IDF issues evacuation warnings for southern Beirut; Israeli strike reportedly crippled Iran missile production – live

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Saturday’s attacks destroyed Iranian air defences that were guarding oil, gas and petrochemical facilities as well as a major port, the New York Times reports, citing unnamed Iranian and Israeli officials.

They said key targets included Gulf petrochemical facilities and a port at Bandar Imam Khomeini and Abadan oil refinery, plus a gas field further north in Ilam province called Tange Bijar.

Striking the air defences rather than the oil and gas facilities themselves may indicate the US had a degree of success in its repeated public attempts to dissuade Israel from a direct attack that could trigger further escalation that could ultimately draw in US forces, cause economic chaos and potentially lead to an Iranian decision to try to build nuclear weapons.

Iranian officials have previously described attacks on its energy infrastructure as a “red line”.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about Saturday’s strikes, and issued a warning to Tehran that it “should not make the mistake of responding to Israel’s strikes, which should mark the end of this exchange”.

“The secretary also discussed the opportunities that now exist to use diplomacy to dial down tensions in the region, including a hostage release and ceasefire deal in Gaza and an agreement in Lebanon that allows civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes,” the statement said.

Iran’s mission to the UN has taken aim at the US over Israel’s Saturday morning strikes, saying its “complicity in this crime is certain”. It said the attack came from US-controlled Iraqi airspace.

Iraqi airspace was closed briefly during Saturday’s airstrikes.

Summary of the day so far

It’s 1am in Beirut and Gaza, and 2am in Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Joe Biden, the US president, said he hoped Israel’s latest strikes on Iran will mark the end of a months-long cycle of escalation. “I hope this is the end,” he told reporters on Saturday, as his administration doubles down on efforts to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza and Lebanon. Biden said Israel gave him a heads up and it appeared “they didn’t hit anything but military targets” in their attacks. Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, hailed the US as his country’s “true ally” after Israeli strikes on military targets in Iran. The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, denied a report that Israel initially planned to strike Iran’s oil and natural gas facilities, but changed its plan to focus on Iranian military targets after pressure from the US.

• Early on Saturday, waves of fighter jets and drones bombed military sites across Iran in an hours-long retaliatory attack against a missile barrage launched by Iran on 1 October. The Israeli air force struck about 20 military bases across Iran, including missile and drone manufacturing sites and air defence systems. In a show of military confidence, an Israeli spokesperson had announced the attack as it got under way. The strikes marked the first time Israel has openly attacked Iran after decades of shadow warfare. Two US officials confirmed to the Associated Press that there was no US involvement in Israel’s operation against Iran.

• Four soldiers were killed in the Israel strikes on Iran, Iranian media said. Iran said the airstrikes targeted military bases in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, causing “limited damage”. Iran’s mission to the UN said Israeli warplanes attacked several Iranian military and radar sites from Iraqi airspace, and blamed the US for what it called its “complicity”. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, described the Israeli attack as “reckless and cowardly”, adding that his country was determined to defend itself. The country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers killed.

• The Israeli strikes reportedly hit Iranian facilities used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles. Satellite images obtained by Reuters appear to confirm that the Israeli attacks hit buildings that Iran used for mixing solid fuel for ballistic missiles. Israel struck Parchin, a massive military complex near Tehran, as well as Khojir, a sprawling missile production site near the Iranian capital, the news agency reported, citing two US researchers. Israel hit 12 “planetary mixers” used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, which make up the bulk of Iran’s missile arsenal, Israeli sources told Axios. The UN’s nuclear watchdog (IAEA) said Iran’s nuclear programme was not affected by Saturday’s strikes.

• Iran’s military suggested it would prioritise an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and Lebanon over any retaliation against Israel. The carefully worded statement released on Saturday night suggests at least parts of Iran’s government want to avoid further escalation. Iran’s foreign ministry said it had a right to self-defence after Saturday’s attack. The statement said Iranian radar sites were damaged but some were already under repair, and added that Israel used so-called “stand off” missiles over Iraqi airspace to launch it attacks. They had lighter warheads to travel to targets inside Iran.

• The strikes were restrained enough for Iranian officials to belittle the scale and effectiveness of the incursion and for Israeli hardliners to denounce their government for timidity. Israel’s military could have “exacted a higher price”, opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on X after the bombing ended. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Saturday’s attack was “an opening blow” and strikes on the country’s strategic assets “must be the next step”.

• Israel’s military warned Iran against responding soon after it finished the attack. “If the regime were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond,” said spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari.

• World leaders called for restraint after the Israeli attack. The UN chief, António Guterres, said he was “deeply alarmed” and called on all sides to step back from further military action. The EU, Russia, Arab Gulf nations and G7 finance ministers and central Bank governors also warned against further escalation. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, urged Iran not to respond, saying the Middle East needs to “avoid further regional escalation”.

• More than 30 people were killed on Saturday during Israeli strikes on a residential block in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Among those killed are women and children, it said, and many others were injured. The strikes targeted a block of at least five homes in Beit Lahiya, it said.

• Israeli troops withdrew from the Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia on Saturday, after storming the medical facility and detaining dozens of its staff. Israeli forces seized 44 of the 70-strong team at the hospital, only 14 have since been released. Almost all male staff at the hospital had been taken away by Israeli forces, the head of the World Health Organsation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, describing the situation in the area as “catastrophic”. Among those missing is Dr Mohammed Obeid, an orthopedic surgeon working for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which said it was “deeply concerned” about his safety.

• The UN’s acting humanitarian chief, Joyce Msuya, called for an urgent halt to the military operation in north Gaza, attacks on health facilities and mass detentions there. “The entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of dying,” she said.

