Middle East latest: Israel warns Iran it could end up like Gaza as it considers response to missile attack
Israel claims it is only targeting Hamas and Hezbollah military sites despite significant civilian casualties
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Israel’s defence minister has warned that Iran could end up like Gaza as it considers how to respond to Tehran’s unprecedented ballistic missile attack.
Yoav Gallant, a key ally of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Iranian attack, which involved 180 ballistic missiles, had failed to do significant damage.
But warning against further assaults, he added: “Whoever thinks that a mere attempt to harm us will deter us from taking action should take a look at Gaza and Beirut.”
It comes as Israel is considering how to respond to Iran’s missile attack. US president Joe Biden has urged Israel not to hit Iran’s oil facilities for fear of the knock-effect on global oil supplies.
Meanwhile, at least 26 people have been killed and 93 others wounded after Israeli airstrikes targeted a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.
The strikes on the mosque and the school, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, came as the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the enclave approaches its first anniversary tomorrow.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced in Lebanon, says UN
Several injured in suspected shooting attack in southern Israel, police say
Israeli police have said that several people have been injured in a suspected shooting attack in the city of Beersheba in the country’s south, while the ambulance service says the attacker has been killed.
The ambulance service said a seriously injured woman was being treated at the scene while eight other people injured in the attack, including one in a moderate to serious condition, were receiving medical treatment in a nearby hospital.
Israeli ambassador invokes Mahsa Amini’s name in criticism of Iran regime
Israeli ambassador invokes Mahsa Amini’s name in criticism of Iran regime
Israel's ambassador to the UK invoked Mahsa Amini's name in her criticism of the Iranian regime as she defended strikes against Hezbollah. Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday’s (6 October) episode of her BBC show, Tzipi Hotovely said the world "needs to prevent [Iran's] nuclear abilities. "If this is what Iran is doing without nuclear abilities, can you imagine what this regime of terror, this regime that killed and executed Mahsa Amini... can do?" Ms Hotovely referenced the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran in 2022 after she was arrested for allegedly violating a mandatory headscarf law.
Israeli military issues new evacuation alerts for areas in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson issued new evacuation alerts on Sunday for residents of around 25 areas in southern Lebanon, calling on them to head immediately to the north of the Awali River.
Mosque lies in ruins as Israel continues Gaza bombardment amid Lebanon strikes
Mosque lies in ruins as Israel continues Gaza bombardment amid Lebanon strikes
Torn copies of the Quran lay amongst the rubble of a destroyed mosque in Gaza following what Palestinian officials said was an Israeli strike that killed at least 19 people on Sunday, 6 October. The religious building in Deir al-Balah lay in ruins as Israel continued its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Beirut in its widening war on Iran-allied militant groups across the region. Israel's military said it conducted “precise strikes on Hamas terrorists” who were operating within command and control centres embedded in Ibn Rushd School and the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque. Israel and Hamas are still in conflict as the first anniversary of the October 7 attack approaches.
Tory shadow foreign sec says Israel should engage in Lebanon ceasefire
The “right approach” to ending conflict in Lebanon is “not a ceasefire”, the Conservative shadow foreign secretary has said.
Andrew Mitchell told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “It is a very dangerous crisis in a world that in recent years has become more dangerous than at any time in our lifetime.
“But I think if you focus on what is happening in Lebanon, you see that Israel absolutely has the right of self-defence.
“No government would allow an internationally proscribed terrorist organisation to sit there lobbing rockets over the border and moving its populations, killing its population - more than 60,000 Israelis have had to move south.
“And the right approach is not a ceasefire, actually. The right approach is for Hezbollah and its Iranian masters to abide by United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, and pull back behind the Litani River, and that would end the conflict that's taking place in Lebanon.”
UPD: More than two dozen killed in Israeli srtike on Gaza school and mosque
At least 26 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on a school and mosque in the central Gaza Strip, the local, Hamas-run health ministry has said.
Previously, the authorities’ media office put the death toll from the strikes on Deir al-Balah at 24.
Dozens of people were reported to have been injured. The Israeli military claimed it had targeted Hamas militants in the strikes.
Gaza death toll rises to 41,870, ministry says
At least 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and 97,166 others injured in Israel‘s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, Gaza’s health ministry has said.
Pro-Gaza protester attempts self-immolation outside White House
Pro-Gaza protester attempts self-immolation outside White House
The self-immolation attempt occurred just days before the anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas
In pictures: Israel airstrikes hit Gaza and Beirut, killing dozens
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