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Israel has sent more troops into Lebanon after a night of escalation brought the Middle East a step closer to war.

On Tuesday evening, in a move anticipated by officials, nearly 200 missiles were launched from Iran into Israel.

The attack, coming in retaliation for Israel’s campaign of strikes against Hezbollah including the killing of its leader, marks a significant escalation in the region.

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Where did Iran’s missiles get through Israel’s defences?

Most of the missiles were intercepted, Israel said, with US help, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond, labelling the attack a “major mistake”.

The two countries have since traded threats as allies and onlookers, including the UK, called for a step back amid fears of regional war breaking out.

Then on Wednesday, the Israeli military said that infantry and armoured units were joining ground operations in southern Lebanon.

More on Hamas

It claimed actions there would remain limited and localised but concerns of a ground invasion remain.

However, Hezbollah’s media chief Mohammad Afif said the group was “only in the first round” of fighting following the most recent wave of clashes in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, across Gaza, Israeli attacks claimed at least 60 lives, medics said, according to Reuters, adding that Israeli tanks had advanced in the southern areas of Khan Younis.

In other developments:
• UN general secretary Antonio Guterres has been banned from Israel.
• An Israeli squad commander was killed in Lebanon.
• A Lebanese soldier was injured in an Israeli drone strike, according to the country’s army.
• Iran’s supreme leader has said the West is “the source of war and instability” in the region.
• Three people have been arrested after blasts, likely caused by hand grenades, near the Israeli embassy in Denmark.

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‘I’ve never seen anything like it before’

More Israeli troops in southern Lebanon

Israel said on Tuesday that commando and paratrooper units had crossed their northern border into southern Lebanon.

It subsequently added that special forces units had been carrying out cross-border raids against Hezbollah targets for months.

Read more on this story:
What is Hezbollah?
Sky team witness Iran’s missile barrage
Six killed in Tel Aviv shooting
What is Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’?
Analysis:
Israel is unlikely to choose a token response

But, the recent addition of infantry and armoured troops from the 36th Division, including the Golani Brigade, the 188th Armoured Brigade and the 6th Infantry Brigade, suggests that the operation has moved beyond limited commando raids.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed its ground operation is largely aimed at destroying Hezbollah tunnels and infrastructure on the border, with no plans for a wider operation.

Smoke rises from neighbourhoods hit by Israeli airstrikes in Dahieh, Beirut. Pic: AP
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Smoke rises from neighbourhoods hit by Israeli airstrikes in Dahieh, Beirut. Pic: AP

People check the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut on Wednesday. Pic: AP
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People check the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut on Wednesday. Pic: AP

Over the past two weeks, Israeli strikes have killed over 1,000 people in Lebanon, with almost a quarter of them women and children, according to the country’s health ministry, as over one million people have been displaced.

Most recently, the IDF warned people to evacuate from another 50 villages in southern Lebanon, in a UN-declared buffer zone.

‘At least 60 killed’ in Gaza overnight

Israeli military strikes overnight killed at least 60 Palestinians, medics said, adding that Israeli tanks briefly advanced in the south of the enclave.

Israeli tanks carried out a raid in areas in eastern and central Khan Younis, before partially retreating, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens, according to the official Voice of Palestine radio and Hamas media.

Palestinians inspect the site of Israeli strikes on houses, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
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Palestinians inspect the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters

A Palestinian boys sit on piles of debris at the site of Israeli strikes on houses, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 2, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
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Palestinian boys sit on piles of debris at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Khan Younis. Pic: Reuters

Palestinians inspect the site of Israeli strikes on houses, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis.
Pic: Reuters
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Palestinians inspect the site of Israeli strikes on houses, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis.
Pic: Reuters

The European Hospital in Khan Younis said it received bodies after Israeli strikes in the city with hospital records showing that seven women and 12 children as young as 22 months old were among those killed.

Dr Saleh al Hams, head of the nursing department at the hospital, said he had seen dozens of dead and wounded people in his facility from around 3am local time.

He warned the number of dead could rise.

Israel carried out a massive offensive earlier this year that left much of Gaza’s second city in ruins.

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Houthis target Israeli military posts

Meanwhile, Houthis have targeted military posts deep inside Israel amid the escalating tensions.

Yahya Saree, a spokesperson for the group, said on Wednesday that it had used three winged ‘Quds 5’ rockets.

Iran and its informal 'axis of resistance'
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Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’ – of which the Houthis are an important part

The group added that continuous support for Israel from the US and UK would put their own interests “under fire”.

