The US is sending a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery to Israel along with troops to operate it
The announcement was made on Sunday just hours after Iran warned the US to keep its military forces out of Israel. Thaad deployment “underscores” America’s “ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran”, the Pentagon said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah drone attacks on an army base in central Israel killed at least four soldiers and severely wounded seven others, the military said.
The Iran-backed group called the attack near Binyamina city retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut that killed 22 people on Thursday.
The attack comes as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN chief Antonio Guterres to remove peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon “immediately”.
“Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Mr Netanyahu said.
It comes as 40 nations, including the UK, “strongly” condemn the attacks on peacekeepers, after five were injured by gunfire.
A spokesperson for UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said attacks against peacekeepers might constitute a “war crime”.
Pictured: UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
Palestinian medics say at least 10 people killed in Israeli strikes at Gaza food distribution center
Palestinian medics said on Monday that at least 10 people were killed and at least 30 injured in Israeli airstrikes on a food distribution center in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, with casualties including women and children.
Israeli strike on Gaza hospital tent camp kills four and ignites a fire that burns dozens
Germany’s Nazi history has left it in turmoil over how to treat Israel
Two events took place last weekend in Germany. At a conference in Berlin called The Big Chill, a group of thinkers and activists denounced what they called “anticipatory obedience” in which Germans, including Jews, had been “muted, de-platformed and stigmatised” for criticising Israel’s response to the atrocities of 7 October 2023.
At the same time, in a small town called Zeitz in eastern Germany, 10 “stumbling stones”, small memorial brass plates denoting the homes of Jews taken to be exterminated in concentration camps, were ripped up. “Whoever did this wants to tear the Holocaust out of our memory,” a leading local politician, Götz Ulrich, declared.
The sad fact is both sets of assertions are largely true. And yet, it was a weekend like any other and neither event received particular coverage.
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In pics: Israel airstrikes leave trail of destruction in Lebanon
Iraq and Iran warn Israel against sparking broader war
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi yesterday said that the Middle East faces “dangerous challenges” as Tehran anticipates an Israeli strike.
“Iran does not seek war, but we are prepared for war,” Mr Araghchi said at a news conference in Baghdad after meeting with his Iraqi counterpart.
Meanwhile, Iraqi foreign minister Fouad Hussein said Israel was forbidden from using Iraq’s airspace in any possible strike against Iran.
Baghdad’s top diplomat said an outbreak of regional war will create not only a global crisis but also fertile ground for the re-emergence of extremist groups like the Islamic State.“We are trying to keep the conflict away from the region and Iraq,” he said.
Lloyd Austin raises safety of UN peacekeepers in call with Israeli counterpart
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, in a call with his Israeli counterpart, stressed the importance of Israel taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon and the Lebanese Armed Forces, the Pentagon said.
Mr Austin, in the call with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, also reinforced the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway to provide security for civilians as soon as feasible.
He said that steps must be taken soon to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said in the statement.
Israeli strikes kill a family of 8 in Gaza and destroy a century-old market in Lebanon
An Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip killed a family of eight, Palestinian medical officials said Sunday, as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants in the territory’s north and airstrikes destroyed a century-old market in southern Lebanon.
The strike in Gaza late Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from 8 to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.
It said a further seven people were wounded, including two women and a child in critical condition. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.
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UN says Israeli tanks ‘forcibly entered’ base of its force
Israeli tanks forcibly entered a UN peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon yesterday, the organisation said, the latest accusation of violations and attacks by the IDF on the UN.
It comes as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded UN forces leave the area.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said two Israeli Merkava tanks destroyed and burst through the main gate of a base before dawn yesterday.
After the tanks left, shells exploded 100 metres away, releasing smoke that blew across the base and caused UN personnel to fall sick, with 15 requiring treatment despite wearing gas masks, it said in a statement.
Tara Cobham reports.
Bill Maher says Chappell Roan would be thrown ‘off a roof’ in Gaza after singer shows support for Palestine
“To mark the October 7 anniversary, we must launch a campaign to educate young Americans about the Middle East,” the talk show host began the episode by saying.
“And the way I’d like to begin that process is by addressing an open letter to Chappell Roan. Now, to those viewers who aren’t watching this while also looking at your phones, let me explain. … She’s actually a great new artist, who, like a Hezbollah pager, is really blowing up.”
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Source: independent.co.uk