Hezbollah confirms death of air unit commander
Hezbollah has confirmed the death of Mohammad Surur, who Israel Defense Forces earlier said was killed in an airstrike on Beirut earlier on Thursday.
The Israeli military described Surur as in charge of Hezbollah’s drone operations. Hezbollah did not provide details on his role.
Key events
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Hezbollah confirms death of air unit commander
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‘Stop the violence’: Starmer calls on Israel and Hezbollah to ‘step back from the brink’
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Starmer addresses UN general assembly
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‘This must stop’: Unicef regional director condemns Israeli strike on Gaza school
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IDF says it has hit 220 Hezbollah targets on Thursday
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No sign Netanyahu will agree to US-backed ceasefire in Lebanon, say gloomy western diplomats
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Houthis say they ‘will not hesitate’ to support Hezbollah
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At least 11 killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza school
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Israeli military launches more airstrikes on Hezbollah targets after rejecting ceasefire calls
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Protests in New York before Netanyahu’s UN speech on Friday
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White House says US ‘coordinated’ with Israel on ceasefire statement Israelis now reject
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Summary of the day so far
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Lebanon says more than 1,500 killed in cross-border violence with Israel
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Israel says it secures $8.7bn US military aid package
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Two killed in Israeli strike on Beirut, says health ministry
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Israel to keep striking Hezbollah ‘with full force until we reach all our goals’, says Netanyahu
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‘We now face the risk of an all-out war’ that could be ‘devastating’ for Israel and Lebanon, warns US defence secretary
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Abbas urges world leaders to ‘stop sending weapons to Israel’
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‘We will not leave’: Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas addresses UN leaders
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Israel says it killed top Hezbollah air force commander in Beirut strike
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Israel approves ‘continued IDF offensive activity’ against Hezbollah in Lebanon
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US, UK, EU, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others issue further joint statement calling for immediate Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire
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Security minister Ben-Gvir says his party will quit Netanyahu’s coalition if permanent ceasefire with Hezbollah agreed
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IDF announces it is carrying out ‘strikes in Beirut’
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Israel’s foreign minister rules out US-French ceasefire proposal saying ‘There will be no ceasefire in the north’
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23 Syrians killed, most of them women or children, in Israeli strike on Younine in Lebanon – mayor
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Finance minister Smotrich rejects ceasefire proposal, says ‘crushing’ Hezbollah is only option
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Northern Israel community leaders reject ceasefire plan, saying ‘this is a time for war’
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France and US push for 21-day Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire in Lebanon
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Opening summary
The White House said the Biden administration believed that Israel was “on board” with a proposal for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah when the US, France and other allies announced the proposal on Wednesday night.
The White House’s national security spokesperson, John Kirby, told reporters on Thursday:
We had every reason to believe that in the drafting of it and in the delivery of it, that the Israelis were fully informed and full aware of every word in it. We wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t believe that it would be received with the seriousness with which it was composed.
Kirby said it was unclear why the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to dismiss the idea of a ceasefire and vowed to “continue to hit Hezbollah with all our might”.
I certainly can’t begin to speculate about what considerations went into that statement, whether they were political or operational or otherwise. Those are questions that he needs to be asked and should be given the opportunity to answer.
Hezbollah confirms death of air unit commander
Hezbollah has confirmed the death of Mohammad Surur, who Israel Defense Forces earlier said was killed in an airstrike on Beirut earlier on Thursday.
The Israeli military described Surur as in charge of Hezbollah’s drone operations. Hezbollah did not provide details on his role.
Starmer also calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and says it “shames us all that the suffering” in the Palestinian territory continues to grow.
The answer to that is diplomacy, he says, as well as the release of all the hostages and the unfettered flow of aid to those in need.
That is the only way to break this devastating cycle of violence and begin the journey towards a political solution for the long term, which delivers the long promised Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.
He says world leaders must also work together for peace, adding that the world “cannot look away”.
‘Stop the violence’: Starmer calls on Israel and Hezbollah to ‘step back from the brink’
Starmer says there are “positive, practical” thing that world leaders can do together, starting with “addressing the rising tide of conflict and preventing a regional war in the Middle East”. He tells the UN general assembly:
I call on Israel and Hezbollah stop the violence, step back from the brink.
The UK leader urges an immediate ceasefire to provide space for a diplomatic settlement, and says Britain is working with allies to that end.
