Hashen Safieddine, widely expected to succeed slain Hassan Nasrallah as leader of Hezbollah, has been unreachable since an Israeli air strike on Friday, three Lebanese security sources told Reuters.
Reports suggest Safieddine, who was Nasrallah’s cousin, had been targeted in an Israeli strike.
A high-level Hezbollah source confirmed that contact with Safieddine had ben lost.
“Contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs” early Friday, the source told AFP. “We don’t know if he was at the targeted site, or who may have been there with him.”
Safieddine was born in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanoun En Nahr near Tyre in 1960 and studied theology at two Shia institutions – one in Najaf, Iraq and the other in Qom, Iran.
His son is married to the daughter of the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a 2021 US drone strike.
The loss of Nasrallah’s rumoured successor would be yet another blow to Hezbollah and its patron Iran.
Israeli strikes across the region in the past year, sharply accelerated in the past few weeks, have decimated Hezbollah’s leadership.
04:59 PM BST
That’s all for today
Thank you for following our live coverage. The latest updates from the day were:
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Hashen Safieddine, widely expected to succeed slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has been unreachable since Friday’s strike, three Lebanese security sources told Reuters. Reports suggest Safieddine, who was Nasrallah’s cousin, has been targeted in an Israeli strike.
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The Israeli military is planning a “serious and significant” response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on the country earlier this week, an IDF spokesperson has said.
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Donald Trump said he believes Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to the Islamic republic’s recent missile barrage.
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Emmanuel Macron urged a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, amid growing criticism over how it is conducting its retaliatory operation in Gaza.
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Around 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched through central London, with a “significant” policing operation in place across the capital as events mark the anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel.
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Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said that Iran’s second-ever missile attack on Israel this week was a “lesson” for Israel.
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Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi renewed his call for ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon on Saturday as he held talks with his country’s Syrian ally.
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Nearly 375,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria, fleeing Israeli bombardment, in less than two weeks, Lebanese officials said.
04:44 PM BST
Hezbollah says targets north Israel ‘military industries’ firm
Hezbollah said it lauched rockets at a defence company in northern Israel Saturday, the latest attacks after Israel intensified its bombing campaign last week, nearly a year into cross-border clashes with the group.
The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it launched “a rocket salvo” towards a “military industries company” east of Acre.
04:19 PM BST
Israel raises militant toll from West Bank camp strike to 12
Israel’s military said its forces killed 12 militants in an air strike this week in the occupied West Bank, raising an earlier toll, while the Palestinian health ministry has reported 18 deaths.
The army had previously given a toll of seven killed during the strike Thursday at Tulkarem refugee camp, but added five more names to the figure, saying the group included Hamas and Islamic Jihad members that were planning an imminent attack.
“The IDF (military) and ISA (internal security) conducted a joint operation to strike terrorist operatives who were planning to carry out a terror attack against Israeli civilians in the immediate future,” the military said in a statement.
04:09 PM BST
In Lebanon 25 killed in Israeli strikes on Friday, health ministry says
Twenty five people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
03:54 PM BST
Hezbollah source says contact ‘lost’ with top figure Safieddine
A high-level Hezbollah source said that contact with Hashem Safieddine, widely touted as potentially the group’s next leader, had been lost following Israeli strikes this week.
“Contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs” early Friday, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and adding: “We don’t know if he was at the targeted site, or who may have been there with him.”
03:48 PM BST
Almost 375,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria in two weeks
Nearly 375,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria, fleeing Israeli bombardment, in less than two weeks, Lebanese officials said.
The government’s crisis management unit, citing figures from Lebanese General Security, said 374,621 people – Lebanese citizens and Syrians living in Lebanon – have crossed into Syria since September 23, when Israel intensified its air bombardment campaign in Lebanon.
Thousands have continued to cross on foot through the main Masnaa Border Crossing even after Israeli airstrikes cut off the road leading up to it on Thursday.
03:31 PM BST
Rocket sirens sound across northern Israel
Rocket alert sirens have been blaring all day in northern Israel.
The Israeli military says some 90 projectiles have been fired Saturday from Lebanon into Israel.
Most were intercepted or fell in open areas, but several rockets fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were lightly injured, and in the nearby city of Karmiel, damaging an apartment building.
03:17 PM BST
Pictures of the day
02:50 PM BST
Emmanuel Macron calls for arms embargo on Israel
Emmanuel Macron has urged a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, amid growing criticism over how it is conducting its retaliatory operation in Gaza.
“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” the French president said, adding that France was not sending any arms to Israel.
Western governments have faced increasing pressure to halt arms sales to Israel from campaign groups and some politicians, due to how it is waging the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
While many states have continued to affirm Israel’s right to self-defence, international concern has grown about the high death toll in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis. The Hamas-run health ministry estimates that more than 41,802 Palestinians have been killed and 96,844 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since Oct 7.
