JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 — Four soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a military base in northern Israel Sunday evening, the Israeli military said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that a drone launched by Hezbollah forces from Lebanon hit an army base adjacent to the town of Binyamina, located on the Carmel coast between Haifa and Tel Aviv.
“The incident is being examined,” said the military without providing further details.
Meanwhile, shortly after the attack, Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement that its paramedics treated 61 people, including three in critical condition, 18 with moderate injuries, 31 suffering mild injuries, and nine treated for panic.
The IDF said the air raid siren was not activated before the attack. Israel’s state-owned Kan TV news reported that the drone struck the dining room during the dinner hour.
It marks a rare airstrike on Israel that has caused such a large number of casualties as Israeli air defense systems typically issue alerts ahead of such attacks.
Israel’s Army Radio reported that an initial probe indicated that at least two drones were launched from Lebanon and approached Israel from the Mediterranean Sea. One was intercepted, but the military failed to trace the other.
About an hour after the attack, the military claimed that another drone from Lebanon was intercepted at Haifa Bay in northern Israel.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack Sunday night, announcing in a statement that it had launched a squadron of drones on a training base of the Golani Brigade in Binyamina.
TEHRAN — More explosions rock the Israeli occupied city of Haifa following a new round of retaliatory missile attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.
In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters launched a qualitative rocket barrage on the Zionist regime’s Rehabilitation and Maintenance Center, south of Haifa on Sunday night.
Zionist sources reported that several explosions were heard in Haifa, prompting sirens to go off in the city’s port of Haifa and the fleeing of the settlers to bunkers.
The Israeli army also announced that its air defense systems have been activated and are trying to intercept Hezbollah missiles.
Zionist sources also reported that at least 5 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon to the port of Haifa.
The retaliatory operation by Hezbollah comes hours after the resistance group successfully launched a drone attack on the military base of the Zionist regime (Golani Brigade camp), south of Haifa that according to the Israeli military left at least 4 soldiers dead and some 110 others injured.
Earlier, the Zionist Army Radio, citing a military source, described the drone attack as the deadliest operation against the military since the beginning of the war. It said that due to the severity of injuries caused by the attack, there is a possibility that the number of casualties will increase at any moment.
Hezbollah has repeatedly announced that its operations against the occupying Zionist regime are in support Palestinians in Gaza and their resistance and in defense of Lebanon.
Israeli soldiers operate during an incursion and amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in southern Lebanon, October 13, 2024. REUTERS
JERUSALEM/NEW YORK, Oct 13 — The United Nations said on Sunday Israeli tanks had burst through the gates of a base of its peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, the latest accusation of Israeli violations and attacks denounced by its own allies.
The UNIFIL peacekeeping force said two Israeli Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of a base and forcibly entered before dawn on Sunday morning. After the tanks left, shells exploded 100 metres (yards) away, releasing smoke which blew across the base and sickened U.N. personnel, it said in a statement.
In its version of events, the Israeli military said militants of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops, wounding 25 of them. The attack was very close to a UNIFIL post and a tank helping evacuate the casualties under fire then backed into the UNIFIL post, it said.
“It is not storming a base. It is not trying to enter a base. It was a tank under heavy fire, mass casualty event, backing up to get out of harm’s way,” the military’s international spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
In a statement, the military said it used a smoke screen to provide cover for the evacuation of the wounded soldiers but its actions posed no danger to the U.N. peacekeeping force.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: “The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”
“The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields.”
Guterres paid tribute to UNIFIL’s peacekeepers, who “remain in all positions,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement issued later on Sunday, adding that “the U.N. flag continues to fly.”
The Secretary-General reiterated a warning that peacekeepers must not be targeted, he said.
“Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law. They may constitute a war crime,” Dujarric said.
UNIFIL has said previous Israeli attacks on a watchtower, cameras, communications equipment and lighting had limited its monitoring abilities. U.N. sources say they fear any violations of international law in the conflict will be impossible to monitor.
