The United Nations said on Sunday that Israeli tanks had burst through the gates of a base of its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, the latest accusation of Israeli violations and attacks that have been denounced by Israel’s allies.
The US said on Sunday it would send to Israel an advanced anti-missile system — and US troops to operate it — in a bid to bolster the country's air defences following missile attacks by Iran.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it attacked a Golani Brigade camp in the northern Israeli town of Binyamina with a “swarm of drones” on Sunday.
Israeli tanks burst through gates of peacekeeper base, says UN
The United Nations (UN) said on Sunday that Israeli tanks had burst through the gates of a base of its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, the latest accusation of Israeli violations and attacks that have been denounced by Israel’s allies.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to evacuate the troops of the Unifil peacekeeping force from combat areas in Lebanon. Hours later, the force reported what it described as additional Israeli violations, including two Israeli Merkava tanks destroying the main gate of a base and forcibly entering before dawn that morning.
Soon after the tanks left, shells exploded 100m away, releasing smoke which blew across the base and sickened UN personnel, causing 15 to require treatment despite wearing gas masks, it said. It did not say who fired the shells or what sort of toxic substance it suspected.
It also accused Israel’s IDF military of halting a logistics convoy. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to the statement.
“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Resolution 1701,” said the UN force. “Unifil’s mandate provides for its freedom of movement in its area of operations, and any restriction on this is a violation of Resolution 1701. We have requested an explanation from the IDF for these shocking violations.”
In his earlier statement addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said: “The time has come for you to withdraw Unifil from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.
“The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields.”
The Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, which Israel has been battling on the ground since launching an incursion at the start of this month, denies Israel’s accusation that it uses the proximity of peacekeepers for protection.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants resumed a year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
Five peacekeepers have been wounded in a series of strikes in recent days, most blamed by Unifil on Israeli forces.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, typically one of Israel’s most vocal supporters among Western European leaders, spoke to Netanyahu by phone on Sunday and denounced the “unacceptable” Israeli attacks, said her government.
Italy has more than 1,000 troops in the 10,000-strong Unifil force, making it one of the biggest contributors of personnel. France and Spain, which each have nearly 700 soldiers in the force, have also condemned the Israeli attacks.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated on Sunday that Israel had banned Guterres from entering, due to what it says is antisemitic and anti-Israeli conduct, including his failure to adequately condemn Iran for a missile attack.
The presence of Unifil puts peacekeepers from 50 countries in harm’s way, in a force initially set up in southern Lebanon in 1978.
Israel’s assault against Hezbollah over the past three weeks has been the deadliest in Lebanon in decades, driving 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes and inflicting an unprecedented blow on the group by killing most of its senior leadership.
Israeli officials say Unifil has failed in its mission of upholding UN Resolution 1701, passed after the 2006 war, which calls for the border area of southern Lebanon to be free of weapons or troops other than those of the Lebanese state.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday, expressed “deep concern” about reports that Israeli forces had fired on peacekeeper positions. He urged Israel to ensure their safety and that of the Lebanese military, which is not party to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has already told UN peacekeepers to get out of the way, asking them weeks ago to prepare to relocate more than 5km from the border “in order to maintain your safety”, according to an excerpt from a message seen by Reuters.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council on Thursday that “the safety and security of peacekeepers is now increasingly in jeopardy”. They remained in position but operational activities had virtually come to a halt since 23 September.
Lebanon’s government says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting, mainly over the past few weeks. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but includes scores of women and children.
US to send anti-missile system to Israel, says Pentagon
The US said on Sunday it would send to Israel an advanced anti-missile system — and US troops to operate it — in a bid to bolster the country’s air defences following missile attacks by Iran.
US President Joe Biden said he was sending the system “to defend Israel”.
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery would augment Israel’s integrated air defence system.
“It is part of the broader adjustments the US military has made in recent months, to support the defence of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” said Ryder.
Hezbollah launches drone attack on north Israeli town
On Sunday, Hezbollah said it attacked a camp of the Israeli military's Golani Brigade camp in Binyamina in northern Israel with a "swarm of drones". Some of the unmanned aircraft, which included drone models Hezbollah has not used before, penetrated Israeli air defense radars without being detected, the group said in a statement.
