Iran vows support for Lebanon and backs ceasefire with conditions, as Qantas offers free flights to evacuate Australians — as it happened
By Heloise Vyas
By Maddy Morwood
By Kaitlin Easton
EBy Esther Linder
By Aoife Hilton
Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has vowed support for Tehran's "friends" in Lebanon while on his first visit to Beirut since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants intensified last month.
He backed efforts for a ceasefire, on the condition Hezbollah backed it and it was agreed simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Penny Wong released a statement confirming Qantas will operate two free flights from Cyprus to Sydney for Australians leaving Lebanon.
Look back on how the day's events unfolded here.
Key Events
Iran backs ceasefire on condition of Gaza ceasefire, Hezbollah support
Iran Supreme Leader says Muslim nations share 'common enemy' in rare sermon
Flights from Cyprus available for 'anyone who has right of access' into Australia
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Live updates
We'll wrap up our live coverage here
A
By Aoife Hilton
We're going to wrap up our live coverage of the Middle East war here.
But we will continue to update you on the night's events here.
Here are some of today's key events to get you up to speed:
- US President Joe Biden said he was 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- At least 14 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the West Bank
- The Lebanese army said it fired back at the IDF for the first time
- Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called for Iran's ambassador to Australia to be expelled
- An Israeli strike cut off the Masnaa border crossing from Lebanon to Syria
- Qantas announced two free flights from Cyprus to Sydney for Australians fleeing the Middle East war
- Iran's Supreme Leader delivered a public sermon for the first time in nearly five years, calling Israel a "common enemy"
- Iran's foreign minister said he would back a ceasefire in Lebanon if Hezbollah supported it and it came with a Gaza ceasefire too
Thank you for joining us.
You can take a look back at all the developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.
Iran threatens to target Israeli energy infrastructure if IDF attacks
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By Aoife Hilton
Iran Revolutionary Guards Commander Ali Fadavi has threatened Iran will target Israeli energy and gas infrastructure if the IDF "commits terror" to attack Iran, the SNN News Agency reports.
"If the occupiers make such a mistake, we will target all their energy sources, installations and all refineries and gas fields," he said.
Key EventIran backs ceasefire on condition of Gaza ceasefire, Hezbollah support
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By Aoife Hilton
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has vowed support for Tehran's "friends" in Lebanon while on his first visit to Beirut since fighting between Israel and 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".
Iran's most senior diplomat also said his presence in Beirut "in these difficult circumstances" was the best evidence that Iran stood by Lebanon and supported the Shi'ites.
He also backed efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon, on the conditions Hezbollah also backed the ceasefire and it was agreed simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza.
"We support efforts for a ceasefire on the condition that it would be acceptable to the Lebanese people, acceptable to the resistance, and thirdly, it would be synchronized with a ceasefire in Gaza," he said.
Sirens sound in southern Israel
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By Aoife Hilton
The IDF says for the first time in two months, sirens are now sounding in southern Israel.
Lebanon receives UN medical supplies
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By Aoife Hilton
A delivery of medical supplies from the United Nations reached Lebanon today, a first since last week's escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, said a UN agency and a Lebanese minister.
"An airlift … landed in Beirut earlier this morning with 30 metric tonnes of trauma and surgical supplies, enough to treat tens of thousands [of] people," the World Health Organization's regional director Hanan Balkhy said on X.
"More flights are arriving later today and tomorrow, carrying trauma supplies, cholera supplies and mental health supplies."
Health Minister Firass Abiad was at the Beirut airport to receive the aid organised by the World Health Organization and UN refugee agency UNHCR and funded by the United Arab Emirates.
"We are receiving the first shipment out of many," he said.
The shipment included "many trauma kits that will be crucial to support the hospitals as they receive the casualties from the Israeli attacks on Lebanon", he added.
Lebanese increasingly sleeping in the open, fleeing on foot
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By Aoife Hilton
A UN refugee agency official says most of Lebanon's nearly 900 shelters are full and people fleeing Israeli strikes are increasingly sleeping out in the open.