CONFLICT FLARING FOR A YEAR
Hezbollah, which Israel has been battling on the ground in southern Lebanon since it launched an incursion at the start of this month, denies Israel’s accusation that it uses the proximity of peacekeepers for protection.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah resumed a year ago when the Iranian-backed group began firing rockets at Israeli positions in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war and has sharply escalated in recent weeks.
On Sunday, Hezbollah said it attacked a camp of the Israeli military’s Golani Brigade camp in Binyamina in northern Israel with a “swarm of drones”. Israel’s N12 News television said at least 67 people were wounded and the head of the ambulance service told N12 that four people were in critical condition.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, typically one of Israel’s most vocal supporters among Western European leaders, spoke to Netanyahu by phone on Sunday and denounced the “unacceptable” Israeli attacks, her government said.
Italy has more than a thousand troops in the 10,000-strong UNIFIL force, making it one of the biggest contributors of personnel.
France and Spain, which each have nearly 700 soldiers in the force, have also condemned the Israeli attacks.
The presence of UNIFIL puts peacekeepers from 50 separate countries in harm’s way, in a force initially set up in southern Lebanon in 1978.
The area has seen decades of conflict, with Israel invading in 1982, occupying southern Lebanon until 2000 and again fighting a major five-week war against Hezbollah in 2006, which ended with a ceasefire monitored by UNIFIL.
Israel’s assault against Hezbollah over the past three weeks has uprooted 1.2 million Lebanese and inflicted an unprecedented blow on the group by killing most of its senior leadership.
Lebanon’s government says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting, mainly over the past few weeks. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but includes scores of women and children.
REGION ON TENTERHOOKS
Israeli officials say UNIFIL has failed in its mission of upholding U.N. Resolution 1701, passed after the 2006 war, which calls for the border area of southern Lebanon to be free of weapons or troops other than those of the Lebanese state.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday, expressed “deep concern” about reports Israeli forces had fired on peacekeeper positions. He urged Israel to ensure their safety and that of the Lebanese military, which is not party to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.
The Middle East meanwhile remains on high alert for Israel to retaliate against Iran for an Oct. 1 barrage of long range missiles launched in response to Israel’s assaults on Lebanon.
Iran said on Sunday it has “no red lines” in defending itself. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s comments appeared intended to counter suggestions that Iran would absorb an Israeli strike without a response, as it did earlier this year when Israel last struck Iran after a volley of Iranian missiles.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched from the Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska during Flight Experiment THAAD (FET)-01 in Kodiak, Alaska, U.S. on July 30, 2017. Courtesy Leah Garton/Missile Defense Agency/Handout via REUTERS
WASHINGTON, Oct 13 — The United States said on Sunday it will send to Israel an advanced anti-missile system – and U.S. troops to operate it – in a bid to bolster the country’s air defenses following missile attacks by Iran.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was sending the system “to defend Israel.”
Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery would augment Israel’s integrated air defense system.
“It is part of the broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months, to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iranian-aligned militias,” Ryder said in a statement.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned earlier on Sunday that the United States was putting the lives of its troops “at risk by deploying them to operate U.S. missile systems in Israel.”
“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Araqchi posted on X.
Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel in April.
Then on Oct. 1, Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel amid an escalation in fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Many were intercepted in flight but some penetrated missile defenses.
TEHRAN — Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has issued a statement following its drone attack on an Israeli military camp, saying that it remains prepared to defend the Lebanese nation against the regime’s aggression.
Hezbollah issued its statement on Sunday night hours after it launched drones on a training camp of the Golani Brigade in Binyamina, south of Haifa.
The movement said that the attack was conducted in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza and in defense of Lebanon and its people.
The attack was part of Khaibar operations, and was carried out in response to Israeli crimes particularly in the neighborhoods of Deir El-Nourieh and Al-Bustan in the capital Beirut and other Lebanese regions, Hezbollah further said in its statement.
“The Islamic Resistance remains prepared and is ready to defend the oppressed Lebanese nation and will never shirk its duty to respond to the enemy’s crimes”, the movement stressed.
At least four Israeli soldiers were killed and 110 others wounded in Hezbollah’s drone attack on the Golani Brigade. Some of the wounded soldiers are said to be in critical condition.
