Live: Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza after Iran attack

Lebanon is "at the brink" warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres following another round of Israeli strikes on the country.

"We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink," Guterres told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

He added that the situation in the Gaza Strip was also "a non-stop nightmare" and condemned the growing "level of impunity."

"The level of impunity in the world is politically indefensible and morally intolerable," he said.

An Israeli strike hit southern Beirut on Tuesday afternoon, according to a Lebanese security source.

"An Israeli strike targeted two floors in a residential building in the Ghobeiri area," the security source told AFP.

The Israeli military also confirmed it carried out what it called a "targeted strike" in the capital.

Lebanon's state electricity company said one of its employees was killed along with her whole family in an Israeli strike on Monday.

In a statement, Electricité Du Liban (EDL) said Farah Kajak was killed along with "her husband, children, father, mother and sister, as a result of the Israeli enemy's aggression yesterday."

"We ask God to have mercy on them and to grant them a place in His spacious gardens, and to inspire their loved ones with patience and solace in this great affliction," said the statement.

"May God have mercy on Dr. Farah and her family, and may God protect Lebanon from all evil."

At least 558 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the beginning of the week, the country's health minister said on Tuesday.

The dead include 50 children and 94 women, with 1,835 wounded, Firass Abiad said on Tuesday.

The death toll is the highest the country has seen since the previous Israeli bombardment in 2006.

Air France announced on Tuesday that it was extending the suspension of its flights to and from Beirut for another week "due to the security situation at the destination".

The announcement comes following a similar statement by Qatar Airways who said it had suspended flights to Beirut until Wednesday as tensions escalated between Israel and Hezbollah in the deadliest bombardment in nearly a year of cross-border clashes.

A Lebanese journalist has been killed by an Israeli air strike in the south of the country, according to his company.

Hadi al-Sayed, a reporter for Al-Mayadeen, died after his home was struck on Monday.

"Al-Mayadeen Media Network mourns our colleague at Al-Mayadeen Online, Hadi al-Sayed, who was martyred in an Israeli air strike that targeted his home in southern Lebanon yesterday, Monday," the outlet posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Here are five key things that happened in Gaza that you may have missed since Israel began a deadly wide-scale bombing campaign in Lebanon on Monday: 

• Israeli forces committed two "massacres" on Monday by bombing two schools used as shelters for internally displaced people in the Nuseirat and al-Shati refugee camps, according to the Palestinian civil defence.  At least 10 people were killed, including 5 women and children. 

• On Tuesday morning, air strikes hit homes and residential blocks in Gaza City, the central governorate, Khan Younis and Rafah, killing at least seven people, according to local media. 

• Heavy rain flooded makeshift camps across Gaza on Monday, forcing families into the open late at night. "Shelters were blown apart people's and belongings destroyed," Unrwa said. The UN agency said there was an urgent need to increase humanitarian access into the Gaza Strip and there are "nowhere near enough tarps & tents".

• The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, said on Monday it ambushed a convoy of Israeli armoured vehicles in Rafah. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CNN on Tuesday that the international community needed to intervene to prevent Lebanon becoming "another Gaza".

"We must not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza at the hands of Israel," Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.

Qatar Airways said on Tuesday it had suspended flights to Beirut until Wednesday as tensions escalated between Israel and Hezbollah in the deadliest bombardment in nearly a year of cross-border clashes.

"Due to the ongoing situation in Lebanon, Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended flights to and from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport until September 25," the Qatari national carrier said in a statement. 

"The safety of our passengers remains our highest priority," it added.

Germany's Lufthansa, Air France and Delta Air Lines of the United States have also suspended flights to Beirut in recent days with some carriers' services to Israel and Iran also affected. 

Reporting by AFP

Hezbollah early on Tuesday morning said it had launched several attacks on Israeli military targets, including an explosives factory 60km into Israel, with the "Fadi" series of rockets.

It said it attacked the explosives factory around 4 am and the Megiddo airfield three separate times overnight. Hezbollah began using the rocket series on Sunday.

Reporting by Reuters

China's top diplomat Wang Yi expressed support for Lebanon and condemned what he termed "indiscriminate attacks against civilians", Beijing's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Meeting his Lebanese counterpart in New York, Wang said: "We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

Wang acknowledged the Israeli strikes on Monday, saying China "strongly condemns any violation of the basic norms governing international relations.

"No matter how the situation changes, we will always stand on the side of justice, on the side of our Arab brothers, including Lebanon," Wang told Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

"Armed force does not represent truth, and might only undermines peace," Wang said.

"Countering violence with violence will not solve the problems in the Middle East and will only lead to an even greater humanitarian disaster," he added.

Reporting by AFP

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israel wars on Gaza and Lebanon: 

• The death toll from heavy Israeli bombardment in Lebanon on Monday has reached 500, with 1,650 more wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry. 

• Israeli bombing in Lebanon and Gaza continued overnight, leaving more people killed and wounded, according to local media. 

• The G7's foreign ministers warned that actions and counter-actions in the Middle East risked dragging the region into a broader conflict that no country would gain from, according to Reuters. 

Hello Middle East Eye readers. On Monday, Israel launched a serious escalation in its monthslong conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has been taking place amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

Israeli air strikes on Monday rained down across the country, killing at least 492 people in Lebanon and injuring a further 1,645 people.

Hezbollah responded with a barrage of rockets fired towards Israel, including major cities like Haifa.

The Israeli attacks elicited a mixed reaction from Washington. Several US officials told Axios reporter Barak Ravid that they believe in the Israeli strategy of "de-escalation through escalation". But a senior State Department official said Washington doesn't believe that strategy will be effective.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin meanwhile held a call with his Israeli counterpart, affirming the US recognises Israel's "right to defend itself".

The Pentagon said it would be deploying a small number of troops to the Middle East amid the intensification of Israel's operations against Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it would respond to Israel's escalation in kind, but also stressed it would end its current conflict with Israel once a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza is achieved.

Here's what else you need to know about today's developments:

• Two Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli bombing of a vehicle in Deir al-Balah.

• Hamas' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said that an Israeli air strike on Lebanon killed Mahmoud al Naderm, its field commander in southern Lebanon.

• After Israel launched an air strike in southern Beirut that targeted senior Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki, the Lebanese movement released a statement saying that Karaki is alive and has "moved to a safe place".

• After it launched its air strikes on Lebanon, the Israeli military's chief of generals staff, Herzi Halevi, said it is preparing for the next phases of its military escalation in Lebanon.

• Lebanese security sources warned that the Israeli military escalation is likely to intensify over the coming days, but as of now they are not predicting Israel will launch a ground invasion.

A senior official in the State Department told Reuters that the US doesn't think Israel's escalation to force Hezbollah to reduce tensions will lead to de-escalation.

Axios previously reported that Israel's increased attacks on Lebanon were an attempt to reach "de-escalation through escalation", and several US officials said they agreed on the strategy.

It is now early into Tuesday morning in Lebanon, and Israel's military is continuing to launch new air strikes across different parts of the country.

Lebanon's state-run news outlet, the National News Agency, reported Israeli strikes in Jabal al-Rayhan, Mayfadoun, Zoutar, Tambourit, and several other areas.

The death toll currently stands at 492 killed, however, this could rise significantly as the Israeli bombings continue.