Israel-Iran War Updates: Netanyahu boosts soldier morale at Lebanon border

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron Sunday that Israel's fight against the Hezbollah group will help "change the reality" in Lebanon and bring stability to the entire Middle East.

"The prime minister emphasised that Israel's actions against Hezbollah create an opportunity to change the reality in Lebanon for the benefit of stability, security and peace in the entire region," Netanyahu's office quoted him as telling Macron during their conversation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Emmanuel Macron that Israel expects support from France and not restrictions after the French president called for a halt to arms supplies to Israel for use in Gaza.

"Israel's friends are expected to stand behind it, and not impose restrictions on it that will only strengthen the Iranian axis of evil," Netanyahu said in a telephone call with Macron, according to his office.

French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his country's "unwavering commitment" to Israel's security in a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while insisting on a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, the presidency said.

"On the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist offensive against Israel, he expressed the solidarity of the French people with the Israeli people," the French presidency said, adding that Macron also voiced "his conviction that the time for a ceasefire has now come."

Iran's aviation body on Sunday announced the cancellation of flights at some of the country's airports, citing "operational restrictions", state media reported as Israel vows to retaliate for an Iranian missile strike.

Because of those restrictions, "the flights at some airports of the country will be cancelled from 21:00 tonight (1730 GMT), Sunday, October 6, until 6:00 am tomorrow, October 7," according to IRNA state news agency citing Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation spokesman, Jafar Yazarloo.

The United States will not ease its "pressure" on Israel and Arab leaders in the Middle East to reach a deal on hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, Vice President Kamala Harris said in an interview.

Washington is working with Israel on humanitarian aid and "the need for a deal to be done which would release the hostages and create a ceasefire. And we're not going to stop in terms of putting that pressure on Israel and in the region, including Arab leaders," Harris told CBS' "60 Minutes," according to excerpts from an interview.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed victory against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Sunday during a visit to soldiers on the Lebanon border.

"The whole world is amazed by the blows you are delivering to our enemies, and I salute you... Together we will fight, and together we will win," he told them, according to a statement issued by his office.

The Israeli military said that rockets fired from northern Gaza crossed into southern Israel on Sunday, a day ahead of the first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack.

"Several projectiles were identified crossing from the northern Gaza Strip into Israeli territory. One projectile was intercepted, and the rest fell in open areas," the military said in a statement, with Israeli forces on alert for attacks ahead of the grim anniversary of Palestinian militants' unprecedented attack.

Nearly half of Lebanon's 1.25 million school pupils have become displaced, a top education ministry official said, as Israel's intensifying strikes on Hezbollah strongholds forced more than one million people to flee.

"There are 1.25 million pupils in Lebanese schools," Director General of Education Imad Achkar said, and "40 percent of them of them have been displaced" by Israeli bombardment.

Hezbollah said it launched attack drones at an Israeli military base near the northern city of Haifa, the latest hostilities since Israel began intense air strikes on Lebanon last week.

Fighters from the Iran-backed group "launched an air assault with a squadron of attack drones on the maintenance and rehabilitation base south of Haifa," the group said in a statement.

Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israeli air strikes in the Jabaliya area in the north of the territory killed at least 17 people, including nine children.

"There are 17 martyrs, including nine children, in Israeli air strikes in Jabaliya," civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP. Israeli forces have encircled Jabaliya in response to indications that Hamas was rebuilding there.

At least one person was killed and 10 others injured during a shooting in southern Israel's Beer Sheva, police and emergency responders said, a day before the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack.

"Paramedics have pronounced a 25 year old female deceased, and are evacuating 10 casualties," emergency service provider Magen David Adom said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops along the border with Lebanon, his office said, nearly a week after the Israeli military launched ground operations against Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today visited the 36th Division base in the Lebanese border area," his office said in a statement.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Iran that it might end up looking like Gaza or Beirut if the Islamic republic was considering an attempt to harm Israel.

"The Iranians did not touch the air force's capabilities –- no aircraft was damaged, no squadron was taken out of order," Gallant said in a statement, referring to Iran's recent missile strike on Israel that hit two bases of the Israeli air force.

"Whoever thinks that a mere attempt to harm us will deter us from taking action should take a look at (our achievements) in Gaza and Beirut."

Iran has prepared a plan to respond to a possible Israeli attack following the Islamic republic's retaliatory missile strike against it last week, local media reported.

"The plan for the necessary response to a possible action by the Zionists (Israel) has been fully prepared," Tasnim news agency said, quoting "an informed source" in the armed forces.

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad visited an oil facility on Kharg Island on Sunday amid growing concerns over potential Israeli air strikes targeting such vital sites.

The visit comes after an Israeli official said the country was "preparing a response" after Iran launched a barrage of missiles this week at Israel, its sworn enemy.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the 200 missiles were fired to avenge the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan in a September 27 strike on Beirut.

The Israeli military said Sunday it deployed more troops to defend southern communities and areas bordering Gaza, ahead of the anniversary of the October 7 attack by Hamas.

"The IDF's (army) Gaza Division has been reinforced with several platoons, with forces stationed to defend both the communities and the border area," the military said.

"The soldiers are fully equipped to defend the region in coordination with local security forces," it said in a statement.

Inside Gaza, the military said three divisions were working to "dismantle terrorist infrastructure and degrade Hamas's capabilities".

"The Southern Command remains at a heightened state of vigilance and readiness for the coming days," commanding officer Major General Yaron Finkelman was quoted as saying. (AFP)

An Israeli strike hit a car factory in central Syria, a war monitor said, in the latest such strike in the country or its border with Lebanon in recent days.

The raids struck an empty Iranian car factory in the central region of Homs, causing only material damage, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Lebanon said the country would be postponing the start of the school year as Israel escalates its air strikes against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Education Minister Abbas Halabi said the new start date for more than one million students would be November 4, because of "security risks".

Israeli strikes killed 23 people across Lebanon on Saturday, the health ministry has said.

"Israeli strikes yesterday on towns and villages of southern Lebanon" and other parts of the country "killed 23 people and wounded 93 others," it said on Sunday, without including casualties in more recent bombardment on Beirut's southern suburbs after midnight.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that at least 41,870 people have been killed in the nearly year-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes 45 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 97,166 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel last October 7.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for a ceasefire in Gaza and restraint by all parties, saying the year-long Israel-Hamas conflict had affected community relations in Britain.

"The sparks light touchpapers in our own communities here at home," Starmer wrote in the Sunday Times ahead of the anniversary of the Palestinian militant group's unprecedented October 7 attack against Israel which sparked the war.

"Israel and the Middle East are not just inseparable from our nation's history. They have a deep relationship with our multicultural society," Starmer said, pointing out that "millions have family ties to the region".

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said an Israeli strike on a mosque-turned-shelter in central Deir al-Balah killed 26 people, while Israel's military said it had targeted Hamas militants.

"The number of martyrs brought to hospitals as a result of the occupation's targeting of displaced people in the Ibn Rushd school and Al Aqsa Martyrs mosque reached 26, with several more wounded," the health ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it had "conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre" at the mosque. It did not give any specific toll.