"Most of the nearly 900 government established collective shelters in Lebanon have no more capacity," UNHCR's Rula Amin told a Geneva press briefing.
"With the onset of winter, UNHCR is concerned that conditions for those affected by the escalating conflict in other will only worsen."
"Roads are jammed with traffic, people are sleeping in public parks, on the street, the beach," Mathieu Luciano, the International Organization for Migration's office head in Lebanon, added.
He confirmed that most shelters were full, including those in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, but said some others still had space.
Many of the current shelters are schools, he said, meaning disruptions to education.
He voiced concern for tens of thousands of mostly female, live-in domestic workers in Lebanon whom he said were being "abandoned" by their employers.
"They don't have papers ... and as a result, they are reluctant to seek humanitarian assistance because they fear that they may be arrested and they may be deported."
The agency also said that some people are fleeing on foot across Lebanon's main border with Syria, following an Israeli strike on the Masnaa crossing that connects the two countries by road.
"We could see that some people were walking, desperate to flee Lebanon, and so they walked actually through that destroyed road," Amin said.
"As they flee the bombings, families arrive with profound physical and emotional fatigue and huge needs for support."
Around 60 per cent of the more than 185,000 Amin said had arrived so far in Syria were children and adolescents, sometimes without their parents.
Israeli strike yesterday hit tunnel from Lebanon to Syria, IDF says
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By Aoife Hilton
The Israeli military claims it struck an underground tunnel yesterday, which crossed from the Lebanese border into Syria and enabled the transfer and storage of large quantities of weapons.
"With precise intelligence guidance from the Military Intelligence Corps, yesterday, Air Force fighter jets attacked a 3.5 km long underground tunnel crossing the Lebanese-Syrian border that was used by Hezbollah to transport and store a large amount of weapons underground," IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.
"As part of this attack, military buildings, weapons depots and other terrorist facilities were destroyed."
He also referenced the strike on the Masnaa border crossing, which we reported earlier today.
"Last night, infrastructure was also attacked at the Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon that was used to transport weapons to Hezbollah."
PHOTOS: Aftermath of Israeli strikes in Beirut
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By Aoife Hilton
It is now 2:45pm in Lebanon.
The IDF has claimed its strikes in Beirut yesterday targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and communications chief.
Hezbollah says strikes have continued today, targeting a rescue worker attending to those wounded overnight.
These are a few photos which have come through across the day.
Hezbollah accuses IDF of targeting rescuers
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By Aoife Hilton
Hezbollah says an Israeli strike in south Beirut has killed a rescuer, 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 group said in a statement.
Hezbollah communications head killed in Israeli strikes yesterday, IDF says
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By Aoife Hilton
Israel's military says it has eliminated the head of Hezbollah's communication networks, Mohammad Rashid Sakafi, by conducting a "precise, intelligence-based strike" in Beirut yesterday.
The claim comes after IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X that Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs yesterday targeted Hezbollah's central intelligence headquarters.
WATCH: Iran Supreme Leader's rare public sermon on Middle East war
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By Aoife Hilton
We brought some lines to you earlier from a rare public sermon delivered by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in which he addressed thousands of worshippers about the war in the Middle East while holding a rifle.
In the sermon, he said Israel "cannot seriously harm" Hezbollah and Hamas and "will not last long".
"The brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate," he added of Iran's earlier missile attack on Israel.
"The resistance in the region will not back down with these martyrdoms, and will win," he said.
Watch the full video below.
How are travel agents getting Australians out of Lebanon" style="width: 650px; height: 433px;" />A
By Aoife Hilton
Melbourne travel agent Diana Abousattout spoke on ABC's News Channel earlier about the process of getting Australians out of Lebanon.
She said Australians in other parts of the region had also been making use of the flights out, though it was "hectic" to connect with other airlines and ensure they fulfilled their visa requirements.
Watch the full interview below.
Key EventIran Supreme Leader says Muslim nations share 'common enemy' in rare sermon
A
By Aoife Hilton
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has delivered a public sermon for the first time in almost five years.
