL's headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall," the force said.

"The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital," the statement said.

UNIFIL said the main base in Naqoura and other nearby positions have been "repeatedly hit" during the fighting.

The Israeli army did not provide any immediate comment.

The UN mission has monitored the border area between Lebanon and Israel for decades and more than 10,000 UN soldiers from more than 50 countries are involved. Many of the UN peacekeepers come from Indonesia, Italy and India.

Naqoura is on the Mediterranean coast and is the first urban center of significant size in Lebanon close to the demarcation line with Israel.

The Palestinian Red Crescent says at least 27 people were killed and scores more injured in an Israeli attack that hit a Gaza school on Thursday.

The building was being used to accommodate Palestinians who have been internally displaced by Israel's war against Hamas militants.

"Palestine Red Crescent teams responded to 27 fatalities and 54 injuries following the Israeli occupation army's targeting of Rafida School," the organization said, referring to a school in the city of Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military reported it struck a Hamas command and control center inside the school, without providing evidence.

Israel has repeatedly attacked schools used as shelters in Gaza and claimed militants were hiding out in them.

The Israeli military says it has launched attacks overnight on targets in the suburbs of Beirut, hitting ammunition depots in areas considered Hezbollah strongholds. 

It also said that two of the Iran-backed militant group's commanders were killed in southern Lebanon.

Witnesses said there were at least six attacks overnight in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.

Lebanese state news agency NNA reported a heavy attack in the Haret Hreik neighborhood. Hezbollah-affiliated outlet Al Mayadeen news channel said a residential building had been hit.

Israel's military said residents had been urged to leave the area because of the impending strikes.

Israel said the commanders killed in the south were responsible for launching rockets and missiles at northern Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday morning said 110 Hezbollah targets had been struck over the past day.

Suspected Houthi rebels struck a Liberian-flagged tanker with an unidentified projectile in the Red Sea, authorities said on Thursday.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the ship sustained light damage, but "no fires or casualties [were] reported."

The incident occurred 73 nautical miles (135 kilometers) southwest of Yemen's Hodeidah.

The ship, en route from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Muscat in Oman, later reported two more explosions nearby, UKMTO and maritime security firm Ambrey said.

"The crew are reported safe," UKMTO said. "Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity."

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels have targeted over 80 vessels in the Red Sea since the war in Gaza began last year. The Houthis seized one vessel and sank two in their attacks, which have also killed four sailors.

The rebels have said the attacks is a response to Israel's military actions in Gaza and claim only to target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK.

However, many ships that have come under fire have little or no apparent connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

Syrian state media have reported that Israel carried out airstrikes hitting sites in the central provinces of Homs and Hama early on Thursday.

The strikes have targeted a car factory in Homs, sparking a fire but only causing "material damage," state news agency SANA has said, citing a military source.

The manager of the industrial area in Hassia has told SANA that the strikes have targeted the factory and also vehicles loaded with medical and relief supplies.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes targeted an "Iranian car factory" in Hassia and have struck areas in Hama containing air defenses and government forces.

Explosions have also been reported in Daraa.

Israel has rarely commented on individual strikes.

Five of Lebanon's civil defense paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Israel has "renewed its targeting of rescue and ambulance crews tonight, disregarding international laws, norms, and humanitarian conventions," the ministry said. 

A civil defense spokesperson confirmed the attack on its staff and reported that they were on standby at the time of the attack.

There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military.

Israel has intensified air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon since late September.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden spoke on the phone for the first time in seven weeks, the White House said on Wednesday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the 30-minute call was "direct and productive," adding that the talk included deliberations on how Israel intends to respond to Iran's missile attack last week.

The call, confirmed by both countries, coincides with a sharp escalation in Israel's conflict with both Iran and Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, with no sign of an imminent cease-fire to end the conflict with Iranian-backed Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has vowed retaliation to an Iranian missile attack, which the US helped to repel. Biden has said he would not support a retaliatory strike on sites related to Tehran's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said earlier that an Israeli strike on Iran would be "lethal" and "surprising."

"Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be lethal, precise and above all surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened," Gallant said in a video released by his office.

ss, mf/lo (AP, AFP, DPA, Reuters)