Israel-Iran War News Updates: US launches air attacks on Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels

The Islamic Health Committee emergency service, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said 11 of its rescue personnel were killed in Israeli strikes in south Lebanon on Friday.

In a statement, it said seven emergency personnel died in "direct Zionist aggression on emergency teams" at the Marjayoun governmental hospital, with four others killed in two attacks elsewhere in south Lebanon.

The United Nations on Friday condemned what it called an "unlawful air strike" by Israel on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank that the Palestinian health ministry said killed 18 people the previous day.

"The strike is part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force by ISF (Israeli security forces) during military-like operations in the West Bank that have caused widespread harm to Palestinians and significant damage to buildings and infrastructure," the United Nations rights office said in a statement.

A U.S. official tells The Associated Press that the strike Friday hit weapons systems, bases and other equipment belonging to the Iranian-backed rebels.

U.S. aircraft and ships struck Houthi strongholds, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet publicly released. The exact number of targets was not yet available as the mission was just ending.

According to the Houthi media, seven strikes hit the airport in Hodeida, a major port city, and the Katheib area, which has a Houthi-controlled military base. Four more strikes hit the Seiyana area in Sanaa, the capital, and two strikes hit the Dhamar province.

The umbrella group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement that it launched drones to attack “three targets in three separate operations in the Golan and Tiberias,” a city in Israel.

The group regularly says it has launched drone strikes at Israel, but the strikes have rarely landed.

Strikes by the United States targeted three rebel-run cities in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, according to the Huthi-run Al Masirah television network.

Al Masirah reported several US strikes on Sanaa and Hodeida, where AFP correspondents heard loud explosions, as well as additional strikes on Dhamar, south of the capital, but did not specify if the attacks caused any damage or casualties.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops in the south Lebanon border area for a second time on Friday, after earlier saying it had shelled Israeli soldiers nearby.

Hezbollah fighters targeted "an Israeli enemy troop force during its advance" towards an area west of the border village of Yarun "with artillery shells and a rocket salvo", a statement said, with the group also claiming a series of attacks on Israeli soldiers across the border on Friday.

A Japanese Self Defense Force transport aircraft flew the 16 to Jordan on Friday, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry.

The ministry says the flight was carrying 11 Japanese nationals, a non-Japanese relative of one of them, and four French nationals. It has provided no other details.

The ministry says two other Japanese citizens were evacuated from Lebanon to Cyprus on a ship chartered by the Japanese government.

The Israeli army on Friday said a drone launched "from the east" killed two soldiers, with a public broadcaster reporting the strike originated from Iraq and hit a base in the Golan Heights.

The military said the two soldiers died while fighting in northern Israel. When asked by AFP for details it said the soldiers were killed in a drone strike launched from the east, without specifying from where.

The Israeli army on Friday said its forces had hit more than 2,000 sites during its four-day incursion into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah positions.

"Over 2,000 military targets have been struck," including militants, military buildings, weapons and more, the Israeli military said in a statement.

The Israeli military on Friday said its forces had killed 250 Hezbollah fighters during the past four days after launching ground operations in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the military said "250 Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated, of which 21 were commanders during four days of precise operation in southern Lebanon."

Three hospitals in Lebanon including one on the outskirts of Beirut's southern suburbs announced Friday the suspension of work, amid ongoing Israeli bombardment.

In statements carried by the official National News Agency, Sainte Therese Hospital near Beirut's southern suburbs reported "huge damage" to the building on Thursday due to Israeli bombardment in the vicinity and the subsequent "halt of hospital services", while two hospitals in the country's south also said services had stopped.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said that in four days of concentrated activity in southern Lebanon around 250 Hezbollah terrorists, including 20 leaders, eliminated. He further said that so far, approximately 250 terrorists have been eliminated by land and air, and more than 2,000 military targets have been attacked, including terrorist elements and facilities, military buildings, weapons depots, missile platforms.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said his country backed efforts for a simultaneous ceasefire with Israel in both the Palestinian territory of Gaza and Lebanon.

"We support the efforts for a ceasefire, provided that first, the rights of the Lebanese people are respected and it is accepted by the (Hezbollah) resistance, and second, that it comes simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza," he said during a visit to Beirut.

Iran’s Foreign Minister is warning Israel that if it carries out an attack on Iran, Tehran will retaliate harshly.

“If the Israeli entity takes any step or measure against us, our retaliation will be stronger than the previous one,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, referring to this week’s attack on Israel with 180 missiles.

Iran will target Israeli energy and gas installations if Israel attacks it, the semi-official Iranian news agency SNN quoted Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi as saying on Friday, as reported by Reuters

Israel’s military said Friday that militants in Gaza had fired two rockets into Israeli territory, the first time Israel has seen rocket fire from Gaza in about a month.

The military said one of the rockets was intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and the other fell in an open area near a kibbutz across the border from Gaza.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday vowed support for Tehran's "friends" in Lebanon, on his first visit to Beirut since fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants intensified last month.

"Be sure that the Islamic Republic of Iran is and will be firmly standing by the friends in Lebanon," Araghchi told reporters, adding that Tehran supports Lebanon, its Shiite Muslim community and Hezbollah, "and it was necessary to say this in person".