Mr Macron’s comments come in the week that Israel launched a ground invasion into Lebanon, as it seeks to destroy the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Although Israel is a major weapons exporter, its military has been heavily reliant on imported aircraft, guided bombs and missiles.
02:27 PM BST
Israeli military says two Hamas militants killed in Lebanon
The Israeli military said it had killed two militants from the armed wing of Hamas operating in Lebanon.
The military named Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud, who it said served as the group’s executive authority in Lebanon, as being killed in an Israeli air strike. Said Alaa Naif Ali, a member of Hamas’ Military Wing in Lebanon, was also killed in an Israeli operation overnight on Saturday, it said.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, confirmed the deaths of two of its fighters following Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, but provided different names for them: Mohammed Hussein Al-Louise and Saeed Attallah Ali.
01:49 PM BST
Three injured by Hezbollah rocket
Three people were lightly injured as a result of a Hezbollah rocket impact in the northern Arab village of Deir al-Asad, police and medics told the Times of Israel.
The three victims were taken to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya by the Hian emergency medical service.
01:32 PM BST
Israel preparing ‘serious and significant’ response to Iranian attack
The Israeli military is planning a “serious and significant” response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on the country earlier this week, an IDF spokesperson has said.
The IDF said that Iran’s attack of some 200 ballistic missiles on the country – which caused some damage to air bases – will “have consequences.”
Iran said it launched the barrage in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and also Ismail Haniyeh, the former Hamas leader who was killed in Tehran in July.
Earlier in the week, Iran warned earlier any response from Israel will lead it to attack again.
Israeli officials have said all options are on the table – including strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Several officials have also warned that Iran’s oil facilities could be targeted.
01:26 PM BST
China says it evacuated 215 nationals from Lebanon
China said it has evacuated 215 of its nationals from Lebanon, where Israel has been carrying out intense bombardments since last month, resulting in over 1,100 deaths.
Several countries have launched operations to remove their nationals from Lebanon in the wake of the ground raids, including Russia, France, Spain, Germany and the UK.
“So far, 215 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon in two batches under the organisation and arrangement of the Chinese government,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement given to AFP.
“The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon continues to carry out its mission in Lebanon and will continue to assist the Chinese citizens there in taking security measures,” it added.
The ministry did not say where the evacuated Chinese nationals had been taken.
01:09 PM BST
Pro-Palestinian protesters march through London
Around 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters have begun marching through central London, with a “significant” policing operation in place across the capital as events mark the anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel.
Activists convened in Bedford Square on Saturday morning ahead of a planned march to Russell Square amid a heavy police presence.
According to organisers, the plan is to “target” companies and institutions they say are “complicit in Israel’s crimes”, including Barclays Bank and the British Museum.
The demonstrators blocked Tottenham Court Road by gathering outside a Barclays bank just after midday, with a sign held near the entrance reading: “Shame on those who looked away from the sadistic genocide of mainly children in Gaza and the West Bank.”
01:01 PM BST
Pictured: Evacuees arrive in Europe
12:49 PM BST
Syria’s Assad says Iran’s attack on Israel taught it ‘lesson’
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said Saturday that Iran’s second-ever missile attack on Israel this week was a “lesson” for Israel, his office said.
The missile attack on Tuesday evening, just days after Israel killed the leader of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, was “a strong response and taught the Zionist entity a lesson,” Mr Assad was quoted as saying as Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi visited Damascus.
12:38 PM BST
Syrian air defences confront hostile targets over Homs, state news says
Syrian air defences confronted hostile targets over the city of Homs, Syria’s state news agency SANA said on Saturday.
12:37 PM BST
Direct hit on building in northern Israel’s Deir al-Asad causes casualties
Reports are coming in of rocket impacts in Deir al-Asad and Karmiel in northern Israel, following a barrage from Lebanon.
Residential buildings in both towns were hit, according to footage from the scene shared on social media, reported by Times of Israel reporters.
Several Iron Dome interceptions were also reported over the area.
Medics are responding to reports of a direct rocket impact in the northern Arab village of Deir al-Asad, close to Karmiel. pic.twitter.com/kGrK3TvWi0
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 5, 2024
12:35 PM BST
Israel military official says ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack
An Israeli official told AFP on Saturday that the military is “preparing a response” to the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel earlier this week.
“The IDF (Israeli military) is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel,” the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue. He did not elaborate on the nature or timing of the response.
12:29 PM BST
Watch: Joe Biden ‘doesn’t know’ if Israel may be trying to influence the presidential election
12:16 PM BST
Canada urges citizens to leave Lebanon as evacuations top 1,000
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, has urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon to sign up for evacuation on special flights, which have already helped more than 1,000 leave.