“Because further escalation serves no one,” Starmer says.
It offers nothing but more suffering for innocent people on all sides, and the prospect of a wider war that no one can control and with consequences that none of us can foresee.
Starmer says his Labour government was elected “to change Britain”, but that Britain’s success can never be separated from events beyond it.
He says the UK is “changing our approach on the global stage”, adding:
My message today is this: we are returning the UK to responsible global leadership, because I think the international system can be better. We need it to be better.
He says a sense of “fatalism” has taken hold, but that urges world leaders to not accept “this slide into greater conflict, instability and injustice.”
Starmer addresses UN general assembly
The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, is addressing the UN general assembly in New York.
Starmer begins his speech by describing himself as someone “with a deep belief” in the principles of the UN and the value of international cooperation.
He says that as a student, he read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it had a “profound impact” on him. He says that as a lawyer, he worked to protect those rights and that the declaration still inspires him now as prime minister.
But the idea of “equal and inalienable” rights based on a foundation of “freedom, justice and peace” feel like a “distant hope” now, Starmer says.
Conflict touches more countries now than at any time in the history of this assembly. Around the world, more fires are breaking out and burning with a greater intensity, exacting a terrible toll in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Yemen and beyond.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has warned Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that it would be “mistake” to refuse a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Netanyahu would have to take “responsibility” for a regional escalation if he did not agree to US-French calls for a 21-day temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Macron said at a news conference in Montreal on Thursday, AFP reported.
He said he did not think comments by Israeli officials on the proposed ceasefire were definitive, Reuters reported. Macron said:
We will work hard in the hours to come in order to convince Israel to commit and indeed deliver the ceasefire for 21 days.
“The proposal that was made is a solid proposal,” the French leader said, adding that the plan supported by the US and the EU had been prepared with Netanyahu himself.
He added that France is opposed to Lebanon becoming a new Gaza, as he called on Israel to stop its strikes and Hezbollah to stop retaliating.
Here are some images from pro-Palestinian protests in New York, London and Geneva on Thursday.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived in New York earlier today ahead of his speech at the UN general assembly on Friday.
‘This must stop’: Unicef regional director condemns Israeli strike on Gaza school
The UN’s children agency (Unicef) regional director for the Middle East, Adele Khodr, has condemned the killing of Palestinian children after four schools were struck in northern Gaza this week.
Khodr, posting to X, said children were among the casualties of an Israeli airstrike on al-Faluja school in the Jabalia refugee camp on Thursday, which killed at least 11 people.
The school, which was used as a centre in the recent polio vaccination campaign, is now “totally destroyed”, she said, adding:
As conflict expands in the region, the Gaza Strip continues to be struck by bombardments. We must not look away. Gaza children are still being killed every day. This must stop, children must be protected. Ceasefire now.
Four schools have been struck in the north of #Gaza in the last five days. Many children were reportedly among the victims.
Today, a strike hit #Hafsa Falluja school in Jabalia, reportedly killing 11 people. Horrifying footage shows children are among the casualties. This school…
— Adele Khodr (@AdeleKhodr) September 26, 2024
The Palestinian human rights group Al Mezan Center for Human Rights shared footage showing the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Thursday.
At 2:30 pm today, Israeli forces directly targeted Al-Falouja school in Jabaliya, North Gaza, where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
The attack killed at least 11 Palestinians, some torn to pieces and dismembered, according to our researcher on the scene. pic.twitter.com/Ou9SPFt1K0
— Al-Mezan الميزان (@AlMezanCenter) September 26, 2024
Gaza officials said the strike on al-Faluja school in the Jabalia refugee camp killed 15 people, including women and children, and injured dozens of others.
The New York Times said it had verified videos showing people carrying body parts and badly injured children.
The Israeli military said Hamas fighters had been using the school to plan attacks on Israel and its forces, without providing evidence.
IDF says it has hit 220 Hezbollah targets on Thursday
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its fighter jets hit 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday.
The targets included buildings used by the terror group, rocket launchers used in attacks on northern Israel, weapon depots, and operatives, according to the military.
Israeli fighter jets struck some 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon today, the IDF says.
The targets included buildings used by the terror group, rocket launchers used in attacks on northern Israel, weapon depots, and operatives, according to the military.