The IDF in a latest post says that sirens sounded in Israel for the first time in last two months. The Israeli military says that "Hamas is still threatening our civilians with their terrorism and we will continue operating against them."

Israel-Iran War News Live: Anti-Israel protests in J&K's Baramulla

Gaza's health ministry has released the new data of death toll in the war with Isael. According to the ministry, at least 41,802 people have been killed in last one year of war between Israel and Palestinians.

UN officials said on Friday most of Lebanon's nearly 900 shelters were full and that people fleeing Israeli military strikes were increasingly sleeping out in the open in streets or in public parks. "Most of the nearly 900 government established collective shelters in Lebanon have no more capacity," the U.N. refugee agency's Rula Amin told a Geneva press briefing. She said that they were working with local authorities to find more sites and that some hotels were opening their doors. "People are sleeping in public parks, on the street, the beach," said Mathieu Luciano, the International Organization For Migration's office head in Lebanon. He confirmed that most shelters were full, including those in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, but said some others had space. (Reuters)

On the West Asia issue, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "We issued a statement a few days back expressing deep concern - we said that the violence and the situation is of deep concern for us. We had reiterated a call for restraint by all concerned and also the protection of civilians. It is important in our opinion that this conflict doesn't take a wider regional dimension... As of now, from Israel, Iran and other countries, flights are running so people have the option if they want to leave. Families have reached out to us and to our embassies, but at this point, we don't have any evacuation process going on. We have around 3,000 people in Lebanon, mostly in Beirut... In Iran, we have around 10,000 people, around 5,000 of them are students... In Israel, we have around 30,000 people largely caregivers and workers..." (Read More)

During the media briefing in New Delhi, MEA said that India is not launching any 'evacuation flights' as of now. The ministry also said that there are 35,000 Indians in Israel, most of them are caregivers.

In a post on X, Israeli Defence Forces said that a top Hezbollah commander was in Beirut strike. In the post, the IDF said that Mohammad Rashid Sakafi, who was leading the group's communications unit, was killed in Lebanese capital in Thursday bombings. "Sakafi was a senior Hezbollah terrorist, who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000. Sakafi invested significant efforts to develop communication capabilities between all of Hezbollah's units," the IDF said on X

Israel-Iran War Live: WHO's medical supplies reach Lebanon

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said an Israeli strike on Friday killed a rescuer at the site of an overnight air raid in south Beirut, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting civil defence teams. After massive Israeli strikes overnight in Hezbollah's stronghold in the Lebanese capital, "Israeli aircraft targeted civil defence teams who were working to remove the rubble and rescue the wounded, leading to the death of a civil defence member," the Iran-backed group said. A source close to Hezbollah earlier told AFP the strike was carried out with a drone. (AFP)

Hezbollah leader Syyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut, has been “temporarily buried” in a secret location fearing Israel would target a large funeral, sources in the militant group told AFP on October 4. (Read More)

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib says Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah agreed to a ceasefire right before Israel killed him

Two rockets were launched from Lebanon towards Israel’s Haifa region, triggering warning sirens in several towns, according to an army statement.

Khamenei's Friday sermon, delivered in Persian, began with 'Muslim unity' and principles of Quran. He went on to defend the missile attack on Israel and said that it was the "minimum punishment." He also said that "we will neither procrastinate nor hurry." "What is reasonable and correct according to the opinion of political and military decision-makers will be done in due time and will be done again in the future if necessary," the Supreme Leader says

Iran's Khamenei says missile attack 'minimum punishment' for Israel crimes

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei stated that every nation has the right to defend itself against aggressors. He urged Muslim countries to strengthen their defenses against a common enemy, spanning from Afghanistan to Yemen and from Iran to Gaza and Lebanon. Addressing thousands of worshippers during a Friday sermon in Tehran, Khamenei also declared that Hamas’ October 7 attack and Iran’s recent ballistic missile strike on Israel were legitimate acts of defense.

“The policies adopted by our enemy is to sow the seeds of division and sedition, to drive a wedge among all the Muslims. They are the same enemies to the Palestinians, Lebanese, Egyptians, and the Iraqis. They are the enemy to the Yemeni and Syrian people,” Iran’s supreme leader told the large crowd.

Amid loud chants, Iran's supreme leader says, "Palestinians resistance is legitimate."

'Every country has the right to defense itself in the face of aggressors,' says Khamenei

The last time Khamenei led Friday prayers was nearly five years ago, when he commemorated the death of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed by a US airstrike at Baghdad International Airport.

Among the hundreds of people gathered in Tehran, some carried the Palestinian flags while others carried green-and-yellow flags of Hezbollah.

"You will overcome every enemy if stay united," Iran supreme leader cites Quran's logic for Muslim nations.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has begun delivering his speech in Tehran. In his address, he speaks about "Muslim unity" and use of "holy laws."

Quoting the spokesperson of the Iranian foreign minister, Irna says that "the Iranian delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and accompanied by two MPs and the head of the Red Crescent Society, entered Lebanon." The spokesperson also said that the delegation presented a shipment of 10 tons of food and medicine to Lebanon as part of Iran's humanitarian aid.