• Israel’s ground offensive in northern Gaza that began on 6 October has killed at least 800 people. The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that at least 42,924 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since 7 October last year. Earlier this month the Biden administration’s concerns over shortages of food and medical supplies prompted a warning that Israeli access to US weapons funding would be at risk unless more aid reached Gaza.

• Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli attacks killed 19 people in the country on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 2,653 since October 2023. The Israeli military issued new warnings to evacuate specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Saturday in advance of expected airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.

• Israel’s military announced it was easing some safety restrictions for residents in areas of northern Israel on Saturday, a possible indication that it does not expect any immediate large-scale attack from Iran or its proxies in the region. The decision followed a “situational assessment”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Saturday.

The son of the director of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which was besieged by Israeli forces on Friday, has been killed by Israeli shelling, according to his father.

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya said his son, Ibrahim, was killed at the entrance of the hospital on Saturday as he was approaching to see if the Israeli army had withdrawn from the facility.

Ibrahim’s dream was to become a doctor and he had been volunteering to help treat the wounded after a shortage in medical staff at the hospital, his father told CNN.

Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital on Saturday after seizing it and detaining dozens of medical staffers and some patients, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Abu Safiya told CNN that he was detained and interrogated by the Israeli army over unidentified wounded patients being treated in the hospital.

“I was accused of bringing in resistance fighters and treating them, which is not true,” he said, adding:

The soldier beat me and insulted me in front of the medical staff.

The hospital director said that, along with an assistant, he is the last remaining doctor in the hospital.

Several patients require surgeries but without a team, he said he was “overwhelmed by cases” and did not “know what to do”.

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has offered his condolences to the families of the soldiers killed in Israeli overnight strikes.

Posting to X, Pezeshkian wrote:

Enemies of Iran should know these brave people are standing fearlessly in defence of their land and will respond to any stupidity with tact and intelligence.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has described the Israeli attack on Iran last night “reckless and cowardly”.

Posting to X, Araghchi said Iran “strongly condemn[s] the criminal attack on Iranian military centers as a violation of international law and the UN Charter”.

The attack killed four Iranian army soldiers, he said, adding:

We fully reserve our right to duly respond to this aggression, which cannot be separated from Israel’s genocide in Gaza and bloodshed in Lebanon. The world must unite against this common threat to international peace & security.

Israel issues new evacuation warnings for south Beirut

The Israeli military has issued new warnings to evacuate specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs in advance of expected airstrikes on the Lebanese capital.

The Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, posted maps of three buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath areas in the southern suburb of Beirut, warning people to evacuate them and the area immediately.

We reported earlier that Israeli airstrikes overnight are thought to have hit Iranian facilities used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles.

Satellite images obtained by Reuters appear to confirm that the Israeli attacks hit buildings that Iran used for mixing solid fuel for ballistic missiles.

Israel struck Parchin, a massive military complex near Tehran, as well as Khojir, a sprawling missile production site near the Iranian capital, the news agency reported, citing two US researchers.

Israeli strikes may have “significantly hampered Iran’s ability to mass produce missiles”, Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at the thinktank CNA, said.

He noted that a satellite image showed that an Israeli strike destroyed two buildings in Khojir where solid fuel for ballistic missiles was mixed. Images of Parchin showed that Israel destroyed three ballistic-missile solid-fuel mixing buildings and a warehouse, he said.

“Israel says they targeted buildings housing solid-fuel mixers,” Eveleth said.

These industrial mixers are hard to make and export-controlled. Iran imported many over the years at great expense, and will likely have a hard time replacing them.

Here are some of the latest images sent from the newswires from Gaza, where officials say about 800 people have been killed in Israeli strikes during a three-week offensive in the north of the Palestinian territory.

As we reported earlier, at least 30 people were killed, including women and children, in Israeli military strikes on several houses in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya on Saturday, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

A Palestinian child wounded in an Israeli strike receives treatment at Al-Ahli hospital, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, 26 October 2024. Photograph: Mahmoud Sameer/Reuters

A Palestinian wounded in an Israeli strike looks on at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City, 26 October 2024. Photograph: Mahmoud Sameer/Reuters

Palestinians view the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from the area around Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip 26 October 2024. Photograph: Reuters

Palestinian casualties lie on beds and the floor at Kamal Adwan hospital after Israeli forces withdrew from the hospital in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip 26 October 2024. Photograph: Reuters

Israeli strike crippled Iran’s missile production – report

Israel’s strikes against Iran on Saturday morning took out a critical component in the Iranian ballistic missile programme, Axios is reporting.

Israel hit 12 “planetary mixers” used to produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, which make up the bulk of Iran’s missile arsenal, Israeli sources told the outlet.

The mixers are highly sophisticated equipment that Iran cannot produce on its own and must buy from China, they added.

The strikes severely damages Iran’s ability to renew its missile stockpile and could deter Iran from further massive missile strikes against Israel, they said.

A senior US official confirmed to the outlet that the Israeli strike cripples Iran’s missile production capability.

Israel’s president, Issac Herzog, hailed the US as his country’s “true ally” after Israeli strikes on military targets in Iran.

Herzog, in a statement on Saturday, said:

I especially wish to thank our great friend the USA for being a true ally, and for the overt and covert cooperation.

The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has denied a report that Israel initially planned to strike Iran’s oil and natural gas facilities, but changed its plan to focus on Iranian military targets after pressure from the US.

Netanyahu’s office called the report “totally false”, the Times of Israel reported. In a statement, the PM’s office said:

Israel chose in advance the attack targets according to its national interests and not according to American dictates. So it was, and so it will be.