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Israel ‘stops Beirut strikes after US sends missile defence system’

Israel has paused strikes on Beirut partly due to the US deploying its Thaad missile defence system to the Middle East, CNN has reported. 
Israel’s limiting of its strikes on Beirut in exchange for the Thaad battery – plus a crew of US troops to operate it – was an “understanding” between the countries, the broadcaster reported. 
Israel has not struck Beirut since Thursday, when two bombardments killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others.
The US said at the time that it was pressing Israel to protect civilians during its operations, particularly in the densely populated areas of Beirut. 
Israeli media on Monday however quoted an anonymous government source as saying that Israel was not limiting its strikes on the Lebanese capital.
“Israel attacks everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut. We proved this recently, and we will prove it again in the coming days,” the source said.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu held their first phone conversation in two months after reports of mounting distrust between the pair due to Israel’s alleged failure to warn the US in advance of its operations against Hezbollah and Iran.  
Today’s live coverage has ended. Here’s a roundup of the day’s events: 
Some fifteen rockets were fired from Lebanon in this barrage, the Israeli military said, adding that most were intercepted but some hit the northern town of Karmiel. 
No injuries were reported but one rocket hit a parked car, Israeli media said. 
The US embassy in Beirut has urged US citizens to leave Lebanon “now”. 
In a statement, it warned that additional flights from Beirut would not continue indefinitely. 
It said US citizens who choose not to leave now should prepare contingency plans that do not rely on the US government for evacuation. 
The UK has announced sanctions on Iranian military figures following Tehran’s mass ballistic missile attack on Israel on October 1. 
In a statement, the Foreign Office said travel bans and asset freezes will be imposed on senior figures in the Iranian army, the Iranian air force and the intelligence wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 
Asset freezes will also hit the Farzanegan Propulsion Systems Design Bureau and the Iranian Space Agency for developing technologies that can be used for cruise and ballistic missiles. 
David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, said: 
“Despite repeated warnings, the dangerous actions of Iran and its proxies are driving further escalation in the Middle East.
“Following its ballistic missile attack on Israel, we are holding Iran to account and exposing those who facilitated these acts.
“Alongside allies and partners, we will continue to take necessary measures to challenge Iran’s unacceptable threats and press for de-escalation across the region.”
An Israeli strike has killed at least 18 people in northern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. 
The strike is reported to have occurred in the majority-Christian district of Zgharta, around 60 miles north of Beirut. 
If confirmed, the strike would be the first time Israel has targeted a majority-Christian area of Lebanon since the start of hostilities in October last year. 
The strike is thought to have targeted a Hezbollah official in an apartment building in the village of Aitou, Israeli media said. 
Israel has paused strikes on Beirut due to “understandings” between US and Israeli officials, CNN has reported. 
The pause is connected to the US’ deployment of its Thaad missile defence battery to Israel, CNN quoted an anonymous source as saying. 
The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday it would send a crew of troops to operate the battery in the region as Israel braced for an exchange of attacks with Iran. 
Israeli media reported on Sunday that an Israeli official had denied pausing strikes on Beirut. 
“Israel attacks everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut. We proved this recently, and we will prove it again in the coming days, in accordance with operational considerations,” The Times of Israel quoted the unnamed official as saying. 
France has rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that UN peacekeepers withdraw from southern Lebanon. 
In a statement, the French foreign ministry said that Unifil forces must be allowed to carry out their mandate. 
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was established in 1978 after Israel invaded southern Lebanon to fight Palestinian militants using the country as a base for attacks on Israel. 
The Israeli military said it has eliminated Muhammad Kamal Naim, who it said was the anti-tank missile system commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan unit. 
He was killed in an air strike in the Nabatia region of Lebanon, it added. 
The Radwan unit is Hezbollah’s special operations force tasked with conducting raids on Israel. 
כלי טיס של חיל האוויר תקף במרחב נבטיה שבלבנון, וחיסל את המחבל מחמד כאמל נעים, מפקד מערך טילי הנ”ט ביחידת רדואן של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה >> pic.twitter.com/ikeTmhjwxG
Spain’s prime minister has urged EU member states to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel over the war in Gaza and Lebanon. 
Pedro Sanchez on Monday called for EU nations to respond to a request by Spain and Ireland to review the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching its human rights clause.
At least 10 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a food distribution centre in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Palestinian medics said. 
The medics added that at least 30 people were injured and that women and children were among the casualties. 
Jabalia refugee camp camp has been the scene of several battles between Israeli forces and Hamas in recent weeks, with Israeli strikes in the area allegedly killing 150 people over the past seven days, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. 
