Updates: Israel launches new wave of air strikes on southern Beirut

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For a look at why Netanyahu won’t let Israel stop fighting after killing Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar, read this piece.

If you want to know what challenges Palestinian Beduins are facing after being forced out of their land by Israeli settlers, go here.

And here is a piece looking at the latest Israeli attack on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

We’re about to close this live page and move to a new one. But before we do that, here’s a recap of the day’s major developments:

• The Israeli army launched a barrage of rockets across Lebanon – including 12 in Beirut’s suburbs – after it announced the targeting of Hezbollah’s al-Qard al-Hassan financial institution’s offices.
• Israeli forces have also intensified attacks across Gaza where several Palestinians have been wounded by an Israeli bombardment in the Jabalia camp, in northern Gaza.
• The UN’s Human Rights Office says it is increasingly concerned that the Israeli military’s actions in northern Gaza “may be causing the destruction of the Palestinian population through death and displacement”.
• An Israeli army bulldozer “deliberately” demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in southern Lebanon, the UN’s peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, said.
• Israeli media reported that the head of Israel’s security service met the chief of Egyptian intelligence in Cairo.

The Hezbollah group said it downed an Israeli drone, without specifying the location, after Lebanon’s state media reported heavy Israeli strikes across the country targeting branches of a financial institution.

Hezbollah fighters from the group’s “air defence units… downed an Israeli Hermes 450 drone”, the armed movement said.

We’re now entering the third week of a siege on the northern Gaza Strip. According to people there, last night Israeli forces started invading homes, forcibly evicting residents.

Trapped Palestinians are pleading for food and drinking water – the most basic necessities that are not available.

The people feel unheard despite their efforts to share their experiences online. They record videos, yet they remain trapped. With no food, no aid, and no support reaching them, they continue to suffer as the relentless Israeli air attacks persist.

Civil defence teams are trying to pull people out from under the rubble, either with their bare hands or with minimum equipment. We’re talking about four- to five-storey buildings, and all of that concrete is on top of people.

As Israeli air strikes hit Lebanon, Israeli forces have also intensified attacks across Gaza.

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that several Palestinians have been wounded by the Israeli bombardment of a house in the al-Tawbah Mosque area in the Jabalia camp, northern Gaza.

Israel is pushing Palestinians in northern Gaza to “certain death” in its deadly offensive and siege on the area, the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry says.

“The occupation army is forcing residents of northern Gaza to either flee under bombardment or face killing in what resembles a circle of certain death,” it said in a statement.

“Genocide is unfolding in northern Gaza in its clearest form – in full view of the world – marked by siege, starvation, forced displacement, destruction of buildings, aerial bombardment, targeting of health centres, and mass killings.”

The failure of the international community to stop this “war of extermination has emboldened Israel to continue its deadly campaign”, the ministry added.

The al-Qard al-Hassan Association, which Israel says is Hezbollah’s financing arm, says it has taken “all of the necessary procedures since the beginning of the war to safeguard your deposits and valuables and can confirm that you should not worry they are safe”.

The statement was released after the Israeli army announced the targeting of the financial institution’s offices across Lebanon.

The statement ended with “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth”.

As we have reported, Israel has been targeting several locations across Lebanon as the military announced the targeting of Hezbollah-affiliated financial institutions.

Now, our colleagues on the ground are reporting that at least 12 missiles hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They also said some strikes hit very close to the capital’s international airport.

At least 16 people were killed and 59 wounded in Israeli air attacks on Saturday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

• Five people were killed and 23 were wounded in Nabatieh city
• Nine were wounded in eastern Bekaa
• At least 11 were killed and 27 wounded in the south.

Since the start of the war in October last year, 2,464 people have been killed in Lebanon and at least 11,530 wounded by Israeli attacks.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says it is increasingly concerned that the Israeli military’s actions in North Gaza “may be causing the destruction of the Palestinian population through death and displacement”.

This is particularly the case around Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon, the OHCHR said, adding that Israeli authorities prevented the entry of all essential supplies to northern Gaza between October 1 and 14.

“After October 15, a token amount of aid seems to have entered the North, but this does not commensurate with the needs of the population.”

The UN office also said that the army told people to leave north Gaza but at the same time continued to bomb and attack the area, making it dangerous for civilians to flee.

It added that:

• It has received reports of Palestinians being targeted while fleeing.
• Israeli troops destroyed residential buildings and attacked schools serving as shelters.
• The Israeli military resumed attacks on two of the three main hospitals in north Gaza.
• Rescue teams and medics continue to report restrictions and direct and indirect attacks by the Israeli military, hindering lifesaving operations.
• Internet services in north Gaza have been disrupted since October 19.
• At least three Palestinian journalists have been killed in the last two weeks.
• Reports also indicate that tens of Palestinian men are being taken into custody by the Israeli army.

Al Jazeera is reporting from Jordan as it has been banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank by the Israeli government.

The Israeli army announced that it would target the financial assets and institutions of Hezbollah because so far it had only been attacking the military assets and installations of the Lebanese group.

An Israeli army spokesperson said the intended target was the morale and the relationship between Hezbollah operatives and the organisation, adding that the attacks would be extensive.

This comes after Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that it was now time to move from “defeating the enemy to destroying it”.

That follows the logic and the pattern of language and framing we’ve heard from Israel since the beginning of this assault. They’re talking about destroying villages, clearing the south, making sure that there is nothing standing there so that Israeli residents of northern communities can return.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 2,400 people since October 7 last year, most of them in the past month.

The strikes mostly targeted Hezbollah’s leadership and fighters. However, in recent days, some government buildings have come under attack.

Christian-majority towns further north have also been hit.

Analysts say these attacks are intended to disrupt Lebanon’s fragile power-sharing system, which is drawn along religious lines.

Is Israel trying to isolate Shia Hezbollah supporters by inflaming sectarian tensions?

Listen to the discussion in our podcast below:

At least three branches of al-Qard al-Hassan, which Israel accuses of financing Hezbollah, were hit in the strikes, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The report added that residents of Hermel started evacuating after one of the branches in the area was hit.

Another branch was hit in Ghobeiry in the Dahiyeh southern neighbourhood of Beirut, as well as in Hay el-Sellom and Burj al-Barajneh, NNA said.

Israel claimed the purpose of this wave of attacks is to undermine the economic stability of Hezbollah, Israeli Army Radio said.

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes after Israel said it was preparing to attack sites linked to Hezbollah’s financial operations and told people to leave those areas immediately.

Panicked crowds clogged the streets and traffic jams were witnessed in some parts of Beirut as people tried to get to neighbourhoods thought to be safer, witnesses told Reuters news agency.

Soon after the Israeli warning, several blasts were heard and fire was seen in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Soon after the Israeli army announced the targeting of Hezbollah’s financial infrastructure in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, our colleagues reported the following:

• An Israeli drone bombed a building in the town of Bednayel in the eastern Bekaa region.
• Two Israeli raids hit the city of Nabatieh and the town of Maarakeh in southern Lebanon.
• Israeli drones bombed buildings in Baalbek, Hermel and Ali al-Nahri in the Bekaa region.
• Four Israeli air strikes also hit Beirut’s southern suburbs.

With these ongoing strikes, the situation is pretty tense in Beirut and there was a noticeable change of mood after the Israeli army spokesperson announced the targeting of Hezbollah’s al-Qard al-Hassan – a financial institution.

People were checking their phones and waiting for these announcements and warnings to evacuate buildings in the areas of these potential strike sites, which we believe are around 30. Around 15 of them are in Beirut and we understand that the majority of them are in the southern areas of the capital.