According to the state-run media, Khomeini has arrived at the mosque. This is for the first time in last five years that the Supreme Leader will deliver the Friday sermon.

Israel-Iran War Live: What's happening in Tehran - Watch

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is leading the Friday prayers in Tehran. State-run Irna posted a clip of the gathering from Tehran

As Iran-Israel conflict escalates, the Israeli army on Thursday announced that its troops had rescued a 21-year-old Yazidi woman from Gaza during an operation. The woman, according to the army was taken captive by Islamic State group jihadists a decade ago when she was just 11. She was allegedly trafficked to the Palestinian territory. (Read More)

Amid intense bombing by Israel, there are reports emerging from Beirut that Iran's foreign minister has landed in the Lebanon capital. Lebanon's NNA news agency reported that Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived at Rafic Hariri International Airport

• The Lebanese group Hezbollah reported that its fighters launched rockets at the city of Haifa in the morning. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the attack.
• In a statement on Telegram, Hezbollah stated that the operation took place at 7 AM (04:00 GMT) as a response to Israeli raids on Lebanese and Palestinian targets, commending their “valiant and honorable resistance.”

Brent crude prices touched the $78 per barrel mark in early trade on October 4, clocking its biggest one-day rise in almost a year after President Joe Biden told reporters the US was discussing whether to support potential Israeli strikes against Iranian oil facilities. (Read More)

An Israeli strike on Friday morning near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria cut off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters. Hamieh said the strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the border crossing, creating a four-metre (12 feet) wide crater. An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military spokesman had accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon. (Reuters)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is anticipated to lead a commemoration service for the slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during Friday prayers in Tehran, as reported by the semi-official Mehr News Agency. Nasrallah was killed a week ago in an Israeli airstrike on the militant group’s underground headquarters located in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

An Israeli strike on Beirut targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, widely regarded as successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed a few days ago, an Axios report said. There has been no statement from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) or the Hezbollah on the latest strike as Israel steps up the offensive in Lebanon.

According to the Lebanese public health ministry, at least 37 people were killed today in Lebanon, spanning from southern regions to the capital city of Beirut. The ministry also reported that 151 others were injured as a result of Israeli airstrikes across the country.

Israeli fighter jets targeted the Abu Jazar family home in the Maen area of southern Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency. The report noted that the attack resulted in deaths and injuries, though it did not provide specific numbers.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled to lead Friday prayers at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran for the first time since 2020. He will deliver a public sermon that is expected to outline Iran’s plans following its recent missile attack on Israel, coinciding with the upcoming one-year anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7. The prayer session will be preceded by a commemoration ceremony for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, starting at 10:30 AM local time (07:00 GMT).

US President Joe Biden has said that he doesn’t believe there will be an "all-out war" in the Middle East but more needs to be done to ensure that the conflict doesn’t spiral out of control. The comments come as concerns mount about the scale of Israel’s possible response to the barrage of missiles that Iran fired.

While returning from a trip to assess hurricane damage, U.S. President Joe Biden addressed reporters regarding discussions between the U.S. and Israel about potential strikes on Iranian oil facilities. He refrained from disclosing details about what he termed private diplomatic discussions but expressed optimism about the possibility of preventing a wider war and negotiating non-confrontation between Israel and Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. However, he emphasized that the U.S. would not deploy its own forces to support Israel amid these ongoing conflicts, according to Al Jazeera.

The bomb hit the Jaber family residence on al-Tarzi Street in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, resulting in at least three fatalities and several injuries, as reported by the Palestinian Information Center and Quds News Network.

Representative Michael McCaul urged President Biden to expedite delayed weapons shipments to Israel, which have been held up over concerns they may violate international law in Gaza and Lebanon. In a letter, McCaul called for immediate action to send all pending shipments, including 2,000-pound bombs, to support Israel. As chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, McCaul revealed that over 10 weapons shipments to Israel have been awaiting approval for more than four months.

The Israeli military has claimed to have killed Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, an alleged Hamas leader, in a strike on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. This follows an earlier airstrike by Israeli fighter jets on a crowded café in Tulkarem, which resulted in at least 18 deaths, marking the deadliest airstrike in the West Bank in over two decades. Rawhi Fattouh, spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization, condemned the attack, calling it a "bloody, criminal aggression" and accusing Israel of committing war crimes and mass murder, further escalating tensions in the region.

The Israeli military reportedly attempted to kill Hashem Safieddine, cousin of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike in Beirut on Wednesday night, according to Axios. Safieddine, considered a potential successor to Nasrallah and head of Hezbollah’s executive council, was believed to be hiding in a bunker in southern Beirut. It is unclear whether the strike was successful. The U.S. designated Safieddine as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2017.

Massive explosions shook Beirut overnight in one of the most intense Israeli assaults on the city to date, with the Lebanese Health Ministry reporting 37 dead and 151 injured in bombings across the country over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, an Israeli fighter jet attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank left at least 18 Palestinians dead.