“We will not hesitate in broadening our military operations against the Israeli enemy and who is behind it until the aggression against Gaza and Lebanon ends,” Mr Saree added.

Persona non grata

In a move likely to deepen the already wide rift between Israel and the UN, foreign minister Israel Katz declared the UN general secretary Antonio Guterres “persona non grata”, as he banned him from entering the country.

It is not immediately apparent if Mr Katz has the power to do this, but he accused Mr Guterres of having an anti-Israel bias after not referring to Iran in a statement made on Tuesday.

In a speech after the move, Mr Guterres said he “strongly condemns” the Iranian attack on Israel and warned that the “deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence” in the Middle East “must stop”.

“Time is running out,” he told the organisation’s security council.

Later on Wednesday, the IDF said seven soldiers had been killed in combat, a day after the start of a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

The IDF identified the soldiers as Captain Harel Ettinger, Captain Itai Ariel Giat, Major Noam Barzilai, Major Or Mansour, Major Nezer Itkin, Sergeant Alamkan Tarfa, and Sergeant Ido Breuer.

This came after Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a squad commander in the “Egoz” unit, was the first death announced since Israel’s most recent attacks on Lebanon began.

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COP30: Countries reach draft deal to help speed up climate action

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COP30: Countries reach draft deal to help speed up climate action

Countries attending COP30, the biggest climate meeting of the year, have agreed steps to help speed up climate action, according to a draft deal.

The meeting of leaders in the Brazilian city of Belem also saw them agree to reviewing related trade barriers and triple the money given to developing countries to help them withstand extreme weather events, according to the draft.

However, the summit’s president Correa do Lago said “roadmaps” on fossil fuels and forests would be published as there was no consensus on these issues.

The annual United Nations conference brings together world leaders, scientists, campaigners, and negotiators from across the globe, who agree on collective next steps for tackling climate change.

The two-week conference in the Amazon city of Belem was due to end at 6pm local time (9pm UK time) on Friday, but it dragged into overtime.

The standoff was between the EU, which pressed for language on transitioning away from fossil fuels, and the Arab Group of nations, including major oil exporter Saudi Arabia, which opposed it.

The impasse was resolved following all-night negotiations led by Brazil, negotiators said.

More on Cop30

The European Union’s climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said on Saturday that the proposed accord was acceptable, even though the bloc would have liked more.

“We should support it because at least it is going in the right direction,” he said.

The Brazilian presidency scheduled a closing plenary session.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and about 80 countries, including the UK and coal-rich Colombia, had been pushing for a plan on how to “transition away from fossil fuels”.

This is a pledge all countries agreed to two years ago at COP28 – then did very little about since.

But scores of countries – including major oil and gas producers like Saudi Arabia and Russia – see this push as too prescriptive or a threat to their economies.

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Israel launches strikes on Gaza in further test of fragile ceasefire

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Israel launches strikes on Gaza in further test of fragile ceasefire

Israel says it has begun striking Hamas targets in Gaza, reportedly killing at least nine people, after what it called a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

Local health authorities in Gaza said there had been three separate airstrikes, one hit a car in the densely populated Rimal neighbourhood, killing five people and wounding several others.

Shortly after the attack on the car, the Israeli air force hit two more targets in the central Gaza Strip, medics said.

They said at least four people died when two houses were struck in Deir Al-Balah city and Nuseirat camp.

The Israeli military said there had been a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

It claimed a gunman had crossed into Israeli-held territory after exploiting “the humanitarian road in the area through which humanitarian aid enters southern Gaza”.

A Hamas official rejected the Israeli military’s allegations as baseless, calling them an “excuse to kill”, adding the Palestinian group was committed to the ceasefire agreement.

More on Gaza

The Israeli airstrikes are a further test of a fragile ceasefire with Hamas, which has held since 10 October following the two-year Gaza war.

Israel pulled back its troops, and the flow of aid into the territory has increased. But violence has not completely halted.

Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 316 people in strikes on Gaza since the truce.

Meanwhile, Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began and it has attacked scores of militants.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Europe scrambles for counter-proposal to US-Russian plan for Ukraine

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Europe scrambles for counter-proposal to US-Russian plan for Ukraine

The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.

European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.

Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.

Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland

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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20

The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.

One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.

Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.

Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security

Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders' Summit. Pic: Reuters
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters

“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.

“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.

Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.

“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.

“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.

“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.

Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.

There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.

But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.

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