He had a rifle by his side as he addressed thousands of worshippers carrying portraits of slain leaders of Iran's "Axis of Resistance" against Israel and the United States.
During the sermon, he said Muslim nations have a "common enemy" and have to "strap the belt of defense from Afghanistan to Yemen, from Iran to Gaza and Lebanon".
He argued Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel was "logical and legal" and "the brilliant action a couple of nights ago by our armed forces" during Iran's missile attack on Israel was "legal and legitimate".
The missile attack was the "minimum punishment" for Israel's crimes, he said.
"Every country has the right to defend itself from aggressors," he said.
"Israel is pretending to win through assassinations and civilian killings.
"What is accumulated from Israel's recent behaviour is increasing anger and strengthening resistance motives.
"The bloodshed should not weaken your strength.
"The resistance in the region will not back down.
"Israel will never be victorious over Hezbollah and Hamas.
"Iran will not procrastinate or rush to carry out its duty."
He also accused the US of preserving Israel's security as a cover for seizing the region's resources, with an aim to make Israel "a gate to energy exporting from the region to Europe".
Flights from Cyprus available for 'anyone who has right of access' into Australia
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By Aoife Hilton
Natalie Whiting, reporting from Cyprus, spoke to ABC's News Channel earlier about the Australians taking the free Qantas flights back home amid escalating violence in the Middle East.
She clarified the flights were free for "Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family — anyone who has right of access and entry into Australia".
Watch the full report below.
PHOTOS: Aftermath of Masnaa border crossing strike
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By Aoife Hilton
We brought you news earlier of a strike near the Masnaa border crossing, the road which hundreds of thousands have used in recent days to flee Lebanon into Syria.
This is a snapshot of the aftermath.
What would be the legal consequences for an Israeli response to Iran's missile attack" style="width: 650px; height: 433px;" />A
By Aoife Hilton
Don Rothwell, an international law expert from ANU, spoke to ABC's NewsChannel earlier on the ongoing conflict in Israel and Lebanon.
He was asked what the legal consequences would be for Israel to respond to Iran's earlier missile attack.
While he said Israel's right to self-defense is "not really disputed", he noted it doesn't have the right to fly missiles over Jordan, Syria, Iraq or Kuwait airspace to get to Iran without permission.
Watch the full interview below.
Key EventQantas to run two free flights from Cyprus to Sydney for Australians leaving Lebanon
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By Aoife Hilton
Qantas has confirmed it will run two flights from Cyprus to Sydney to bring home Australians leaving the conflict in Lebanon, the foreign minister says.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has released a statement confirming the flights will be free of charge, with vulnerable passengers prioritised.
Two government-supported charter flights carrying up to 500 passengers will depart the Lebanese capital Beirut for Cyprus tomorrow.
Senator Wong says further flights are planned for subsequent days and will be subject to demand.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be in contact with registered Australians to facilitate their departure and will continue to provide updates to registered Australians," the senator's statement said.
Iranian foreign minister arrives in Beirut
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By Esther Linder
Lebanese state media is reporting that the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has landed in Lebanon.
A Reuters live broadcast showed an Iranian-flagged plane landing at Beirut airport, just hours after air strikes hit outside the airport perimeter overnight.
Araqchi is set to meet with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, according to his schedule.
Three rescue workers injured in Israeli strike on Beirut
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By Esther Linder
It's almost 10am in Beirut, and another strike has wounded more people in the Lebanese capital.
An Israeli strike hit Hezbollah-linked rescue workers in Beirut's southern suburbs, wounding three, a Lebanese security source told Reuters.
More Lebanese towns told to evacuate by IDF
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By Esther Linder
The Israeli military on Friday told the residents of over 20 more southern towns in Lebanon to evacuate immediately, spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X.
More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli attacks since the start of Israel's attacks on Lebanon over the past 11 months, and roughly 60,000 Israelis have also been displaced from northern Israel.
And nearly 2,000 people have been killed in the same period, most of them in the past two weeks, Lebanese authorities said.
By：https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-04/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-live-updates/104430472(责任编辑：admin)
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