Middle East crisis live: Israel says Iran strike will be ‘lethal, precise, surprising’; Biden tells Netanyahu to ‘minimise harm’ to Lebanese civilians

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In Lebanon, Israeli strikes have killed five people and injured at least 12 in the town of Wardiniyeh, about 40 kilometres south of Beirut, Al Jazeera is reporting.

Their reporter noted that the area is not one Israel has tried to empty of its residents.

The Associated Press reported earlier that the strike had targeted a hotel sheltering displaced people, citing Lebanon’s health ministry.

An AP reporter in a nearby town heard two sonic booms from Israeli jets before the strike. Plumes of smoke rose from the building after the explosion.

More on the apparent Israeli attack on Syria, where state news agency Sana is reporting that the “air attack” targeted not only a factory but also vehicles “loaded with medical and relief supplies... which led to a large fire” that firefighters were working to extinguish, citing the manager of the industrial area in Hassia.

Explosions were also heard in the Syrian city of Daraa near the border with Jordan and they are being investigated, state media reported.

State media said Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed a policeman in southern Syria near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, in a raid the Israeli army claimed killed a figure from Hezbollah inside Syria.

“An Israeli attack” has targeted an industrial area in the town of Hassia, around 30 kilometres south of the city of Homs, state news agency Sana news agency is reporting, according to AFP.

It added that “initial information” indicated the attack targeted a “car factory”, reporting material damage. We’ll bring you more details when we have them.

Israel has carried out numerous attacks on Syria in weeks and months, despite western calls for deescalation in the region, including an attack on a residential building in Damascus on Tuesday in which at least seven people were killed including women and children.

Other attacks include a strike on the Iranian consular building in Damascus in April. That attack, the most high-profile attack on Syria since the war in Gaza began, killed seven military advisers, including three senior commanders, according to Iran.

Just an hour ago, and as we posted previously, the editor of the Palestinian Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud, has reported the killing of his sister, Dr. Soma Baroud and six other civilians in an Israeli attack on a taxi in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

The photo agency EPA has now sent through photos of what it says was an Israeli attack on two civilian vehicles in Khan Younis on Wednesday, in which it says six people were killed; it is not possible to verify whether this was the same attack.

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike on two civilian vehicles that killed at least six people in the Khan Younis. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli airstrike on two civilian vehicles that killed at least six people in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli air strike on two civilian vehicles that killed at least six people in the Khan Younis refugee camp. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA

Palestinians carry an injured man to Nasser Hospital, following an Israeli air strike on two civilian vehicles that killed at least six people in the Khan Younis refugee camp. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA

UN security council warns Israel against anti-Unrwa law

Members of the UN security council have warned Israel against proceeding with a law aimed at curbing the UN’s Palestinian refugees agency.

Israel has long been at odds with the agency known as Unrwa and alleged, without providing any evidence, that 12 of its thousands of employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks that triggered the war in Gaza.

Israel has long opposed the agency because its very existence confirms that Palestinians are refugees, and has been accused of deliberately hindering its humanitarian work, including by harassing and beating its staff, while Israeli residents of Jerusalem repeatedly attacked its headquarters this year and set fire to it at least twice.

AFP reports further:

The foreign affairs and defense committee in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, approved two bills on Sunday essentially aimed at ending Unrwa’s activity and privileges in Israel. These bills were quickly condemned by UN chief Antonio Guterres.

Washington’s envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said Wednesday that the United States was “following with deep concern the Israeli legislative proposal that could alter UNRWA’s legal status.”

She said it risked “hindering its ability to communicate with Israeli officials and removing privileges and immunities afforded to UN organizations and personnel around the globe.”

Algeria, which along with Slovenia called the emergency Security Council meeting on the crisis in the Palestinian territories, said “for years, the Israeli authorities has made clear its desire, its will to dismantle UNRWA.”

“It symbolizes the Palestinian refugees and their inviolable rights. We reiterate that the rights of Palestinian refugees are not subject to statutes of limitation,” said Amar Bendjama, ambassador of non-permanent Security Council member Algeria.

All UN Security Council members that spoke were unanimous in calling for Israel to respect UNRWA’s work and to protect its staff.

“Senior Israeli officials have described destroying Unrwa as a war goal,” Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini warned the Security Council, noting that 226 Unrwa personnel have been killed in 12 months.

“Legislation to end our operations is ready for final adoption by the Israeli Knesset.

“It seeks to ban Unrwa’s presence and operations in the territory of Israel, revoking its privileges and immunities, in violation of international law.

Israeli activists stage a protest at Unrwa offices in Jerusalem earlier this year. Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian

“If the bills are adopted, the consequences will be severe. Operationally, the entire humanitarian response in Gaza - which rests on UNRWA’s infrastructure - may disintegrate.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that he had written to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning the legislation “could prevent Unrwa from continuing its essential work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour told the Security Council that “we totally support UNRWA and what Lazzarini said and take it very seriously, and honor what is a very indispensable organization that should be protected by all means.”

“It is the greatest success story in the history of the United Nations,” Mansour said.

Unrwa was created in 1949 to support Palestinian refugees across several countries.

The editor of the US-based Palestinian Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud, has paid tribute to his sister, whom he said had been killed in an Israeli attack on a taxi in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis along with six other people. He said in a post on X:

Early this evening, Israel killed, or more accurately assassinated, my sister Dr. Soma Baroud, by bombing her taxi in the Khan Yunis area, killing her and six other innocent people.

