Israel-Iran war live updates: Israeli strike on Beirut targets senior Hezbollah official

Israel-Iran war live updates: An Israeli strike in Beirut aimed at senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, as stated by an Israeli source in a post on the social media platform X early Friday, Reuters reported.

Safieddine is widely considered the successor to the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. However, Reuters has not been able to verify this information, and there has been no immediate official statement from either party.

Israel-Iran war live updates: According to a source in Lebanon's Ministry of Transport and Public Works, at least one Israeli strike early Friday targeted an area outside the perimeter of Beirut's international airport, as reported by Reuters.

Israel-Iran war live updates: President Joe Biden stated on Thursday that the US is considering strikes on Iran's oil facilities in response to Tehran's missile attack on Israel, while Israel's military continues its operations against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Reuters reported

As Israel evaluates its options following Iran's largest assault to date on Tuesday, Biden was asked if he would endorse an Israeli strike on Iran's oil facilities. "We're discussing that," he replied to reporters.

His remarks led to a spike in global oil prices, as escalating tensions in the Middle East have raised concerns among traders about potential supply disruptions. However, Biden emphasized, "There is nothing going to happen today." He also reiterated on Wednesday that he would not support any Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Israel-Iran war live updates: The Israeli military has issued an urgent call for the immediate evacuation of specific buildings located in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israel-Iran war live updates: G7 leaders on Thursday expressed their growing concern over the escalating crisis in the Middle East, urging regional actors to "act responsibly" and exercise restraint, while reaffirming their strong support for Israel's security, Reuters reported.

In a statement released by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office, the G7 leaders declared, "We, the Leaders of the G7, express deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East ... We unequivocally reiterate our commitment to the security of Israel."

The statement also warned of the risks posed by the ongoing cycle of attacks and retaliations, saying it could lead to an "uncontrollable escalation" that would serve no one's interests. "Therefore, we call on all regional players to act responsibly and with restraint."

The G7 includes the United States, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, and Britain.

Israel-Iran war live updates: The Israeli army announced on Thursday that its troops had freed a Yazidi woman who had been held in Gaza after being captured by Islamic State militants a decade ago and trafficked to the Palestinian territory.

The military revealed that the 21-year-old woman of Yazidi origin was rescued during a coordinated and intricate operation earlier this week, which involved collaboration with the United States, Jordan, and other international partners.

"She was recently rescued in a secret mission from the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing," the army stated.

"Upon her entry into Israel, she continued to Jordan through the Allenby Bridge crossing and from there returned to her family in Iraq."

Israel-Iran war live updates: The Israeli military on Thursday issued warnings for residents to evacuate a city and several communities in southern Lebanon, located north of a U.N.-designated buffer zone. This move suggests that Israel may expand the ground offensive it initiated earlier in the week against Hezbollah, Associated Press reported.

The evacuation orders include Nabatieh, a provincial capital, and surrounding areas north of the Litani River, which marks the northern boundary of the U.N. Security Council's border zone established after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Both sides have accused each other of breaching the resolution.

So far, at least nine Israeli soldiers have died in clashes with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, where Israel has described its current ground operations as limited. The region is also on high alert for potential Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic missile strike.

Israel-Iran war live updates: The head of the Israeli military on Thursday pledged to continue targeting Hezbollah positions throughout Lebanon, emphasising that the group would not be permitted to reestablish itself in its traditional strongholds, AFP reported.

"We will not allow Hezbollah to settle itself in these places in the future. The severe blows against Hezbollah in all areas -- in Beirut, in the (Bekaa) Valley, in south Lebanon -- will continue," Israeli armed forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi stated in a televised address.

Leading humanitarian groups on Thursday called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, voicing concern at the growing impact of Israel's conflict with Hezbollah on civilians.

"The last couple of weeks have been a complete nightmare," said Jennifer Moorehead, Lebanon country director for Save the Children.