An overnight Israeli attack on a school in Gaza killed at least 20 people, including children, according to local officials. 
The school in central Gaza’s Nuseirat was sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war. 
Casualties were taken to two local hospitals operated by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. 
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, killed at least four people and wounded around 50 others.
Footage on social media showed tents and cars set ablaze by the strike as people attempted to put out the flames with hose pipes and buckets of water. 
Later footage showed rescue crews searching for survivors among smouldering tents and burnt out vehicles. 
The attacks came as US defence secretary Lloyd Austin warned Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, that action must be taken to address the “dire humanitarian situation” in Gaza. 
Palestinians are shown stood in the rubble created by an Israeli strike on the Ard al-Mufti School in central Gaza. 
The strike killed at least 20 people, according to local officials. 
Hezbollah launched a “rocket salvo” at an Israeli naval base near the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Monday, the group said in a statement. 
It added that the attack was in the “service” of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader since 1992 who was killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut last month. 
Hezbollah’s claim to have attacked the base has not yet been confirmed, but the Israeli military said that some 10 rockets were fired at Haifa from Lebanon on Monday. 
Most of the rockets were intercepted but some crashed into open ground, the military added. No damage has yet been reported. 
Projectiles from Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system are shown intercepting rockets fired from Lebanon over the northern Israeli city of Haifa early on Monday. 
The Israeli military said that some 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon on Monday morning. 
Most of them were intercepted but some crashed into open ground, it added. 
Hezbollah’s drone attack on an Israeli military base south of Haifa that killed four soldiers on Sunday was “painful”, Israel’s military chief has said. 
“We are at war, and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the results are painful. You operated well to treat and evacuate the wounded and injured,” Herzi Halevi said on a visit to the attacked base. 
“Embrace the bereaved families, accompany the wounded and strengthen the commanders and soldiers,” he added.  
Mr Halevi also said that the Israeli military must examine how the attack happened and learn lessons for the future. 
“We must investigate it, study the details and assimilate the lessons in a quick and professional manner.”
Israel will continue to strike Beirut, Israeli media has said after reports circulated that Benjamin Netanyahu had last week ordered a halt to strikes on the Lebanese capital. 
“Israel attacks everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut. We proved this recently, and we will prove it again in the coming days, in accordance with operational considerations,” an Israeli newspaper quoted a senior Israeli official as saying. 
Another official issued a similar denial on Sunday, the newspaper added. 
The EU’s top diplomat has said the bloc’s member states took too long to condemn Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. 
“We should be against Israeli attacks against UNIFIL. Our soldiers are there, many soldiers are there,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said on Monday. 
EU countries, including France, Italy and Ireland, have contributed thousands of troops to the UN’s 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, which has said it has repeatedly come under attack from Israeli forces in recent days.
Mr Borrell’s comments come after the EU on Sunday issued a statement condemning Israeli attacks on UN forces and positions in southern Lebanon (see our post at 07.57am).
An Israeli minister has denounced UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, saying they are a “useless force” that has failed to prevent Hezbollah harming Israeli citizens. 
“The UN is a failed organization and UNIFIL is a useless force,” Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister, said. 
“The State of Israel will do everything to ensure the safety of its citizens, and if the UN cannot help at least not interfere, and move its people from the combat zones,” he added. 
Mr Cohen also attacked the UN force for failing to enforce UN Resolution 1701, which was intended to end the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war and stipulated that armed groups including Hezbollah were to withdraw to a demarcation line 18 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. 
The European Union has condemned Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, demanding that they “must stop immediately”. 
“Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable,” the UN said in a statement released on Sunday night. 
“We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities,” it added. 
It comes after a growing number of encounters between Israeli forces and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. On Sunday, 15 peacekeepers were reportedly injured by smoke from rounds fired by Israeli tanks at a UN position. 
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has demanded that the UN withdraw its peacekeeping force from southern Lebanon. 
The Israel Defence Forces has named four soldiers that were killed when Hezbollah struck a military base near Haifa with a “swarm” of drones on Sunday. 
A drone hit a dining area at the base, according to Hezbollah-affiliated media. 
The soldiers, all teenagers, were named as Sgt Omri Tamari, 19, from Mazkeret Batya; Sgt Yosef Hieb, 19, from Tuba Zangariya; Sgt Yoav Agmon, 19, from Binyamina-Giv’at Ada and Sgt Alon Amitay, 19, from Ramot Naftali.
Welcome to our live coverage. We’ll be keeping you up to date with the day’s events as they happen. 

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