Middle East latest: Fireballs light up Beirut sky during Israeli attacks as Haifa hit by rockets

Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei said in a rare public address yesterday that Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza will not back down amid Israel’s invasion and airstrikes over Beirut.

Khamenei defended Iran’s airstrike on Israel as “legal and legitimate”, adding that the country would not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting Israel.

If Israel attacked, Tehran would retaliate by targeting Israeli energy and gas installations, Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi was quoted saying semi-official news agency SNN.

“Every strike launched by any group against Israel is a service to the region and to all humanity,” Khamenei said, adding that assassinations would just spur more attacks.

Shipments carrying first aid from the United Arab Emirates have arrived in Lebanon.

The UAE has pledged $100m in urgent relief to Lebanon amid Israel’s invasion of the country.

UAE’s first plane arrived yesterday with 40 tonnes of medical supplies in Beirut.

The South Korean military has evacuated 97 citizens and their family members from Lebanon amid Israel’s invasion and escalating tensions in the region, the country’s foreign ministry said.

A KC-330 aircraft carrying the evacuees, including Lebanese family members, departed from Beirut on Friday and is expected to return to South Korea on Saturday afternoon.

South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol ordered military aircraft to be deployed to rescue citizens from parts of the Middle East affected by the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Former US president and Republican nominee Donald Trump said Israel should target Iran’s nuclear facilities, days after president Joe Biden said that an “all-out war” in the Middle East should be avoided.

“That’s the thing you want to hit, right?..I mean, it’s the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons,” Mr Trump said at a campaign event in North Carolina, adding that Israel should “worry about everything else later”.

“If they’re going to do it, they’re going to do it. But we’ll find out whatever their plans are,” he added.

US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Flint, Michigan, who are angered by the White House’s support for Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

During the meeting, Ms Harris reportedly discussed efforts to prevent a regional war.

“Emgage Action asked Vice President Harris to impress upon President Biden the urgency of bringing an immediate end to the violence,” Wa’el Alzayat, the chief of Emgage Action, a group of organisations seeking to empower Muslim Americans, said.

“She agrees that this war needs to end,” Mr Alzayat added.

Israeli strike in northern Lebanon has killed a leader of Hamas armed wing along with three of his family members, Hamas media said.

Israel stated that it is considering various options in response to Iran’s missile strike on Tuesday, which Iran launched in retaliation for Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.

More than 2,000 people have been killed so far in Israel’s attacks across Lebanon, including 127 children and 261 women, according to the country’s health ministry.

Oil prices have risen on the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil facilities as Israel pursues its goals of pushing back Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and eliminating their Hamas allies in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel's shoes, adding that he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran.

Many buildings have been reduced to rubble in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Nearly all the storefronts in the main market street, Moawad Souk, were damaged and the road filled with broken glass.

"We're alive but don't know for how long," said Nouhad Chaib, a 40-year-old man already displaced from the south.

The Islamic Health Authority, a civil defense agency linked to Hezbollah, said 11 medics had been killed in three separate Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon on Friday.

The Israeli military said that in the past day it had struck several weapons storage facilities, command and control centres, and additional Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beirut area.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, visiting Beirut and meeting with top Lebanese officials, said Tehran supported efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon provided it was backed by Hezbollah and was simultaneous with a Gaza ceasefire.

A bugging device was found in Boris Johnson’s bathroom after a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu when he was foreign secretary, the former prime minister has claimed.

Mr Johnson alleged that his security team had made the discovery when they did a sweep of the toilets after the Israeli premier had used them during a meeting in 2017.

Writing in his memoir, “Unleashed”, the former Tory MP said Mr Netanyahu had excused himself during talks at his old office to use the washroom, described as “a secret annex… a bit like the gents in a posh London club.”

Nina Lloyd reports: