Updates: Hezbollah drone attack kills 4 Israeli soldiers, injures 7

Thank you for joining us.

Read our story here on the Hezbollah drone attack on northern Israel that killed at least four soldiers.

For more on what happened today at a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon, go here.

To know more about whether Israel is replaying its Gaza doctrine in Lebanon, take a look here.

And here is a visual story mapping one year of attacks along the Israel-Lebanon border.

We’re about to close this live page shortly but before we do, here are the key developments from the day:

• The Israeli army says four soldiers were killed and seven severely injured in a Hezbollah drone attack at a military post in northern Israel.
• The Israeli rescue service has said at least 60 people were wounded in that attack which it described as a “mass casualty event”.
• Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack and promised more should Israel continue to bombard Lebanon.
• At least 18 Palestinians have been killed and several wounded in an Israeli tank shelling of a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
• UNIFIL has said two Israeli Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of a base and forcibly entered before dawn.
• The Israeli military has said Hezbollah fighters had fired antitank missiles at Israeli troops near a UNIFIL base, wounding 25 of them. A tank helping evacuate the casualties under fire then backed into the UNIFIL post, it said.
• UN chief Guterres has said attacks on UNIFIL “may constitute a war crime”, adding that UN peacekeepers will remain in southern Lebanon.

Forty countries who contribute troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) issued a joint statement urging a halt to attacks on peacekeepers in the country.

That comes after five UNIFIL personnel have been injured by suspected or confirmed Israeli attacks on the international peacekeeping force since Thursday.

• On Thursday, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured after falling from an observation tower at UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura after Israeli tanks fired towards it. Sean Clancy, chief of staff of the Irish Defence Forces in the area, said he believed it was “not an accidental act”.
• On Friday, the Israeli military acknowledged its troops were responsible for an incident in Naqoura in which two Sri Lankan soldiers were wounded after being shot at. Israel said soldiers near the base opened fire after identifying a threat, adding that the incident would be investigated. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry has “strongly condemned” the attack.
• UNIFIL has said a peacekeeper was injured in a separate incident in Naqoura on Friday amid “ongoing military activity nearby”. It said it did not know the origin of the fire. The man “underwent surgery” to remove the bullet and is “currently stable”, it said.

The UN’s World Food Programme says no food has entered the northern Gaza Strip this month as Israeli attacks continue. It says “the risk of famine is real” for about 400,000 Palestinians trapped there.

Hassan Barari, a professor of international affairs at Qatar University, says Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza’s north is designed to force Palestinian inhabitants permanently out of the area.

“The Israelis have underestimated the Palestinians’ will to stay put. The Israelis from the get-go have wanted them to leave,” Barari told Al Jazeera. “This is part of their ideology. The majority of the government belongs to the extreme right and they saw on October 7 [2023] a golden opportunity to translate some ideas into action.”

He said one of those was “the transfer” of Palestinians from Gaza as a prelude to their expulsion from the occupied West Bank. “They believe in a greater Israel minus the Palestinians. This is part of the mindset of the Israelis.”

Many Palestinians in Gaza have made the difficult decision to leave the occupied territory.

Some have found success abroad, but they say their thoughts are never far from their homeland of Palestine.

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego reports from the UK:

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that several people were wounded in Lebanon in an air strike near Sidon by Israel, which continued its bombardment of several towns in the south of the country.

• Israeli jets hit the town of Maghdoucheh near Sidon, while artillery targeted the towns of Aita al-Shaab, Ramyah and Qouzah in Nabatieh province.
• Air strikes also targeted the towns of Naqoura, Chamaa, and Tayr Harfa in Tyre province.
• In Marjayoun, the Israeli army shelled Markaba and conducted an air strike targeting Taybeh.
• Another Israeli air strike took place between the towns of Maghdoucheh Zita, and Aanqoun in Sidon.

Gaza’s Government Media Office is now reporting that the death toll in Israeli attacks on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians has gone up to 22.

Another 80 people were wounded in the attack, it added.

The Israeli army says alerts were activated in the “Gulf area” as five launches from Lebanon were intercepted.

