At the end of a Security Council, the United Nations, surprisingly followed by the American ambassador, warned against the closure of the agencies of the agency for Palestinian refugees in Palestine. Faced with Netanyahu’s promise to continue to strike Hezbollah “without respite” in all the countries where it is present, American President Joe Biden called on the Israeli army to spare civilians in Lebanon, while the increase in raids , particularly in Beirut, wreaked havoc: 5 rescuers who tried to save victims from the rubble of previous raids were killed on the night of Wednesday October 9 to Thursday October 10.
Information to remember
⇒ France does not deliver “any weapons to Israel”, maintains the Minister of the Armed Forces
⇒ The UN warned Israel against closing UNRWA agencies
⇒ Joe Biden called on Israel to spare Lebanese civilians
09:45
France does not deliver “any weapons to Israel”, assures Lecornu
“Despite what La France insoumise has been saying for a year, there are no weapons delivered to Israel,” declared this Thursday morning on France Inter the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, specifying that France was instead delivering “arms components on purely defensive systems”, and mentioning in particular “spring systems on the iron dome and armor plates for vehicles”.
Noting that the region was in the grip of “a spiral which has never been so vicious”, the minister also warned against “the risk of conflagration, of regional war, which would inevitably impact Europe and security of French women and men”.
09:30
Ship damaged in attack off Yemen
A ship was damaged this Thursday by a “projectile” off the port of Hodeida, controlled by Houthi rebels, in western Yemen, announced the British maritime safety agency (UKMTO), specifying that it there were no victims. The agency did not say who owned the ship or who was behind the attack, but the Houthis regularly claim fire on ships they say are linked to Israel in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The ship’s captain reported that it had been “hit by an unknown projectile” and had “sustained damage”, according to a UKMTO statement. “No fire or casualties have been reported” and “the ship is heading to its next port of call,” she added. Shortly after, the agency reported “two other projectiles” having exploded near the ship. “The crew is safe and sound,” she said.
08:45
Podcast. France after October 7: Paris and Tel Aviv no longer agree
The day after the Hamas attack, France offered its immediate support to Israel. But the response of the Hebrew State dealt a blow to Franco-Israeli relations… In this latest episode of our podcast, Etienne Girard, editor-in-chief of the Society department and Corentin Pennarguear, senior reporter for the World department, explain the development to us France’s relations with Israel, and its allies in the Middle East, since the Hamas attack.
07:20
New Israeli raids in Syria
Syria reported this Thursday Israeli air raids targeting the central regions of Homs and Hama, the day after a strike in the south of the country. Around 1 a.m., “the Israeli enemy launched an air attack targeting an automobile assembly plant in the industrial zone of Hassia,” as well as a military position in the Hama region, reported official Sana agency, specifying that the losses are only material.
On Wednesday, General Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israeli army, promised that Israel would continue to strike Hezbollah “without respite” in all the countries where it is present. Already on Wednesday, Sana indicated that a police officer had been killed in an Israeli bombardment on the Syrian Golan Heights. Tuesday evening, an Israeli airstrike on the Mazzé neighborhood in Damascus left seven civilians dead, according to the Syrian Defense Ministry.
07:00
UN warns Israel against closing UNRWA
In the Gaza Strip, “the delivery of aid cannot be envisaged without UNRWA”, warned French Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, calling on “Israel to abandon plans aimed at criminalizing the activities of the Office and to close its offices in East Jerusalem. The UN Security Council, including the United States, warned Israel on Wednesday October 9 against passing a law that would ban the Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), one of the last institutions to be able to inform on the humanitarian situation from Gaza, the day after the same warning launched by the head of the United Nations Antonio Guterres. Two pieces of legislation were approved on Sunday in the Knesset aimed at putting an end to the activity of UNRWA in the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel. Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has accused UNRWA of employing “terrorists”.
During a meeting of the Security Council devoted to the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, American Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, in a rare move, warned that she was following “with great concern the Israeli bill which could modify the status Legal Affairs of UNRWA”. She pointed out the risk of undermining the “ability to communicate with Israeli officials and removing diplomatic privileges and immunities enjoyed by UN organizations and employees across the planet”.
06:50
Biden calls for sparing civilians in Lebanon
Joe Biden asked Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to “reduce as much as possible the impact on civilians” in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut, while bombings are regular and a ground offensive is underway in the south of the country. Joe Biden, who had not spoken directly to the Israeli leader for seven weeks, “stressed the need for a diplomatic solution” to allow the return of civilian populations from northern Israel and southern Lebanon, the report states of the call. The day before, the United States had warned Israel against any offensive in Lebanon that “resembles” what happened in the Gaza Strip.
The United States, on the other hand, is no longer calling, as it did ten days ago, for a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying on the contrary to support the Israeli offensive, building on its recent successes since the assassination of leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah. But they fear a Gaza-like scenario and are striving to regulate the Israeli response, while “affirming Israel’s right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah.”
06:45
Five rescuers killed in Lebanon
Lebanese Civil Defense reported overnight that five of its rescuers had been killed in an Israeli strike on one of its barracks in the south of the country. Searches continue in the rubble after the strike in the town of Dardeghaya, about twenty kilometers north of the border, adds the Ministry of Health.