Middle East conflict: Explosions in Beirut after Israel vows to target Hezbollah’s financial arm
Explosions have erupted in the Lebanese capital Beirut after Israel threatened “imminent strikes” on Hezbollah’s financial sites.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said on Sunday evening it was planning to attack a “large number” of locations used by the group’s al Qard al Hassan unit, which is used to pay its operatives and help buy arms.
The first warnings affected southern Beirut and the eastern Bekaa valley but according to a senior Israeli intelligence official, strikes are likely “all over Lebanon”. One was seen near the city’s Rafic Al Hariri International Airport.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari warned civilians: “Anyone who will be near the sites used to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist activity is required to stay away from them immediately.”
A building on fire in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday. Pic: AP
It came just hours after Israel claimed it struck Hezbollah’s intelligence quarters in Beirut.
“The IAF (Israeli Air Force) conducted an intelligence-based strike on a command centre of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut,” the IDF said earlier on Sunday.
“Additionally, the IAF… struck and eliminated the terrorist Al-Haj Abbas Salama in the area of Tebnine, a senior commander in Hezbollah’s southern front, and terrorists Rada Abbas Awada and Ahmad Ali Hussein.”
The IDF claimed it took “numerous steps” to “mitigate the risk of harming civilians” in both instances.
Smoke rises near Beirut’s Rafic Al Hariri International Airport after an explosion on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
In response 160 rockets were fired over the Lebanese border into the north of Israel over the course of Sunday, the Israeli military added.
There have been tensions at the border – between the Israeli military and Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces – since the 7 October Hamas attacks last year.
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Northern Gaza hospitals under Israeli siege
The conflict escalated earlier this month when Iran sent missiles directly into Israel, with the region still awaiting Israel’s response.
US officials are now investigating a possible leak of two top-secret intelligence documents around Israel’s response.
According to Sky’s partner network NBC News, the alleged leak revealed US intelligence agencies tracking possible retaliation options by Israel.
Smoke billows over the Israeli-Lebanese border on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
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Separately over the weekend, the Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed by Israeli strikes in the south of the country.
The army is not affiliated with Hezbollah, which is considered a proscribed terrorist group by most Western nations.
Israel did not comment on the reports but has previously said its fight is with Hezbollah – and not the Lebanese state – despite repeated skirmishes between the two sets of soldiers at the border over the past year.
Sunday also saw UN forces in Lebanon accuse Israel of “deliberately demolishing” an observation tower and perimeter fence of one of its positions in the border town of Marwahin.
It warned: “Yet again, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”
‘At least 87’ killed in single Gaza attack
Meanwhile in Gaza, at least 87 people are reported to have been killed in one of the deadliest attacks on the territory in months, according to Hamas-run health authorities there.
The airstrikes on the northern town of Beit Lahiya late on Saturday also left 40 others injured, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said.
Aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya. Pic: Reuters
Beit Lahiya was one of the first parts of Gaza to be targeted following the 7 October massacre last year.
Israel disputed the figures when they first emerged, which increased from 10 to 60, 73, and then 87. The Gaza health ministry does not differentiate between civilians and Hamas fighters in its death and injury numbers.
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Israeli military objectives ‘switching’ in Gaza
Israel ‘switching objectives’ in Gaza
The assault on Beit Lahiya comes around two weeks on from a major strike nearby in Jabalia – home to one of Gaza’s largest refugee camps.
The IDF says it has ordered people to evacuate the area and the rest of Gaza’s north – including staff and patients in hospitals where it claims Hamas fighters are hiding – something the group denies.
Medics working in Beit Lahiya over the weekend
More than 5,000 people have now left Jabalia via formal routes but hospital medics are refusing to heed evacuation orders there – with many warning they are designed so Israel can control northern Gaza when the current conflict ends. Israel denies this and claims to be trying to protect civilians.
According to Sky’s military analyst Sean Bell, Israel’s renewed focus on the north of Gaza – where it began its campaign in 2023 – suggests it has “switched its objectives” to “destroying Hamas’s ability to fight entirely”.
World
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
Israel has shown little respect for international borders since becoming the unrivalled military hegemon of the Middle East. Today that meant an Israeli airstrike on a government building in Damascus.
Israel says its attack on a Syrian defence ministry facility was intended as a warning to the new government: stay out of the part of southern Syria we have occupied or else.