Canada has 6,000 signed up to leave and officials are trying to reach another 2,500 over the weekend, an official in Mr Trudeau’s office said, adding that more flights were being added for Monday and Tuesday.
“We’ve still got seats on airplanes organised by Canada. We encourage all Canadians to take seats on these airplanes and get out of Lebanon while they can,” Mr Trudeau said.
Canada has not been able to fill flights with its citizens and has offered seats to people from the Australia, New Zealand, the United States and some European countries, the official added.
11:58 AM BST
Iran’s foreign minister calls for ceasefires
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi renewed his call for ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon on Saturday as he held talks with his country’s Syrian ally.
“The most important issue today is the ceasefire, especially in Lebanon and in Gaza,” he told reporters.
“There are initiatives in this regard, there have been consultations that we hope will be successful.”
Mr Araghchi’s visit to Damascus, his first since he took office in August, comes almost a year after Hamas attacked Israel, triggering war in Gaza.
“The purpose of my trip to Damascus is to continue consultations regarding the developments in the region,” Mr Araghchi said.
11:55 AM BST
IDF tells southern Gazan citizens to evacuate
By Melanie Swan, Tel Aviv
Israel’s military warned citizens in the south of Gaza to evacuate as activity in the strip stepped back up on Saturday.
“Hamas and the terrorist organisations continue their terrorist activities within your area and accordingly the IDF will act with great force against these elements,” the message to residents from the IDF’s Arabic speaking spokesman Avichay Adreae stated.
It comes days after terrorists in the strip raided the area of the Israeli-controlled Netzarim corridor from south to north Gaza.
11:50 AM BST
Pictured: Funeral of victim from Jaffa shooting
11:39 AM BST
Iran’s oil minister ‘not worried about crisis’ amid Israeli threats
Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said he was “not worried” about the escalating conflict in the region amid reports that Israel would strike Iran, the ministry’s Shana news site said.
Mr Paknejad’s comments were made during a visit to Assaluyeh, the energy capital of Iran.
11:25 AM BST
Hezbollah’s Safieddine ‘unreachable’ since Friday, source says
Hashen Safieddine, widely expected to succeed slain leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had been unreachable since the strike on Friday, three Lebanese security sources told Reuters on Saturday.
Reports suggested Safieddine, who was Nasrallah’s cousin, has been targeted in an Israeli strike.
Safieddine was born in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanoun En Nahr near Tyre in 1960 and the young men studied theology together at two Shia institutions – one in Najaf, Iraq and the other in Qom, Iran.
The loss of Nasrallah’s rumoured successor would be yet another blow to Hezbollah and its patron Iran. Israeli strikes across the region in the past year, sharply accelerated in the past few weeks, have decimated Hezbollah’s leadership.
11:07 AM BST
Israel issues first Gaza evacuation warning in weeks
The Israeli army warned residents to evacuate part of central Gaza on Saturday, saying the military was preparing to use “great force” against Hamas fighters in the area.
The evacuation call is the first in weeks for Gaza as the Israeli military has largely shifted its focus to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Hamas and the terrorist organisations continue their terrorist activities within your area and, as a result, the IDF (military) will act with great force against these elements,” the evacuation order posted by the Israeli army said, with an attached map listing the blocks to be evacuated.
Palestinians living in areas near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza have been warned to evacuate.
10:54 AM BST
Pictures of the day
10:38 AM BST
Emirates bans pagers and walkie-talkies onboard after Lebanon blasts
Emirates has banned pagers and walkie-talkies onboard its planes following sabotage attacks in Lebanon.
“All Passengers travelling on flights to, from or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage,” the carrier said, weeks after a wave of exploding communication devices used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which blamed Israel for the attacks.
In a statement posted on its website on Friday, Emirates said that “such items found in passengers’ hand luggage or checked baggage will be confiscated by Dubai Police.”
The blasts last month killed at least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 across Lebanon.
10:17 AM BST
Analysis: Gaza ceasefire talks frozen
By Melanie Swan, Tel Aviv
Gaza ceasefire talks have been paused due to Israel’s ground operations in Lebanon, according to Israeli media and families of hostages.
Israel’s Mako and Channel 12 reported that there would be no talks until the intense ground operations in Lebanon were over, expected in two to three weeks.
The news organisations said that defence minister Yoav Gallant had cancelled two meetings with families of abductees, while prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not responded to requests for two weeks.
According to Mako, a security official told the families: “The intense fighting in the north will end within two to three weeks and it will be possible to reach the arrangement in the south as well as to make a deal.”
It came as the Israeli military ordered a large-scale evacuation in southern Gaza on Saturday. “Hamas and the terrorist organisations continue their terrorist activities within your area and accordingly the IDF will act with great force against these elements,” the warning to residents from the IDF’s Arabic speaking spokesman stated.
