Israel intensifies Beirut bombardment after 26 killed in strike on Gaza mosque

ITV News' International Editor Emma Murphy reports as Israel launches more strikes on Beirut

  • Beirut was hit by further airstrikes on Sunday evening ahead of the anniversary of October 7

  • In Israel, a border police officer was killed in a stabbing and shooting attack in Beersheba

  • An airstrike on a mosque in the central Gazan town of Deir al-Balah has killed at least 26 people, Palestinian health authorities said

  • Iran has announced a temporary closure of its airspace

  • The international community is waiting to see how Israel responds to an Iranian missile attack earlier this week, amid fears of the regional conflict escalating even further

Israel has launched fresh airstrikes on Lebanon's capital on Sunday evening, ahead of the anniversary of October 7.

It comes after a border police officer was killed in a stabbing and shooting attack at a bus station in Beersheba in Israel. Police did not identify the assailant but were treating it as a terror attack.

Earlier on Sunday, at least 26 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in on a mosque and school in central Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

The mosque near the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, was sheltering displaced people, the hospital said in a statement.

Ibn Rushd School was also damaged in the strike, in which dozens more people were injured and trapped under the rubble, according to Gazan officials..

The attack early on Sunday came after Israel bombarded Lebanon on Saturday as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Survivors were pulled from the rubble after an airstrike in the early hours of the morning on a mosque and school. Credit: EBU

Meanwhile, the international community is waiting to see how Israel responds to an unprecedented missile strike on its territory by Iran earlier this week, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming Tehran "will pay".

Iran has announced a temporary shutdown of its airspace, cancelling all flights until October 7.

Hospital records from the mosque in Deir al-Balah show that all the dead were men. Another two men were critically wounded, the hospital said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control centre embedded among civilians, without providing evidence.The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is nearing 42,000, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel has announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, home to a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

The military said its forces had encircled Jabaliya as warplanes struck militant sides ahead of their advance.

Israel also ordered new evacuations in northern Gaza, which largely emptied out in the early weeks of the war when Israel ordered its entire population to flee south.

Up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained there despite harsh conditions and heavy destruction.

“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said it has expanded the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, urging people to head there.

The zone includes sprawling tent camps where hundreds of thousands of people have already sought refuge, and Israel has carried out strikes inside it against what it says are fighters sheltering among civilians.

A man rides his scooter as he drives on the debris of destroyed buildings in Dahiyeh, Beirut. Credit: AP

In Beirut, strong explosions began around midnight on Saturday and continued into Sunday after Israel’s military urged residents to evacuate areas in the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh.

They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

In September the IDF opened up a new front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, who have been firing rockets into northern Israel since the October 7 attacks in what they say is a show of support for the Palestinians. Israel’s military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut on Saturday and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar.

Social media reports suggested that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the IDF will keep fighting until the battle is won. Credit: CNN

Shortly afterwards, Hezbollah claimed it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately”.On Saturday, Israel’s attack on the northern Beddawi camp killed an official with Hamas’ military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said.

Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the current war began, in addition to most of the top leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon. At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks.

Israel says it aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders so displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others.

The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.”

The minister said the unnamed countries putting forward initiatives include regional states and some outside the Middle East.Araghchi spoke a day after the supreme leader of Iran praised its recent missile strikes on Israel and said it was ready to do it again if necessary.

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.”

On Israel's strikes and ground invasion of Lebanon, he said: "we are not done yet."

In a video shared on social media on Saturday, Netanyahu described French President Emmanuel Macron's calls to end arms sales to Israel as a "disgrace".

"As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel's side," he said.

"Yet President Macron and some other Western leaders are now calling for an arms embargo against Israel – shame on them.

"Israel will win with or without their support, but their shame will continue long after the war is won," he added.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...