More than 1.2 million people or 20 percent of the population had left their homes and were on the move, she said, creating a "crisis of alarming proportions", Beirut-based Moorehead told a video conference. (AFP)

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement that it has attacked a target in South Israel, reported Reuters.

The Israeli military said that it intercepted a drone in southern Israel, with no casualties reported. (Reuters)

President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities, in comments that sent oil prices spiking Thursday just a month before the US presidential election.

Biden told reporters at the White House however that he was not expecting Israel to launch any retaliation for Tehran's missile barrage on Israel before Thursday at least. (AFP)

At least 28 on-duty medics have been killed in the past 24 hours in Lebanon, where Israel has launched airstrikes and sent troops to fight Hezbollah in an escalating conflict, the World Health Organization chief said on Thursday.

"Many (other) health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an online press briefing, calling for stronger protections for health workers. (Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut has killed nine people, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the Hezbollah militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital.

There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central Beirut not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members were killed. (AP)

US President Joe Biden said he did not believe any Israeli strikes against Iran would come on Thursday, as the region tensely awaits a response to Tehran's massive missile attack on Israel.

"First of all, we don't 'allow' Israel, we advise Israel. And there is nothing going to happen today," Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if he would allow Israel to retaliate against Iran. (AFP)

Lebanon's health minister said Thursday more than 40 rescuers and firefighters were killed by Israeli fire in three days, with 97 killed overall since Hezbollah and Israel began clashing last October.

Firass Abiad told reporters that in three days 40 people "among those working in ambulances and fire trucks" were killed. (AFP)

Lebanon's army said it returned Israeli fire for the first time on Thursday in nearly a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah after a second soldier was killed by Israeli fire.

"A soldier was killed after the Israeli enemy targeted an army post in the Bint Jbeil area -- in the south, and the personnel at the post responded to the sources of fire," the army said in a statement. A military official told AFP this was the first response to Israeli fire since last October because the post had been "directly" hit, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. (AFP)

Iran summoned the German and Austrian ambassadors on Thursday after their governments rebuked the Islamic republic over its missile attack on Israel, state media reported. The move, according to the official IRNA news agency, was in response to the "unacceptable measures" by Germany and Austria in summoning the Iranian envoys over Iran's attack on Tuesday. Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement that the attack was a "legitimate, responsible and effective response in punishing the aggressor Zionist regime (Israel)". (AFP)

Lebanon's state-run media said three Israeli air strikes hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold on Thursday, the latest raids following a night of intense bombardment.

"Enemy aircraft launched three strikes on (Beirut's) southern suburbs," the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

A source close to the group told AFP the strike "targeted a building housing Hezbollah's media relations office," which had already been "evacuated". (AFP)

Airlines are largely avoiding Iranian airspace in their flights over the Middle East, according to flight tracker FlightRadar24, lengthening flight times and hiking up fuel costs as worries over a retaliatory attack from Israel targeting Iran grow. (Reuters)

Israel's military urged residents of over 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately on Thursday as it pressed on with an incursion after suffering its worst losses in a year of fighting the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah. (Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut has killed nine people, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the Hezbollah militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital. (AP)

Iran responded to the G7 condemnation of its attack on Israel by saying it is "biased and irresponsible", Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement on Thursday. (Reuters)

Israel's military said it killed 15 Hezbollah militants in an air strike on southern Lebanon, as the Iran-backed movement said it thwarted an Israeli advance at the border.

Israel announced this week that its troops had started "ground raids" into parts of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, after days of heavy bombardment on areas across the country where the group holds sway.

The bombing has killed more than 1,000 people, according to Lebanese health ministry figures, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic and political crisis. (AFP)

Israel has killed Abdel-Aziz Salha, a West Bank Hamas militant who had been jailed for life for taking part in the lynching of two Israeli reservists in Ramallah in 2000 but later deported to Gaza in a prisoner swap, Hamas media and medics said.

Salha was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent inside Al-Aklouk School, which shelters displaced Palestinians, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday, medics said. (Reuters)