Israeli Army Radio, citing a military official, described the attack as the deadliest against Israeli soldiers since the onset of the war between the regime and Hezbollah.
GAZA, Oct. 13 — At least 19 Palestinians were killed and dozens of others injured on Sunday when an Israeli airstrike targeted a school housing displaced persons in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
BEIRUT, Oct. 13 — The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, has reached 2,306, with injuries totaling 10,698, said the Lebanese Health Ministry on Sunday.
On Saturday alone, Israeli airstrikes killed 51 and injured 174, according to the ministry.
The ministry said Israeli raids resulted in 14 deaths and 63 injuries in southern Lebanon, while 10 were killed and 50 wounded in Nabatieh.
It added that three were killed and 11 wounded in Bekaa, and 13 were injured in Baalbek-Hermel.
It also noted that 22 people were killed and 33 others injured in Mount Lebanon, while two were killed and four more injured in North Lebanon.
In addition, unnamed Lebanese military sources reported Sunday that an Israeli warplane fired four air-to-ground missiles at a house in Mayfadoun village deep in southern Lebanon, killing seven civilians and wounding one other.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching intensive airstrikes across Lebanon in a sharp escalation with Hezbollah.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire across the Lebanon-Israel border amid fears of a broader conflict as the war between Hamas and Israel continues in the Gaza Strip.
An ambulance arrives at the site of a drone strike near the northern Israeli town of Binyamina, on October 13, 2024. (AFP)
JERUSALEM — An Israeli volunteer rescue service on Sunday said more than 60 people were wounded south of Haifa, where Hezbollah earlier claimed a drone strike that targeted a military base.
“With the help of United Hatzalah ambulance teams, we provided assistance to over 60 wounded people with varying degrees of injuries — critical, serious, moderate and mild,” the rescue service United Hatzalah said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Earlier Sunday, Hezbollah, which is at war with Israel, said it launched “a squadron of attack drones” at a military training camp in Binyamina, south of Haifa, in response to Israeli air strikes on the country.
The incident comes two days after air raid sirens sounded in central Israel after two aerial drones entered the country from Lebanon, with at least one building damaged north of Tel Aviv during the incident.
Hezbollah has been regularly firing rockets and drones across the border into Israel for more than a year, but has reached further since late September when fighting escalated.
Israel’s sophisticated air defenses, including the Iron Dome system, has intercepted most of the projectiles, with few casualties caused by strikes or falling debris.
ROME — United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) being attacked by Israeli armed forces was “unacceptable,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told her Israeli counterpart in a phone call, Meloni’s office said on Sunday.
The call took place after Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired on UNIFIL positions several times in the last four days.
Since Sept. 23, Israel has escalated the fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, launching an airstrike campaign across the country, and lately entering south Lebanon with IDF troops.
In the call, Meloni stressed to Israel’s PM Netanyahu that ensuring the safety of peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon was an absolute necessity.
“Meloni reiterated that it is unacceptable for UNIFIL to have been attacked by Israeli armed forces, recalling that the mission works on the basis of a Security Council mandate to help with regional stability,” her office said.
“Last week, the Israelis were a few metres away from the (UNIFIL) Irish base, and Italian outposts 1-31 and 1-32A — close to the Blue Line — were also hit by IDF,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Italian media in an interview.
Italy is among 48 countries currently contributing troops to UNIFIL, which operates with about 10,000 peacekeepers along the Blu Line that marks the separation between Israel and Lebanon.
JERUSALEM — One person was killed and at least 38 others injured in a drone attack on the town of Binyamina in northern Israel Sunday evening, Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service reported.
The rescue service said one injured later succumbed to wounds, three were in critical condition, five sustained severe injuries, and the remaining suffered light to moderate injuries.
Helicopters and ambulances were dispatched to the town, which is located on the Carmel coast between Haifa and Tel Aviv, to evacuate the injured.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said no air raid siren was activated before the attack, adding that the incident is under investigation. It noted that about an hour later, another drone from Lebanon was intercepted in the northern area.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, and the IDF did not offer further details.
