U.N. Says Israel Opened Fire on Peacekeepers in Lebanon
Israeli forces fired on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday and wounded two of them, according to the U.N. force.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon — commonly known by its acronym, UNIFIL — said Israeli tank fire hit an observation tower at the force’s headquarters in Naqoura and that soldiers also struck the entrance of a bunker at a separate base nearby where peacekeepers were sheltering.
“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the U.N. force said in a statement on Thursday, adding that it was following up with the Israeli military. When asked for comment, Israel’s military said it was “looking into the reports” that its forces had fired on peacekeepers.
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Nearly a Million Civilians Flee War in Lebanon, U.N. Says
Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israeli towns and fought ground battles with Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, as the United Nations warned that nearly a million Lebanese had fled the spreading war between Israel and Iranian-backed groups in the Middle East.
In a sign of the war’s growing scale, Israeli evacuation orders now cover a quarter of Lebanon’s land area, according to the United Nations, which says the calls have sent people fleeing from more than a hundred villages and urban areas.
“To the people of South Lebanon: Be careful!” an Israeli military spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday in an Arabic language warning posted online. Israeli forces, he said, were continuing “to attack Hezbollah sites in and near your village, and for your own safety you are prohibited from returning to your homes until further notice.”
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Rubble, and Defiance
In One Image Rubble, and Defiance By David Guttenfelder
The rubble, covering much of a city block on the edges of Beirut, was still smoldering when we arrived. An Israeli airstrike had hit the area days earlier.
Symbols of defiance could be seen in the ruins. This poster depicts Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief killed in a strike on Sept. 27.
And this flag shows Imam al-Hussein, an ancient symbol of sacrifice for Shiites. Few would fail to recognize him.
Residents had cleared out before the Israeli bombs fell.
The Dahiya, a collection of neighborhoods on the southern outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, was in ruins, smoke still rising from the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The Israeli military has warned Lebanese civilians to evacuate many areas as it pursues its campaign to eliminate the leaders of the militant group and political party Hezbollah, who live among the general population. Dahiya has been a stronghold for the militant group.
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Man Charged in South Africa Mass Shooting That Left 18 Dead
Weeks after the mass shooting of 18 members of one family in South Africa left a town reeling, prosecutors charged one man with the murders on Wednesday.
The shooting, which took place on Sept. 28 in a rural village in the Eastern Cape Province, brought to the fore an increasing number of mass shootings in South Africa. The country has for years recorded high rates of violent crime, but in recent years, gunmen have started targeting taverns, family gatherings and even a birthday party, in assassination-style hits.
Police officers arrested Siphosoxolo Myekethe, 45, at his home on Monday, eight miles from the village still stunned by the shooting. He appeared briefly in a court in Eastern Cape Province on Wednesday and was charged with 18 counts of murder. Mr. Myekethe, who is being represented by a legal aid attorney, has not entered a plea. Prosecutors said that he had previous convictions for murder and escaping legal custody, and at the time of his arrest was on parole.
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She Didn’t See Other Black Hikers. She Decided to Change That.
The women made their way up the narrow stone steps in a winding line, the rolling green fields of the English countryside stretching out across the valley below. The steep climb, which had begun in the early morning, brought them high above an elevated rail line, its imposing Victorian arches rising in the distance.
But the 15 women had their sights set on the mist-covered peak above, one of three summits they would tackle that summer day as part of a hiking challenge in the Yorkshire Dales, a national park in northern England.
Near the back of the line, Rhiane Fatinikun called out encouragement as the group trudged upward. She was the reason these women had come together to take on this demanding trek.
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Biden and Netanyahu Speak for the First Time in Months as Mideast Crisis Deepens
Biden and Netanyahu Speak for the First Time in Months as Mideast Crisis Deepens
The conversation carried the weight of the worst relationship between the United States and Israel in years.
David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt
Reporting from Washington
For the first time in two months, President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday in a phone conversation that focused on Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack.
When the meeting ended, American officials said nothing about Israel’s plans, or whether Mr. Netanyahu indicated he would heed Mr. Biden’s warnings not to hit nuclear or energy sites, which the White House fears could lead to an escalating cycle of Iranian missile strikes and Israeli responses.
Instead, a terse account of the conversation issued by the White House hours later said Mr. Biden “condemned unequivocally Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel on Oct. 1,” but made no reference to discussions on how to respond — which was the purpose of the call.
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