Israel has moved into parts of the south of the country, built military bases and declared a line of control.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Syrian Defence Ministry in Damascus. Pic: AP
On Monday, Syrian tanks heading south to try and restore order following an outbreak of factional fighting were attacked by Israeli warplanes.
“The presence of such vehicles in southern Syria could pose a threat to Israel,” stated the Israel Defence Forces.
In reality, Syria’s ageing tanks pose minimal threat to Israel’s state-of-the art military.
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Syrian presenter interrupted by Israeli airstrike
The Syrian armour was attacked as it entered the area around Sweida in the Druze heartland of southern Syria following factional fighting there.
The flare-up reportedly began with clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups that ended in scores killed.
The background to the escalation is complicated.
At least three Druze militia groups are divided in their loyalties to different religious leaders and differ over how they should respond to calls to assimilate into the new post-revolutionary Syria.
Druze from Syria and Israel protest on the Israeli-Syrian border.
Pic: AP
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Israel is becoming more and more involved in Syria’s internecine war and says it will remain there indefinitely “to protect our communities and thwart any threat”.
Its critics say Israel is operating a policy of divide and rule in Syria, weakening the fledgling government and creating a buffer zone to protect the border with the Golan Heights – originally Syrian territory that it has occupied and annexed for almost half a century.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has used airstrikes to destroy of much of Syria’s military capability weakening its ability to impose control on outlying regions. This makes it more not less likely Israel will have a volatile unstable state on its northern border.
Syrian security forces walk along a street in the southern Druze city of Sweida. Pic: Reuters
America and European powers have chosen to normalise relations with the new government in Damascus and lift sanctions.
In contrast Israel has occupied its territory, bombed its military and today hit one of its government buildings in the capital with an airstrike.
Since its crushing military campaigns against Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Israel has emerged as the unchallenged military power of the region.
There is however a limit to what blunt force can achieve alone. It requires diplomacy to achieve lasting gains and Israel’s repeated assaults on multiple neighbours combined with its relentless campaign in Gaza are winning it few friends in the region.
Israeli airstrikes have targeted the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus amid renewed clashes in the country.
The gate of the Ministry of Defence in the Syrian capital was targeted by two warning missiles from an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft.
State-owned Elekhbariya TV said the Israeli strike had wounded two civilians, the Reuters news agency reported.
Smoke rises from Syria’s defence ministry building in Damascus. Pic: Reuters
It came as Israeli airstrikes targeted security and army vehicles in the southern city of Sweida, where the Druze faith is one of the major religious groups – marking the third consecutive day Israel has struck Syrian forces.
The Israeli military confirmed it had “struck the entrance gate” in Damascus – and that it would be monitoring “actions being taken against Druze civilians in southern Syria”.
The Israeli airstrike targeted Syria’s military headquarters. Pic: AP
Why Israel is getting involved in Syria’s internal fighting
Israel has shown little respect for international borders since becoming the unrivalled military hegemon of the Middle East. Today that meant an Israeli airstrike on a government building in Damascus.
Israel says its attack on a Syrian defence ministry facility was intended as a warning to the new government: stay out of the part of southern Syria we have occupied or else.
Israel has moved into parts of the south of the country, built military bases and declared a line of control.
On Monday, Syrian tanks heading south to try and restore order following an outbreak of factional fighting were attacked by Israeli warplanes.
“The presence of such vehicles in southern Syria could pose a threat to Israel,” stated the Israel Defence Forces.
In reality, Syria’s ageing tanks pose minimal threat to Israel’s state-of-the art military.
Local media said Sweida and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The clashes marked the collapse of a ceasefire between Syrian government forces and Druze armed groups, with Israel also warning it would increase its involvement.
Syria said its forces had responded to being fired upon. Pic: Reuters
Israel said it was acting to protect the Druze groups through its attacks on convoys of Syrian forces.
Syria blamed militias in Sweida for violating a ceasefire agreement which had only been reached on Tuesday.
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A statement from its defence ministry said: “Military forces continue to respond to the source of fire inside the city of Sweida, while adhering to rules of engagement to protect residents, prevent harm, and ensure the safe return of those who left the city back to their homes.”
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said the military will continue to strike Syrian forces until they withdraw and should “leave Druze alone”, according to local reports.
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