civilian killed in Israeli raids in Iran

In the Middle East, Israeli strikes continue. The latest one left five dead and ten injured in Lebanon when a residential building collapsed. Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned Israel against “bitter consequences” after an attack. A strike that brought Iraq to protest to the UN over the use of its airspace.

Five dead in Lebanon after Israeli strike

Five people were killed and ten injured in an Israeli strike that targeted the center of the coastal city of Tire in southern Lebanon on Monday morning, the Health Ministry said. An AFP photographer on site saw a residential building completely collapsed, and rescuers evacuating a man on a stretcher, while others cleared the still smoking debris. A previous report from the Ministry of Health reported five deaths in the strike which targeted the center of Tire early in the morning. On X, the Israeli army then called on residents of certain neighborhoods of the millennial city to evacuate and “head north towards the Awali River”.

The heart of Tyre, home to ancient sites inscribed by UNESCO on its world heritage list, was targeted on October 23 by the most violent strikes since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah more than a year ago. 'a month, after similar calls to evacuate. The Israeli army then assured that it had targeted “command centers of Hezbollah units”. She had described the city as a stronghold «important» of Hezbollah, even if it is another Shiite movement and ally of Hezbollah, Amal, led by the head of Parliament Nabih Berri, which is very established there.

The city preserves important archaeological remains, mainly dating from Roman times. In a month of war in Lebanon, where Israel is carrying out ground operations in the south and massive air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds, at least 1,634 people have been killed, according to an AFP count based on official reports.

Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli soldiers in southern village

Lebanese Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli soldiers on Monday in a village in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel. Since September 30, the Israeli army has been carrying out a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah. In a statement, the Lebanese movement said its fighters had targeted “enemy soldiers” near the village of Wazzani, with a salvo of rockets”, after earlier targeting Israeli troops in the border area four times.

Iran: Revolutionary Guards warn Israel of “bitter consequences” after attack

This Monday, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, warned Israel against “bitter consequences” after its strikes on Saturday on military sites in Iran, according to the Tasnim news agency. General Salami, head of the ideological army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that Israel had not “failed to achieve its hideous objectives” with these raids, speaking of“a bad calculation” and threatening him with “bitter and unimaginable consequences”.

Iranian diplomacy promises a “firm response” to the Israeli attack. “We are using all available means to respond firmly and effectively to the aggression of the Zionist regime”announced the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaïl Baghaï, in his weekly conference.

Israel: “huge contract” to develop laser anti-aircraft defense

The Israeli Ministry of Defense announced on Monday the award of a “huge contract” approximately $530 million to several Israeli companies to accelerate the development of the anti-aircraft laser system «Iron Beam». This system, which is added to other anti-aircraft defense means already used by Israel, should notably allow the army to intercept drones more effectively.

The latter, widely used by the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah against Israel for a year, have repeatedly escaped Israeli air defense, causing civilian and military victims. “The Ministry of Defense signed a huge contract, worth about 2 billion shekels (about $530 million) for a significant expansion of equipment for laser interception systems (Iron Beam), with its main developer, the company Rafael, and with the company Elbit Systems”he said in a press release.

The director general of the ministry, Eyal Zamir, quoted in the press release, clarified that the laser anti-aircraft defense system should be “operational within a year”. The defense company Elbit, for its part, specified that the ministry had awarded it a contract worth around $200 million as part of the development of«Iron Beam» («Rayon laser»).

At the end of September, Israel announced that it had obtained a new US military aid package of $8.7 billion “in support of Israel's ongoing military effort”in open war with Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.

Iraq protests at UN over Israel's use of its airspace

The Iraqi authorities announced that they had officially protested to the UN Secretary General and the Security Council against a «violation flagrante» perpetrated by Israel, whose planes had according to Baghdad penetrated Iraqi airspace to strike neighboring Iran on Saturday.

In this letter of protest, Iraq “condemns the blatant violation perpetrated by the Zionist entity whose aircraft violated the airspace and sovereignty of Iraq, using Iraqi airspace to execute an attack against the Islamic Republic of Iran on October 26”according to a press release from government spokesperson Bassim Alawadi.

Iran: one civilian killed in Saturday's Israeli raids

Two Iranian news agencies announced Monday the death of a civilian, killed in Israeli strikes carried out before dawn on Saturday against military sites in Iran. “Martyr Allahverdi Rahimpour, a civilian killed near Tehran during the recent attack by the Zionist regime, was buried”announced the Fars and Tasnim agencies. After the strikes, the Iranian army reported the deaths of four officers.

Israeli army calls for evacuation of neighborhoods of Tire in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army launched an appeal on Monday to residents of certain neighborhoods of Tire to evacuate their homes in this city in the south of the country. “We do not intend to harm you (…) You must immediately leave the area marked in red and head north towards the Awali River”wrote on X the spokesperson for the army in Arabic, Avichay Adraee, specifying the names of the streets concerned by the call to evacuate.

The European Union once again calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Lebanon

The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell again called on Monday for a “immediate ceasefire” in Lebanon, judging “unacceptable” the repeated attacks by the Israeli army against UN troops deployed in Lebanon (UNIFIL). “The European Union calls for an immediate ceasefire on both sides of the Blue Line”a buffer zone stretching some 120 kilometers between the southern border of Lebanon and the northern border of Israel, Mr Borrell told a meeting of the 43 members of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona . She also demands “implementation of Security Council resolutions” of the United Nations, recalled the High Representative of the EU, judging “unacceptable” THE “Israeli Defense Force attacks on UNIFIL infrastructure and personnel”.

The “Blue line” was drawn up by the United Nations in 2000 at the time of a previous withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. UN Resolution 1701, which ended a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, provides for its «strict respect» by the warring parties. Spain and Lebanon also called on Monday for “full application” of this resolution as well as to a “permanent and immediate ceasefire” in the region, in a joint communiqué published on the occasion of the UfM meeting. “This involves restoring Lebanon’s sovereignty over its territory and guaranteeing the return of displaced people”insists this press release, which demands the “full respect for international humanitarian law” and the end of attacks against Lebanese soldiers and against UNIFIL. This force, which has more than 9,500 soldiers, has been caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah since the pro-Iranian movement opened a front against Israel in October 2023. It has accused Israeli soldiers in recent weeks of shooting way “deliberate” on its positions.

Journalists killed: Lebanon appeals to UN against “Israeli attacks”

Lebanon announced on Monday that it had filed a complaint with the UN Security Council against “Israeli attacks” targeting journalists, after the death of three of them on Friday, killed by a strike in the south of the country. On X, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had referred the matter to the UN Security Council “recent Israeli attacks on journalists and media facilities in Hasbaya and Ouzai”. “Israel’s repeated attacks on media crews constitute a war crime” and Israel must be “held responsible and punished”adds the ministry. Three journalists were killed in a strike which targeted a compound at dawn on Friday where reporters were staying in the town of Hasbaya, which had until then been spared. The strike occurred while the journalists were asleep. Teams from several media outlets moved there a month ago to cover the war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army. A cameraman and his technician from the pro-Iranian channel Al Mayadeen and a journalist from the Hezbollah channel Al-Manar were killed.

According to Information Minister Ziad Makari, 18 journalists representing seven media outlets were present in the hotel complex made up of small bungalows. Prime Minister Najib Mikati denounced an attack “deliberate” aimed at “terrorize the media to cover up crimes and destruction”. On October 23, an Al-Mayadeen office near Ouzaï south of Beirut was targeted by an Israeli strike. The channel had indicated that its office had been evacuated before the strike. Several media representatives have been killed or injured in southern Lebanon since the start of violence between Israel and Hezbollah on October 8, 2023.