Lebanon Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A year ago, Israel suffered its worst-ever intelligence failure when Hamas launched a surprise attack, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Today, a wave of strikes against Hezbollah has Israel’s long-vaunted spies back on the front foot.

Hezbollah, defying calls from allies including the US for a halt in fighting. Israeli warplanes bombarded Lebanon, including a strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut that shook the capital. On its own side of the border, the Israeli army staged an exercise simulating a ground invasion. The relentless pressure on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, including intense airstrikes and assassinations of some of its senior commanders, raised concern that of a wider war spreading across the region. The military, which has vowed to secure Israel's northern border and return thousands of Israeli citizens to communities there, said the exercise of its 7th brigade took place a few kilometres from the Lebanese border.

Israel Defense Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has warned Hezbollah that a ground offensive is imminent, stating that Israeli soldiers' "military boots will enter enemy territory," Times of Israel reported. Halevi's remarks came after Hezbollah fired a missile at central Israel on early Wednesday and Israel responded with airstrikes, which have killed 569 people and wounded 1,835 others, Al Jazeera reported. During a drill simulating the invasion, Halevi addressed soldiers of the 7th Armored Brigade, as per Times of Israel.

France and other allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days. The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is «intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.» «We call for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy,» the statement said. «We call on all parties, including the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary cease-fire immediately.»

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Hezbollah is dealing with some disagreement among its ranks over how to respond to a series of devastating attacks on the Lebanese militant group, according to people familiar with the group’s deliberations. With no good options available, the group faces one of the most consequential decisions in its four-decade history.

Australia has urged an estimated 15,000 of its citizens living in Lebanon to leave, flagging a risk Beirut airport may close and the difficulty of evacuating large numbers if the situation worsens. Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were killed, and Israel's military chief said a ground assault was possible. Britain is moving troops to Cyprus, joining two Royal Navy ships already there, to be in a position to help evacuate nationals trapped in Lebanon. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had made contingency plans that could include evacuations by water, but declined to give details.

rockets fired by Hezbollah pounded Kiryat Shmona, the northernmost Israeli city near the border with Lebanon. Refrigerators stored at the site were charred and mangled, a small sign of the damage Hezbollah has inflicted on northern Israel since the Lebanese militant group and the Israeli military had escalated their attacks against each other over the past week. «Kiryat Shmona has turned into Hezbollah's playground,» said Guy Hayun, 45, the security coordinator for the city over the past year.

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Indian Embassy in Beirut on Wednesday issued a safety advisory for nationals by advising them against travelling and exercise extreme caution. Embassy of India in Beirut tweets, «As a reiteration of the Advisory issued on 1 August 2024 and in view of the recent developments and escalations in the region, Indian nationals are strongly advised against travelling to Lebanon till further notice. All Indian nationals already in Lebanon are also strongly advised to leave Lebanon. Those who remain for any reason are advised to exercise extreme caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the Embassy of India in Beirut...»

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The war in West Asia has intensified. With its Gaza operations against Hamas not yet over, Israel has aimed its firepower at Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia based in Lebanon to its north.

Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday pressed Iran's new president to use his influence to dial down soaring tensions in Lebanon, where Israel is striking Tehran-backed Hezbollah. Macron met with Masoud Pezeshkian, a self-styled reformist in a cleric-run state which Israel sees as its archenemy, on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly as casualties mounted in Lebanon. Macron «highlighted the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and use its influence with destabilizing actors,» an Elysee statement said, in a clear reference to Hezbollah.

The strike hit three floors of a six-story building. It was Israel's third strike over Beirut in less than a week Kobeissi is the first member of the militant group pronounced dead since Israel and Hezbollah entered a more intense phase of the ongoing conflict.

Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, in an offensive that has plunged the country into uncertainty over what Israel will do next and how the militant group might respond. The strikes came a day after a vast wave of Israeli airstrikes, targeting about 1,600 sites in parts of the country where Hezbollah holds sway, killed hundreds of people and set off a mass flight of civilians from southern Lebanon to Beirut, the capital. The streets were clogged with traffic, and displaced people were sleeping in their cars. Hezbollah also fired about 300 rockets at northern Israel on Tuesday, according to the Israeli military, keeping up the assault it began Oct. 8, a day after its ally Hamas led the deadly attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel's missile defense system, but about six people sustained minor injuries, the military said.

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U.S. Navy replenishment ship operating in the Middle East sustained damage after refueling vessels and the cause is under investigation, officials said Tuesday. The USNS Big Horn was damaged after it resupplied the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group. The carrier group remains in the region amid heightened tensions over the Israel-Hamas war and Israel's ongoing strikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon. A U.S. Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters yet to be made public, declined to elaborate on where the damage took place. A photo released by the U.S. military dated Sept. 5 showed sailors aboard the Lincoln receiving supplies from the Big Horn, while another on Sept. 11 showed the Big Horn alongside the Lincoln. The Lincoln is patrolling the Arabian Sea.

US intelligence has alerted former President Donald Trump about specific threats from Iran to assassinate him, according to a statement from his presidential campaign on Tuesday. “President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilize and sow chaos in the United States,” said Steven Cheung, Trump campaign communications director. Cheung added that intelligence officials noted increased and coordinated threats in the past few months, and law enforcement agencies are working to ensure Trump’s safety and protect the presidential election from interference.

The suspensions have multiplied following a day of Israeli bombardment that Lebanon's authorities said killed 558 on Monday — the deadliest day of violence in the country since the 1975-90 civil war. — Emirates - Emirates announced the temporary suspension of its flights to Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday. Its sister United Arab Emirates-based airline flydubai also cancelled flights to Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday.

conflict between Israel and Hezbollah grabs global attention, Palestinians in Gaza wonder: What will become of their plight after nearly a year of devastating war? They are petrified that international concern has been diverted, and that a dark possibility looms: abandonment. The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have the same worry. Nezar Zaqout, one of some 1.9 million Palestinians forced to flee their homes since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, said he fears the fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border will overtake interest in the abysmal living conditions in Gaza and efforts to negotiate a cease-fire.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Thousands of Lebanese are fleeing their homes in the country’s south as Israel intensifies its military campaign against Hezbollah, raising fears of an all-out war a day after a barrage of strikes killed hundreds in the country. In the early hours of Tuesday, the Israeli military launched dozens more airstrikes against Hezbollah after downing projectiles fired from Lebanon.