In the statement that we just reported on, Hezbollah also said that the deadly drone attack took place after the group had warned that continued assaults on Lebanon would turn Haifa and other areas in northern Israel into targets.

The group said Israel undermined Hezbollah’s capabilities while continuing to bombard Lebanon and killing its members, including its former chief Hassan Nasrallah.

What Israel “witnessed today in southern Haifa is a small fraction of what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our noble and dear people”, the statement added.

Israeli forces are committing “another massacre” in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory says.

Francesca Albanese said Palestinian civilians in Jabalia “are killed – both in groups and one by one – amid unspeakable cruelty and sadism” by Israeli troops “who have accepted to be ‘willing executioners’ of a genocidal plan”.

The Israeli attacks are being conducted with Western support and weapons, Albanese noted.

“It blows my mind to think that WE KNOW what Israel is doing and altogether we cannot stop it. Looking at where we were 100 years ago, no[t] much progress has been achieved,” she said in a post on X.

The Israeli army has been carrying out a large-scale military incursion for nine days in northern Gaza, where the Jabalia camp is located.

Israel’s national emergency medical service has released a statement following the Hezbollah drone attack on Benyamina, in northern Israel.

Here are some highlights:

• The organisation declared the attack a “mass casualty event”
• 61 people were injured, including three in serious condition
• 37 were people taken to hospital.

“This was a very difficult scene. We declared it a mass casualty event and treated patients suffering from blast injuries and shrapnel. The injuries were severe, and we evacuated the injured to hospitals as quickly as possible for further medical treatment,” said Magen David Adom paramedic Rafi Sheva.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Hezbollah has carried out a drone attack on a Golani Brigade camp in Binyamina, south of Haifa, wounding at least 67 people.
• Two Israeli tanks “destroyed” the main gate and “forcibly entered” a UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army says a tank entered the UNIFIL post during soldier evacuation.
• UN chief Guterres says attacks on UNIFIL “may constitute a war crime”, adding that UN peacekeepers will remain in southern Lebanon.
• At least 18 Palestinians were killed and several wounded in an Israeli tank shelling of a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
• The Pentagon has confirmed it will deploy an anti-missile system and its US military crew to Israel.
• France’s President Macron has called on Iran’s leader to support a “general de-escalation” in Gaza and Lebanon in a phone conversation.

Turkey says Israel’s repeated attacks on the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon show that the Israeli government intends to extend its occupation to Lebanon.

“The Israeli Government’s repeated attacks on UNIFIL are a clear indication of its policy of occupying Lebanon and its willingness to use military power without hesitation,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that UNIFIL’s mission to maintain regional security is of critical importance.

“It is incumbent on each member of the UN Security Council to prevent attacks by Israel against the UN forces that they themselves have mandated,” the ministry said.

It called on all states to take a common position against Israel and the countries that arm it.

A batch of 27 Palestinian students left Cairo for Pakistan where they will continue their medical and dental studies, Pakistan’s Embassy in the Egyptian capital announced.

The statement on X added that “this batch of students is part of 192 Palestinian medical students from Gaza who will continue their medical studies in Pakistani medical universities on fully funded programmes”.

In July, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced it would provide scholarships to more than 100 Palestinian students to continue their medical studies in Pakistan.

Under the directives of Prime Minister @CMShehbaz, @PakinEgypt & @AlkhidmatOrg facilitated the departure of the first batch of 27 #Palestinian students from #Cairo for #Pakistan for continuing their medical and dental studies.@ForeignOfficePk @MfaEgypt @MoIB_Official pic.twitter.com/Ktc2EwdxXS

— Pakistan Embassy Egypt (@PakinEgypt) October 13, 2024

In a statement, Antonio Guterres stressed that “UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be targeted”.

“Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law. They may constitute a war crime,” he said, adding that UNIFIL peacekeepers will remain in their positions in southern Lebanon and the UN flag will continue to fly.

His comments came after several attacks against UNIFIL positions, including one earlier today when Israeli forces destroyed one of the mission position’s main gates and forcibly entered its premises.

The Israeli army said its operation was part of a rescue effort following an antitank missile attack.