OSLO — Icelandic Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson has announced the end of the governing coalition and called for parliamentary elections, local media reported on Sunday.
During a press conference, Bjarni said elections will be held on Nov. 30, pending President Halla Tomasdottir’s approval to dissolve parliament.
Bjarni cited growing disagreements within the coalition, particularly on asylum policy and energy efficiency, as reasons for the split. He has informed the other coalition leaders of his decision. A meeting with the President is scheduled for tomorrow.
SEOUL — The armed forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) received order to get ready to open fire, state media said on Sunday, amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula following DPRK accusation of South Korea for recent drone incursion into its airspace.
A Sunday statement by the DPRK Ministry of National Defence said that “the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army issued a preliminary operation order on October 12th to the combined artillery units along the (southern) border and the units taking on an important firepower task to get fully ready to open fire,” according to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
CAIRO — An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed five children on Sunday, according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA and media affiliated with Hamas.
A group of children were playing near a cafe in the Al-Shati area when they were killed by a drone strike, according to WAFA, which cited local sources.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report.
CAIRO — One person was killed and more than 20 others injured in a passenger train collision early Sunday in Egypt’s southern Minya province, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry noted that 19 of the injured have been treated and discharged from the hospital, while two others remain under medical care.
“One fatality was transferred to Minya General Hospital, and rescue teams are still working at the accident site,” the ministry added.
Earlier, Egypt’s railway authority explained that a locomotive collided with the rear of a train traveling from Aswan to Cairo, causing the power car and a passenger car to detach and fall into a nearby canal.
Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir has ordered a committee to investigate the technical causes of the crash, according to a railway authority statement.
Egypt’s state-run Ahram Online later reported that the death toll has risen to two, although the Health Ministry did not confirm the update.
Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that local residents and fishermen from Minya assisted in rescue efforts at the Ibrahimiyah Canal in Maqusah village, where the accident occurred.
Train traffic resumed after hours of disruption caused by the collision, the Minya provincial government said in a statement.
KOTA KINABALU — Seorang maut manakala dua lagi cedera selepas terbabit dalam kemalangan di bawah jalan bertingkat di Jalan Mat Salleh, Tanjung Aru, di sini, malam tadi.
Pemandu, Armada Said, 56, ditemui tersepit dalam Proton Iswara Aeroback dipandunya dan tidak sedarkan diri sebelum disahkan meninggal oleh pasukan perubatan Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM) tidak lama selepas itu.
Pegawai Pusat Gerakan Operasi Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia (JBPM) Sabah, Penolong Penguasa Bomba, Riki Mohan Singh Ramday berkata, pihaknya menerima panggilan kecemasan jam 7.08 malam sebelum menggerakkan sembilan anggota ke lokasi yang letaknya dua kilometer dari balai bomba.
“Setiba di tempat kejadian, didapati kemalangan jalan raya membabitkan sebuah Proton Iswara Aeroback dan Perodua Viva.
“Terdapat tiga mangsa terbabit berjaya dikeluarkan oleh pasukan bomba,” katanya ketika dihubungi malam tadi.
Riki Mohan berkata mangsa dalam Perodua Viva seorang lelaki berusia 26 tahun cedera dihantar ke hospital oleh orang awam.
“Dua mangsa berada dalam Proton Iswara Aeroback termasuk pemandu yang disahkan meninggal oleh pasukan KKM di lokasi kejadian.
“Mayat mangsa kemudian diserahkan kepada polis untuk tindakan selanjutnya manakala mangsa yang cedera dihantar ke Hospital Queen Elizabeth (HQE I) untuk rawatan lanjut,” katanya.
KULIM — Seorang lelaki berusia 31 tahun dikhuatiri lemas ketika sedang mandi bersama beberapa rakannya di kawasan perkelahan Sedim, di sini, petang tadi.
Difahamkan, ketika kejadian cuaca dalam keadaan baik namun keadaan air agak deras disebabkan hujan di kawasan hulu.
Ketua Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat (BBP) Kulim Hi Tech, Penolong Kanan Penguasa Bomba Azmir Hassan berkata, pihaknya menerima panggilan mengenai kejadian itu pada jam 5.41 petang.