The strikes were… pic.twitter.com/kRz2nBEI9Z
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 26, 2024
No sign Netanyahu will agree to US-backed ceasefire in Lebanon, say gloomy western diplomats
Patrick Wintour
Western diplomats in New York were deeply gloomy about the fate of the 21-day ceasefire call made by the US and other states on Wednesday, saying there is little sign that Benjamin Netanyahu was being privately more emollient than in public.
Some US officials claimed the surprise US backing of the ceasefire came after an Israeli understanding that the call might be supported by Netanyahu. The US said private talks were continuing in New York at the UN.
The diplomats added there was no evidence as yet that Netanyahu would promise Israel will not commit ground troops, but Netanyahu has a long history of juggling pressure from the US and from the extreme right in his cabinet.
UK efforts both by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, to secure a meeting either with Netanyahu or Ron Dermer, Israel’s chief of strategy, in New York did not bear fruit, possibly reflecting Israel’s unhappiness over the UK imposing a limited ban on arms exports.
The UK led on the ceasefire call but feels it has shot its bolt with the arms exports announcement, and cannot do anything punitive further simply due to Lebanon.
It does not exclude actions against extremist members of the Israeli government if that is agreed as part of a legal process.
Some diplomats insist the US shifted from being clearly against a ceasefire – the position at a G7 dinner – to backing one on Wednesday afternoon. US officials have briefed that it has always been leading the ceasefire call.
But it seems possible that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, influenced Joe Biden when they met on Wednesday, or that internal US divisions over the ceasefire calls had been resolved. The best hope is that outside the context of the UN, an institution the Israelis despise, Netanyahu might hold back against Hezbollah.
Iran has said it is not possible to detach a ceasefire in Lebanon from the ceasefire in Gaza, the linkage made by Hezbollah.
One source said Iran has folded its arms and is not going to do anything further to help.
Anna Betts
The gathering of pro-Palestinian protesters outside the New York public library has gotten bigger.
At least 300 people are here, with lots of law enforcement present.
Many people in the crowd are holding signs accusing Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel who arrived in New York today and will address the UN tomorrow, of being a war criminal.
One woman is wearing a sign that reads “against antisemitism & for a free Palestinian, not a contradiction”. Another protester is holding a “wanted” sign with Netanyahu’s face on it.
Across the street, one or two people are holding Israeli flags.
The US has accused Russia of holding talks on weapon transfers with Yemen’s Houthi movement, marking Tehran’s deepening ties to Moscow.
Russia was “cutting its own deals” with the Houthis to allow their ships to sail through the Red Sea unharmed, Tim Lenderking, the US special envoy for Yemen, told AFP on Thursday.
“We have confirmation that the Russians and the Houthis are in dialogue about ways to cooperate,” including on weapon transfers, he said on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, adding:
We don’t know that weapons are being transferred as we speak, but it’s come to the point that we’re all sounding the alarm bell to make sure that this does not happen.
“The notion that the Russians would provide the Houthis with lethal weapons is deeply alarming to the countries of the region,” he said.
His comments came after Reuters reported that Iran had brokered ongoing secret talks between Russia and the Houthis to transfer anti-ship missiles to the Iran-backed militant group.
Citing sources, it said that Russia has yet to decide to transfer the Yakhont missiles – also known as P-800 Oniks – which experts say could allow the Houthis to more accurately strike commercial vessels in the Red Sea and increase the threat to the US and European warships defending them.
Houthis say they ‘will not hesitate’ to support Hezbollah
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement said it targeted the northern Israeli town of Safed with dozens of rockets on Thursday in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
The leader of the Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, condemned Israeli strikes on Lebanon in a televised address, adding that the attacks were aimed at blocking Hezbollah, which is also backed by Iran, from “supporting Gaza and the Palestinian people”, AFP reported.
The group “will not hesitate to support Lebanon and Hezbollah”, he said.
Since November, the Houthis have targeted Red Sea shipping with drones and missiles in what they said is solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said Israel’s attacks on Lebanon will continue as long as the west remains silent.
Reuters reports that Erdoğan spoke to Turkish journalists in New York before leaving the UN general assembly on Thursday.
The Turkish leader is reported to have said that Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon were proof that it was trying to spread the war in Gaza to the wider region, adding that the UN was powerless to stop it. He reportedly said:
As the world remains silent and western countries give the Israeli leadership weapons support, these massacres will sadly continue. We stressed this in our meetings.