Hamas spokesman Basem Naim confirmed to The Telegraph there are currently “no negotiations” as families in Israel continue to protest.
When asked why they had broken down, he said: “You can direct this question to the Americans who are setting their agendas, not according to American interests but to Netanyahu’s mad agendas.”
Saturday night will see dozens of protests taking place around Israel.
“Only together we can bring everyone home,” the hostage families association said.
10:01 AM BST
Hezbollah says fires rockets at north Israel air base
Hezbollah said its militants launched Fadi-1 rockets on Saturday at Israel’s Ramat David air base near the northern city of Haifa, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) from the Lebanese border.
In a statement, the Iran-backed group also said its fighters hit an Israeli tank in south Lebanon, near the border, with a missile.
09:49 AM BST
Iran foreign minister Araqchi arrives in Damascus
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Damascus to discuss regional developments and bilateral relations with Syrian officials, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.
09:41 AM BST
Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, says Trump
Donald Trump said he believes Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to the Islamic republic’s recent missile barrage.
The former president, and Republican White House hopeful, made his comments at a campaign event in North Carolina, in reference to a question posed to Democratic president Joe Biden this week about the possibility of Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
“They asked him, what do you think about Iran, would you hit Iran? And he goes, ‘As long as they don’t hit the nuclear stuff.’ That’s the thing you want to hit, right?” Mr Trump said on Friday.
Mr Biden was asked on Wednesday – a day after Iran fired more than 180 missiles at Israel – whether he would support strikes against Iranian nuclear sites and said: “The answer is no.”
“I think he’s got that one wrong,” Mr Trump said. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to hit? I mean, it’s the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons.”
“When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later,” Trump added.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed Iran would pay for the attack. He has not given assurances to the Biden administration that targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities is off the table in retaliation for the Iranian attack, a top US State Department official told CNN yesterday.
09:30 AM BST
Israel army says struck Hezbollah fighters inside south Lebanon mosque
The Israeli military said its forces struck Hezbollah fighters inside a south Lebanon mosque overnight, the first such strike since clashes erupted between Israel and the militants last year.
“Overnight, with the direction of IDF (army) intelligence, the IAF (air force) struck Hezbollah terrorists who were operating within a command centre that was located inside a mosque adjacent to the Salah Ghandour Hospital in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.
“The command centre was used by the Hezbollah terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks against IDF troops and the state of Israel.”
The Salah Ghandour Hospital, which is run by the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, said nine of its medical and nursing staff were wounded by heavy strikes, most of them seriously, after it received an Israeli warning to evacuate.
09:27 AM BST
Israeli strike hits Tripoli regugee camp
An Israeli strike hit Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli for the first time early on Saturday, a Lebanese security source said.
The source told Reuters a Hamas official, his wife and two children were killed in the strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli. Hamas-affiliated media said the strike killed a leader of the group’s armed wing.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike on Tripoli, a Sunni-majority port city.
Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted almost a year ago.
Hamas has announced the deaths of at least 18 of its militants in Lebanon since then.
The group said an air strike on Monday killed its leader in Lebanon Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine in his home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon. In August, an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the south Lebanon city of Sidon killed Hamas commander Samer al-Hajj. A strike in January, which a US defence official said was carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri and six other militants in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold.
Lebanon’s dozen Palestinian refugee camps were created for those who were driven out or fled during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s creation.
By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the camps and leaves the Palestinian factions to handle security.
09:13 AM BST
Ongoing clashes in Lebanon border area
Hezbollah said it was engaged in ongoing clashes with Israeli troops in the Lebanon border area, after earlier saying it forced Israeli soldiers to retreat there.
“Israeli enemy soldiers renewed an attempt to advance towards the vicinity of the municipality in the village of Adaysseh”, and Hezbollah fighters confronted the attempt “and clashes are continuing”, the group said in a statement.
It said earlier that its fighters had forced Israeli troops to “retreat” in the same area.
The Iran-backed Lebanese group also said it targeted troops in south Lebanon’s Yarun area with a “rocket salvo”, as well as soldiers in two points across the border with rockets.
09:11 AM BST
Hezbollah accuses Israeli army of infiltration in Lebanon
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Saturday that the Israeli army is trying to infiltrate the Lebanese southern town of Odaisseh, adding that clashes are ongoing.
09:07 AM BST
Overnight blasts in Beirut
A blast was heard and smoke was seen over Beirut’s southern suburbs in the early hours of Saturday, Reuters witnesses said, as the Israeli military issued three alerts for residents of the area to immediately evacuate.
The first alert on Saturday called on residents specifically present in a building in the Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood. The second alert mentioned those present in a building in Choueifat district.
The third alert mentioned buildings in the areas of Burj al-Barajneh and Haret Hreik.