Katanya, sepasukan anggota dari BBP Kulim Hi-Tech yang diketuai Pegawai Bomba Kanan (PBK) II Zabidi Zainol bersama sembilan anggota tiba di lokasi kejadian.
“Bilik kawalan BBP Kulim Hi Tech menerima panggilan kecemasan melalui talian terus ke balai memaklumkan seorang mangsa disyaki lemas.
“Maklumat awal mendapati, mangsa dipercayai lemas sewaktu sedang mandi di kawasan perkelahan berkenaan.
“Tindakan Pasukan Kawalan Operasi (PKO) adalah dengan melakukan pemeriksaan di sekeliling kawasan air terjun berkenaan dan pencarian di lokasi dengan menggunakan tali (permukaan air).
“Pasukan Penyelamat Di Air (PPDA) turut dimaklumkan ke tempat kejadian untuk membantu mencari mangsa,” katanya.
Azmir berkata mangsa dipercayai datang ke kawasan itu bersama beberapa rakannya dari Pulau Pinang untuk beriadah.
Russian glide bombs have struck a concentration of Ukrainian troops near the border of Russia’s western Kursk region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.
It said the attack was directed against “a strongpoint and concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel”, and the bombs were delivered by a Russian Su-34 warplane.
Reuters could not independently verify the strike, and the defence ministry’s brief statement did not give any details on the impact.
Ukraine caught Moscow by surprise on Aug. 6 by bursting across the border into the Kursk region, in the first invasion of Russian sovereign territory since World War Two.
Russia has been trying for more than two months to eject the Ukrainian forces.
Earlier on Sunday, the defence ministry in Moscow said it was pursuing offensive operations at several dozen locations in the region.
As of early September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces controlled more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles) of Kursk, including 100 settlements. On Saturday he said Russian forces had tried to oust Ukrainian troops “but we are holding the designated lines”.
Russia said its forces had taken back several villages last week.
The outcome of the fighting in Kursk could have a significant impact on the course of the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
If it can hold on to a slice of Russian territory, Ukraine will have a valuable bargaining chip in any future peace negotiations.
On the other hand, its decision to commit a substantial force to the Kursk offensive has come with a price elsewhere on the battlefield, as Russia advanced in eastern Ukraine at its fastest pace for two years in August and September.
BEIRUT — The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported on Sunday that two tanks from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed the main gate of its position in southern Lebanon in the morning and “forcibly entered” the site.
“We have requested an explanation from the IDF from these shocking violations,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
HOUSTON — At least one person was shot dead and nine others were injured after gunfire erupted on Saturday near Tennessee State University, Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officials said.
The school was celebrating homecoming at the time. But MNPD Commander Anthony McClain clarified that the gunfire did not appear to be directly connected to the events.
“It’s unfortunate that a few folks ruined it for everybody,” said McClain. “We have to come to a point to stop this violence.”
A 24-year-old man was killed. Among the injured, three were girls aged 12-14 years old, MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron said.
Most victims were likely innocent bystanders shot during an exchange of gunfire that occurred between two groups of people, officials said.
“At least one of the injured is suspected to have been involved in the gunfire,” the MNPD posted on X, previously known as Twitter.
KHARTOUM — At least 23 civilians were killed and over 40 others injured in an airstrike on a main market in southern Khartoum on Saturday, according to local volunteer and non-governmental groups.
“The incident occurred when warplanes bombarded the Al-Souk Al-Markazy (central market) in Khartoum yesterday (Saturday) afternoon,” the local volunteer group South Khartoum Emergency Room said in a statement on Sunday.
The injured “were transferred to Bashair, Elrazi, and Alraqi hospitals for treatment. Some are in critical condition,” the statement added.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) launched a significant offensive on September 26 against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the capital, Khartoum, marking its most substantial effort in months to regain control of the city, according to military sources and witnesses.
Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a violent conflict between the SAF and the RSF, resulting in approximately 20,000 deaths, thousands of injuries, and the displacement of millions, according to the latest estimates by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
