Live: Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza after Iran attack

British foreign minister David Lammy has said that the first charter flight taking British citizens out of Lebanon has left the country.

"We have arranged another flight for tomorrow, and further flights over the coming days for as long as there is demand and it is safe to do so," Lammy said in a post on X.

The British Ministry of Defence has said that two of its fighter jets and an air-to-air refuelling tanker "played their part in attempt to prevent further escalation in the Middle East".

The ministry said in a post on X that the move demonstrated "the UK's unwavering commitment to Israel's security".

"Due to the nature of this attack, they did not engage any targets, but they played an important part in wider deterrence and efforts to prevent further escalation," the ministry added.

Al Jazeera is reporting that Iran's attack on Israel has prompted Israeli forces to escalate its attacks in Gaza.

At least three Palestinians have been killed in an attack on Bureij refugee camp.

In Khan Younis, medical sources told Al Jazeera that over 50 Palestinians have been killed since yesterday evening, while 25 were killed in attacks in central Gaza and at least 30 were confirmed killed in the north.

Meanwhile, Wafa news agency is reporting that four Palestinians were killed and others injured after Israeli forces bombed a group of civilians west of Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that they transferred the dead and wounded to the al-Awda Hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with security chiefs including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the armed forces, Herzi Halevi at the defence military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a consultation with the heads of the security establishment, this afternoon, at the Kirya in Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/iDO6VfbNRP

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 2, 2024

Israeli forces continue to pummel southern Lebanon and Beirut.

Anadolu reported that Israeli fighter jets had targeted Choueifat, south east of Beirut, while the official Lebanese National News Agency said that Israeli strikes had destroyed a home in the town of Deir Qanoun and a building in Tyre.

Israeli fighter jets also conducted raids in the towns of Maifadoun, Khiyam and Kfar Kela, destroying a number of homes.

Danish police have arrested three men in connection with the overnight explosions near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen.

A police spokesperson said in a press conference that the two blasts were likely caused by hand grenades.

The Israeli military has announced the first death of one of its soldiers since it launched its ground offensive on southern Lebanon this week.

In a statement, it said that a 22-year-old army team commander was killed in combat.

A ritual is performed every time Israel starts another war, before the white phosphorus rains down, before the fear and panic of people fleeing their homes, before the footage of stunned survivors sifting through the rubble of collapsed apartment blocks. 

It’s called the ceasefire ritual - a public display of hand-washing. It’s the charade of pretending that there are honest diplomats out there trying to search every avenue, stretch every sinew, to stop this bedlam from starting.

Much of it is choreographed. Other parts are improvised. But be sure about one thing: it is pantomime. It bears no relationship to reality.

Hours before Israel declared that its ground attack on Lebanon had begun, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was vainly insisting in a media conference in Beirut that his proposed 21-day ceasefire was “still on the table”.

As he was doing so, the US, France’s co-sponsor, was briefing journalists that ceasefire talks had stopped. This position went through several iterations as the afternoon wore on, and the contradictions accumulated.

The US simultaneously wanted a diplomatic solution, while describing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination as an “unalloyed good”. It claimed to have restrained Israel to a limited operation on the border, while also expressing anxiety about the humanitarian aspect of the operation. And it pledged to continue to work on de-escalating tensions while acknowledging that Israel was a sovereign country that made its own decisions.

If this charade sounds horribly familiar, that’s because it is.

Cut through the verbiage and the bottom line - as the Pentagon has confirmed - is that the US supports a ground invasion of Lebanon, and ceasefire plans can go hang. 

Read more:  The chaos Israel is sowing across the Middle East could come back to haunt it by David Hearst

Israeli forces breached the Blue Line - a UN demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel - into Lebanese territory, the Lebanese army said on Wednesday. 

The breach went 400 metres into the villages of Khirbet Yaroun and Odaisseh before Israeli troops withdrew after a short period, the army said.  

Israel has banned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country, declaring him persona non grata, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday. 

Katz accused Guterres of backing "terrorists, rapists, and murderers from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran" as part of the reason why the decision was made. 

"Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil," Katz said on X. 

"Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity, with or without Antonio Guterres."

Today, I have declared UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres persona non grata in Israel and banned him from entering the country.

Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran's heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 2, 2024

Following the Iranian attack on Israel on Tuesday, Guterres said he condemned the "broadening of the Middle East conflict with escalation after escalation."

"This must stop," he said on X. "We absolutely need a ceasefire."

Hezbollah fighters are clashing with Israeli forces who infiltrated the border town of Maroun al-Ras, the Lebanese party said. 

This is the second direct clash between Lebanese fighters and Israeli troops inside Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Hezbollah. 

The group said several Israeli soldiers were killed and wounded in both incidents.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment. 

The death toll from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday has risen to 79, medical sources have told Al Jazeera, in one of the deadliest mornings in the Palestinian enclave in weeks. 

At least 53 people were killed during a limited incursion by Israeli forces in eastern Khan Younis overnight.

Israeli air strikes on an orphanage and a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City have killed at least 25 people, including children, according to Palestinian media. 

The attacks took places early on Wednesday and targeted the Mascat school in the Tuffah district and al-Amal orphanage in the Rimal neighbourhood. 

Spain plans to send two military aircraft to evacuate as many as 350 citizens from Lebanon as early as Thursday, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.

"The Spanish airplanes are ready, the staff are ready, as always with the professionalism of the Spanish army," she said in an interview with Antena 3 TV station.

A group of 350 Spanish citizens present in Lebanon have asked to go to Spain, Robles said in the interview.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said earlier this week around 1,000 Spaniards were in Lebanon.

Reporting by Reuters