Benjamin Netanyahu says attack on Lebanon ‘not the end of the story’ after exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah – live

Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s action against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon “is not the end of the story”.

Israel’s prime minister said its air defences had intercepted all rockets and drones launched against the country, Reuters reports.

He also said that the leaders of Hezbollah and Iran should know that the response was “another step towards changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes”.

Here’s a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered two aircraft carrier strike groups to remain in the Middle East, Reuters reports, citing the Pentagon. The announcement was made in the summary of a call between Austin and his Israeli counterpart on Sunday.

Hamas has said it rejects Israel’s new conditions in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks, Reuters reports. According to Hamas official Osama Hamdan speaking to Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday, talk of an imminent deal is false.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a public address, saying that the group’s response was delayed for several reasons including mass Israeli and US military mobilisation, Reuters reports. He added, “We will assess the impact of today’s operation. If results are not seen to be enough, we will respond another time.”

Jordan has warned that heightened escalation between Israel and Hezbollah could lead to a “regional war”, echoing comments made by Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, earlier. Foreign ministry spokesperson Sufain Qudah said that Israel’s relentless “aggression” in Gaza and the failure to reach a ceasefire was exposing the region to the dangers of an expansion of the conflict, Jordanian state media reported.

The UN’s Palestine relief agency, Unrwa, has said it will launch a polio vaccination campaign with the World Health Organization, Unicef, and other partners for more than 600,000 children under 10 years old, over the coming days. The UN is appealing to Israel and Hamas for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow humanitarian workers to carry out the immunisation campaign.

Europe’s most senior diplomat will call for sanctions on two far-right Israeli ministers, as the EU battles to rescue its credibility on the Middle East. At a meeting of the EU’s 27 foreign ministers on Thursday, Josep Borrell will make the case for sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two far-right government ministers, whose inflammatory statements and behaviour have drawn international condemnation.

Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has warned America’s top general of the dangers of a major conflict in Lebanon. US air force general, CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Egypt hours after the missile exchange between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group.

A Hezbollah official has said the group’s rocket and drone attack against Israel on Sunday in retaliation for a top commander’s killing last month had been delayed by “political considerations”, Reuters reported. The official said the group had “worked” to make sure its response to the killing of Fuad Shukr on 30 July would not trigger a full-scale war.

British Airways has suspended its flights between London and Tel Aviv following an overnight escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. A spokesperson for the airline said on Sunday: “We’ve been continually monitoring the situation in the Middle East and have taken the operational decision to suspend our flights to and from Tel Aviv up to and including Wednesday, 28 August.

At least 40,405 Palestinian people have been killed and 93,468 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The ministry has said thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the enclave.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels praised attacks by Hezbollah on Israel on Sunday and renewed threats to launch their own assault in response to Israeli strikes on a port in Yemen. “We congratulate Hezbollah and its secretary-general on the great and courageous attack carried out by the resistance this morning against the Israeli enemy,” the Houthis said in a statement.

US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered two aircraft carrier strike groups to remain in the Middle East, Reuters reports, citing the Pentagon.

The announcement was made in the summary of a call between Austin and his Israeli counterpart on Sunday.

The Pentagon had initially deployed the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group into the region with a plan to replace the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, Reuters reports.

Hamas has said it rejects Israel’s new conditions in the ongoing Gaza ceasefire talks, Reuters reports.

According to Hamas official Osama Hamdan speaking to Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday, talk of an imminent deal is false.

The group maintains it is sticking to a July 2 ceasefire proposal and that US talk of an imminent deal is to serve US election purposes, Reuters reports.

The attorney general for England and Wales has intervened in the Foreign Office’s review of weapons sales to Israel.

The Guardian’s Kiran Stacey reports:

Keir Starmer’s most senior legal adviser has intervened in the contentious decision over whether to ban UK arms sales to Israel, the Guardian has learned, as officials struggle to distinguish between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons.

Sources say Richard Hermer, the attorney general, has told Foreign Office officials he will not approve a decision to ban some weapons sales but allow others, until they can say for sure which could be used to break international humanitarian law.

The legal wrangling at the top of government is understood to be the principal cause of the delay to the decision, which has become even more sensitive in recent weeks as the crisis in the Middle East escalates.

A Foreign Office spokesperson would not comment on Hermer’s role but said: “This government is committed to upholding international law. We have made clear that we will not export items if they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

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Charles Q. Brown Jr, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, has arrived in Israel following heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, Reuters reports.

Brown is expected to hold meetings with senior Israeli military officials.

Earlier on Sunday he was in Egypt, where he met with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, along with other top Egyptian commanders. Together, they discussed regional tensions including Israel’s war in Gaza and the potential reopening of the Rafah border crossing.

In Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society distributed around 500 portable toilets in the Al-Mawasi area, the group said on Sunday.

The distribution efforts, carried out with assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross, come amid a dire sanitation crisis as a result of Israel’s deadly bombardment of the strip.

In July, UNICEF reported that 60 percent of all WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities had been destroyed or severely damaged, with access to safe water for drinking and bathing, toilets and even soap severely limited.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah added:

“We will assess the impact of today’s operation. If results are not seen to be enough, we will respond another time.”

In his address, Hassan Nasrallah added that the Israeli military began striking Lebanon 30 minutes before the group’s operation, but the areas targeted had nothing to do with the operation.

He went on to say that the group’s military operation was completed as planned, “with precision.” Nasrallah also said that Hezbollah targeted a military intelligence base 110 kilometers into Israeli territory, 1.5 kilometers away from Tel Aviv.

He added that Hezbollah sent Katyusha rockets to distract Israel’s Iron Dome and other drone defenses to enter Israeli airspace.

Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is delivering a public address, saying that the group’s response was delayed for several reasons including mass Israeli and US military mobilisation, Reuters reports.

The group decided not to respond to the killing of its top commander by targeting civilian areas, Nasrallah added, saying that the group decided not to target Israeli infrastructure.

He added that Hezbollah wanted to target military sites close to Tel Aviv and that the group decided to target a military intelligence base where an Israeli surveillance unit operates.

Israel and Lebanon exchanged messages via intermediaries on Sunday in order to prevent further escalation, according to two diplomats speaking anonymously to Reuters.

According to one diplomat, the main message was that both sides considered Sunday’s intense bombardment from either side “done” and that neither side wanted a full-scale war.

 

Updated: Agustus 25, 2024 — 4:46 pm

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