Israel's military said four of its soldiers were killed and seven severely injured in the incident. The incident was being examined, the military said.
Thousands trapped in Jabalia camp as Israel escalates attacks
Thousands of people were trapped in Gaza’s Jabalia camp as Israeli forces attacked the area, said Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) on Friday, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it said was aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.
At least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded late on Friday by Israeli strikes in Jabalia, which also damaged four nearby homes, medics told Reuters. The death toll was likely to rise, they said.
Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, the medics added. Nearly half of the fatalities, including the 20 killed at the home, occurred in Jabalia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza's historic refugee camps.
The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of militants in Jabalia, though it remains unclear how many of the dead were civilians rather than fighters.
“Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot,” said MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke on X.
Five MSF staff were trapped in Jabalia, she said.
At least 15 of the fatalities in Jabalia since dawn were due to Israeli strikes targeting various areas, including a school sheltering displaced individuals, said the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing medical sources.
Gaza's Civil Defence said dozens were wounded by Israeli quadcopter drone fire at the same school.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has previously said Gaza’s militants use such shelters for cover. Hamas has denied this.
The Israeli military has sent troops into the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya as well as Jabalia. Hamas has said it will keep fighting Israeli forces.
Israeli tanks deepen their push into northern Gaza Strip
Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza, and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said.
Residents said Israeli forces had effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon their permission for families willing to heed evacuation orders and leave the three towns.
Nine days into a major Israeli operation in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said Israeli strikes had killed around 300 Palestinians there. It said Israel's bombardment of civilian houses and displacement shelters was intended to force residents to leave Gaza once and for all, which Israel denies.
Gaza’s health ministry says dozens of people have been confirmed killed in the assaults on northern areas, with many dozens of others feared dead on roads and under the rubble of houses beyond the reach of medical teams.
The northern part of Gaza, home to well over half the territory’s 2.3 million people, was bombed to rubble in the first phase of Israel’s assault on the territory a year ago, after the 7 October attacks on Israeli towns by militants who killed 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages.
After a year of Israeli assaults that killed 42,000 Palestinians, hundreds of thousands of residents have come back to the ruined northern areas. Israel sent troops back more than a week ago to root out fighters it said were regrouping for more attacks. Hamas denies fighters operate among civilians.
While the main assault is on the north, Israel is also striking other areas across the Gaza Strip. The health ministry reported at least 11 people killed by late morning on Sunday, including at least six killed in a house in Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, south of Gaza City.
The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that forces operating throughout the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours had attacked about 40 targets and killed dozens of militants.
“The forces of Division 162 continue to operate in the Jabalia region, in the last day the forces killed dozens of terrorists and found explosives, weapons, grenades and other means of warfare in the region,” it said.
The armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and smaller other factions said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and nearby areas with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire.
Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe areas in Gaza. They have also voiced concerns over severe shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies in northern Gaza, and said there was a risk of famine there.
Some tank shells landed in some streets of the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan, where tanks arrived at the edges of the territory, residents said, spreading panic among the population further south.
Trump says he recently spoke with Netanyahu
Former US president Donald Trump, who is the Republican presidential candidate, said he spoke with Netanyahu “like two days ago”.
Trump was asked when last he spoke to the Israeli leader during a Fox News interview that aired on Sunday.
“Like two days ago and he came to my house in Florida, Mar-a-Lago with his wife who was lovely,” he responded.
Trump met with Netanyahu at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in July. It was their first meeting since the end of Trump’s presidency.
Biden also spoke with Netanyahu last week amid tensions with Iran. Their Wednesday call was the first known conversation between the two leaders since August. It coincided with a sharp escalation of Israel’s conflict with Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
Trump called the lack of conversation between Biden and Netanyahu in nearly two months “pathetic”.
“I can tell you that Bibi has been very strong,” said Trump. “He’s not listening to Biden.”
Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been tense, strained over the Israeli leader’s handling of the war in Gaza and the conflict with Hezbollah. Israel has said it will pursue its military operations until all Israelis are safe. DM
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