Live: Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza after Iran attack
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Hezbollah said in a series of statements that it launched new rocket attacks on several areas in Israel.
The Lebanese movement said it launched rocket salvos at Saar, a kibbutz in the western Galilee, and Karmiel, a city in northern Israel.
After Israel launched its largest strike on Beirut so far in this conflict, western countries have been urging their citizens to leave the country.
The US embassy in Lebanon urged Americans to leave Lebanon but added that it would not be evacuating any persons. Rather, it called on US citizens to book commercial flights out of the country. However, one-way ticket prices from Beirut to major US cities over the next several days have skyrocketed.
Single tickets for flights to Washington DC, New York, and other cities are being sold for anywhere from $4,000 to upwards of $12,000.
One way flight prices to get back to the US, single ticket https://t.co/HoGYXMPPLV pic.twitter.com/iCy4P2eeGi
— Chris Dazzleox 🇵🇸 (@Dazzleox) September 27, 2024
Following its strikes on Lebanon, the Israeli military said it was continuing to launch attacks on the country in order to "degrade and dismantle" Hezbollah's capabilities.
The military said it launched strikes on sites that included weapons launchers and weapons storage sites. MEE cannot independently verify this claim.
"We need this ceasefire now," UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said at the UN General Assembly after Israel's massive strike on Beirut.
"We cannot afford endless negotiations as we have on Gaza," he added, referring to the monthslong negotiations that have so far failed to achieve an end to Israel's war on Gaza.
In a post on X, Iran's embassy in Lebanon said that the Israeli strike on Beirut today is an escalation in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, and the escalation "changes the rules of the game".
The embassy further said that Israel will receive "an appropriate punishment".
مرة جديدة يرتكب النظام الإسرائيلي مجزرة دموية، مستهدفًا أحياء سكنية مكتظة بالسكان، مطلقًا تبريرات زائفة في محاولة لتغطية جريمته الوحشية وتغطية السماوات بالقبوات.
— السفارة الإيرانية- لبنان (@IranEmbassyLB) September 27, 2024
لا شك أن هذه الجريمة المدانة والسلوك الأرعن يمثلان تصعيدًا خطيرًا يغير قواعد اللعبة، يستجلب لصاحبه العقاب المناسب…
Hamas's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that it targeted an Israeli military bulldozer with rocket fire in an area near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, the group said it destroyed an Israeli tank.
The aftermath of the latest Israeli attack on Beirut.
— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) September 27, 2024
Rescue workers and civil defence are now digging through the rubble searching for survivors.
Several residential buildings have been completely leveled to the ground. pic.twitter.com/V8vEdpPASD
The Lebanese health ministry released its preliminary death toll from today's massive Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs.
At least two people have been killed, and 76 others have been wounded, according to the ministry.
A Pentagon spokesperson said that the US didn't have advance warning of the Israeli strike on Beirut. The spokesperson added that US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart as the operation was ongoing.
"Minister [Yoav] Gallant spoke with Secretary Austin as the operation was already underway," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
An Israeli official told Axios that Israel notified the US of the strike minutes before it took place.
Israel's defence minister posted a photo on X of him along with several members of the top brass of Israel's air force, with a caption saying: "Continue to hit Hezbollah, everywhere, at any time, until the residents of the north return home safely".
The photo was posted shortly after the massive Israeli air strike on southern Beirut, which Israel's military said targeted Hezbollah's command centre. MEE couldn't independently verify this claim.
Meanwhile, Israeli reports stated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently in New York City for the UN General Assembly, heard the news of the strike and "immediately left" for his hotel to receive more information about the strike.
The Israeli prime minister's office said Netanyahu would be returning to Israel this evening.
כעת, בחמ״ל הפיקוד של חיל האוויר, יחד עם הרמטכ״ל וצמרת צה״ל.
— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) September 27, 2024
ממשיכים להכות את חיזבאללה, בכל מקום, בכל עת, עד להשבת תושבי הצפון לביתם בביטחון. pic.twitter.com/NtRzSA2mzL
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly, said Israel's attack shows it "does not care" about efforts to bring about a ceasefire.
On Thursday, Israel rejected a US and French proposal for a temporary 21-day truce between Hezbollah and Israel, despite a senior US official telling reporters on Wednesday that the plan had been communicated to Israel.
Lebanon's civil defence has so far pulled out several bodies from the rubble of today's strike on Beirut, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
The full casualty count from the Israeli strike is not yet clear.
As ambulances and rescue crews arrive at the scene of the Israeli air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, more information is coming to light.
At least 10 explosions were heard in the southern suburbs, an area colloquially known as Dahiyeh. Several residential buildings were flattened in the raids with extensive destruction left in the crowded area.
Click here to read our full story on the blasts, which we will update throughout the day.
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said in a statement that it targeted and destroyed an Israeli Merkava 4 tank in an area near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
The group said it used a rocket launcher to target the tank, and Israeli helicopters were deployed to "evacuate the dead and wounded".
Lebanon's National News Agency is reporting that an Israeli air strike targeted a house in the Lebanese village of Rachaf, in the Bint Jbeil district.
The strike targeted the seven-member Jaffal family, who were all either killed or injured in the attack.
