Middle East crisis LIVE: Israel strikes Gaza, pushes forward in Lebanon as fears of a war with Iran mount

Fire and smoke rise over Beirut’s southern suburbs after a strike, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, ion October 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit:
AMR ABDALLAH DALSH

Israel bombed central Beirut in the early hours of Thursday (October 3, 2024), killing at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes against Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Israel pressed forward on two fronts Wednesday (October 2, 2024), pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah that left eight Israeli soldiers dead and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. As Israel vowed to retaliate for Iran’s ballistic missile attack a day earlier, the region braced for further escalation. 

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Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and the Hamas militants who run the Gaza Strip, had launched dozens of missiles into Israel on Tuesday night, another escalation in a tit-for-tat cycle that is pushing the Middle East closer to a regional war. Israel warned that the attack would have “repercussions.”

The Israeli military said seven soldiers were killed in two Hezbollah attacks in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, without elaborating. The deaths followed an earlier announcement of the first Israeli combat death in Lebanon since the start of the incursion. 

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