She was the kindest soul, a great mother and a most loving sister. She was a member of a generation of female doctors that revolutionized medicine in the Strip.

She healed many people, never charged the poor and until the last day of her life remained principled, loving, kind and patient, even when Israel blew up her house a few weeks ago.

I don’t know what else to say, aside from the fact that I suddenly feel as if a child who became orphaned all over again.

Interim summary

Here’s a look at where things currently stand:

• Israel’s defense minister said the next strike against Iran will be “lethal, precise and surprising”. “Our attack will be lethal, precise and above all surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened,” Yoav Gallant said during a speech to Israeli troops.

• Al Jazeera has released a statement condemning Israel for the killing of one of its camera operators and injuring another while they were working in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. “The deliberate targeting of journalists is a flagrant violation of international laws protecting the press and humanitarian workers in war zones,” the network said.

• The White House has released a readout of Joe Biden’s call with Benjamin Netanyahu in which the US president emphasized “the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut”. In the last few weeks, Israel’s deadly bombardment across Lebanon has killed at least 1,200 civilians while forcibly displacing 1.2 million residents.

• Five members of Lebanon’s civil defence were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their base in the town of Dardghaya, south Lebanon, on Wednesday night. Pictures of the strike show burnt cars with civil defence written on the side of it, crumpled from the force of the blast as efforts to locate survivors and bodies remain ongoing.

• Canada will provide C$15m ($11m) in humanitarian assistance to Lebanese civilians who have been affected by Israel’s ongoing strikes across the country. In a statement reported by Reuters on Wednesday, Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly said: “Canada is deeply alarmed by the rapid escalation of the crisis in Lebanon. We are mobilizing to ensure that Canada is there to bring much-needed assistance to the Lebanese people.”

• Speaking to the BBC about Gaza’s devastation caused by Israel’s attacks in the past year, Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the main UN aid relief organization in Gaza, said: “We are becoming wordless.” Lazzarini added: “We soon have exhausted all our vocabulary to try to describe what has become a wasteland … an unlivable area.”

Al Jazeera has released a statement condemning Israel for the killing of one of its camera operators and injuring another while they were working in Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza:

The Israeli Occupation Forces targeted a number of journalists working in and around Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip this afternoon, killing one of the cameramen and seriously injuring Al Jazeera Arabic Channel’s cameraman Fadi Al Wahidi with a bullet to his neck, causing critical injury while covering the attack on the camp.

Al Jazeera strongly condemns the continued targeting of its journalists by the Israeli Occupation Forces. This comes in the aftermath of targeting another Al Jazeera cameraman Ali Al-Attar two days ago, who is still in critical condition, deprived of the necessary medical care due to the siege imposed on the area.

Biden urges Netanyahu to 'minimize harm to civilians' in Lebanon

The White House has released a readout of Joe Biden’s call with Benjamin Netanyahu in which the US president emphasized “the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut”.

In a statement, the White House said:

The president affirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. He condemned unequivocally Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on October 1st. On Lebanon, the president emphasized the need for a diplomatic arrangement to safely return both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line. The president affirmed Israel’s right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah, which has fired thousands of missiles and rockets into Israel over the past year alone, while emphasizing the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut.

On Gaza, the leaders discussed the urgent need to renew diplomacy to release the hostages held by Hamas. The president also discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the imperative to restore access to the north, including by reinvigorating the corridor from Jordan immediately.

In the last few weeks, Israel’s deadly bombardment across Lebanon has killed at least 1,200 civilians while forcibly displacing 1.2 million residents. Across the country, thousands of Syrian refugees, in addition to Lebanese residents, have fled into Syria in recent days in attempts to escape Israeli airstrikes.

The Biden administration has previously also asked Israel to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians while displacing nearly 2 million survivors. The Biden administration has also spent a record $17.9bn in military aid to Israel since last October.

Five members of Lebanon's civil defence killed in Israeli airstrike

William Christou

Five members of Lebanon’s civil defence were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their base in the town of Dardghaya, south Lebanon, on Wednesday night. Pictures of the strike show burnt cars with civil defence written on the side of it, crumpled from the force of the blast. Efforts to locate survivors and bodies are still ongoing.

In a statement, the director general of Lebanon’s Civil Defence, Brig Gen Raymond Khattar said that the body would continue working, “no matter how great the sacrifices”.

More than 100 paramedics, firefighters and doctors have been killed by Israeli strikes since fighting started in October – the majority of which were killed in the last two weeks.

On Sunday, 10 firefighters were killed by an airstrike in the border town of Bint Jbeil. The Union of Municipalities of Bint Jbeil said on Wednesday that rescue crews were still unable to get to the site of the strike due to Israeli strikes in the area and that they were unsure if there were survivors under the rubble.

Last week, head of World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus called for the protection of healthcare workers in Lebanon amid the spike in killings in Lebanon.

The International Federation of the Red Crescent in the Middle East and North Africa has released the following aid figures from Lebanon this month as Israel continues its strikes across the country:

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had a “productive” conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said.

In a statement reported by Agence France-Presse, the White House said: “This morning, President Biden spoke with prime minister Netanyahu of Israel. Vice president Harris also joined the call.”

The call lasted about 30 minutes and was “direct”, “honest” and “productive”, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, adding: “The US and the Israeli government have had discussions since last week since after the Iran attack. Those discussions continued with the president and the prime minister.”

“We’re going to continue to have those discussions with Israel on how they’re going to respond,” she continued.