Israel bombs Lebanon updates: Israel announces ground operation in Lebanon

For more on why Israel bombed Yemen’s seaports and power stations, and why it matters in the larger context of the region, read this explainer.

Israel has been on “high alert” since the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Read more in our story here.

And you can always find all our latest coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s events:

• The Israel military announced a ground operation in southern Lebanon as intense artillery shelling and air raids targeted towns and villages near the border.
• Israeli warplanes have once again bombed southern Beirut, targeting several neighbourhoods including Laylaki, al-Marija, Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barahneh.
• Yemen’s Houthis have warned the group will escalate operations in response to Israeli attacks, a day after Israeli fighter jets bombed Hodeidah and Ras Isa, killing at least five people.
• Israeli attacks have killed at least 95 people and wounded 172 others across Lebanon on Monday, the health ministry’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center said.
• In Gaza, Israeli forces continued bombarding the besiege enclave, killing at least 32 people, including 11 in a house in the central Gaza Strip’s Nuseirat refugee camp.

The UK government is chartering a flight to help British nationals who want to leave Lebanon, the country’s Foreign Office said in a statement on X.

“If you are a British national in Lebanon, you should register your presence to receive the latest updates,” it said in a post on the social media platform, providing a link for those who wish to register.

The call comes as several airlines, including Air France, Emirates, Air Algerie and Turkish Airlines, temporarily suspend flights to the region.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says it needs “unimpeded humanitarian access” into Gaza and across the entire besieged enclave to address the needs of some 2.1 million Palestinians this rainy season.

Here are other key highlights OCHA included in its situation report today:

• Dozens of learning spaces serving nearly 34,000 children are at risk of being severely affected by upcoming flooding.
• While humanitarian organisations are providing about 600,000 daily meals across Gaza, more than 1.4 million people did not receive their food rations in September due to dwindling supplies.
• Only four out of 37 olive presses remain functional throughout the enclave and more than 1 million olive trees have been uprooted since October 2023.
• Nearly 100 percent of Gaza’s population now lives in poverty, compared with 64 percent before the onset of Israel’s assault.

The air raids targeted several neighbourhoods in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs, including Laylaki, al-Marija, Harert Hreik and Burj al-Barahneh, the National News Agency says.

Israeli warplanes have been launching “new and powerful” raids there, the NNA said, shortly after it ordered residents of the area to evacuate their homes.

“Thick smoke and flames are rising in the suburb’s sky,” the NNA said, adding that the raids have so far destroyed several residential buildings.

Residents in Beirut tell Al Jazeera that these are the loudest strikes heard in the capital yet.

We’ll bring you more soon.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani held phone calls with Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Qatar’s foreign affairs minister said.

In separate calls, Sheikh Mohammed discussed the “latest developments in Lebanon and de-escalation efforts” with Aoun and Mikati.

During talks with Mikati, Sheikh Mohammed expressed Qatar’s “deep concern” over any further escalation and his country’s backing for the Lebanese state and its people.

The Lebanese group says on Telegram that its fighters attacked movements of Israeli soldiers “in the orchards opposite the [Lebanese] towns of Odaisseh and Kfar Kila”.

The group said this attack achieved direct hits.

Statements from Israeli officials and leaks to media from US officials appear to point to an imminent Israeli ground operation in Lebanon.

“The planned ground invasion of Lebanon grossly violates international law. This is not self-defence, but provoking all-out war”, Petra De Sutter says on X.

Reports indicate that Israeli troops will soon conduct ground operations in Lebanon, as soon as this evening.

“The EU and international community must respond with maximum sanctions on Israel. The destruction must end”, she added.

De Sutter made headlines last November for being one of the few European officials to call for sanctions on Israel over its war on Gaza.

Heavy Israeli artillery shelling as well as air raids have been reported in several towns and villages near the border of Israel, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) says.

Air raids have been reported in the outskirts of Kawkaba, Rachaya al-Fakhar, Kfar Kila and Khiam, the NNA said, while Marjayoun and Wazzani have been targeted with artillery shelling.

The intense attacks come amid rising fears of an imminent ground invasion of Lebanon.

Our correspondents report that moments ago, the Israeli army called on residents of several buildings in Dahiyeh, the area of Beirut that Israel has been pounding with air attacks since it began its intensified attacks on Lebanon, to leave their homes.

Israeli army planes also dropped thermal flares over the skies of the neighbourhood, or correspondent added.