Middle East latest: Israel faces mounting criticism over attacks on UN peacekeepers

Criticism mounted Monday over attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the warning for them to temporarily leave the area where the military is operating against Hezbollah militants.

The U.N. Security Council expressed “strong concern." The European Union condemned the attacks and rejected Israeli allegations that the U.N. was keeping them there to obstruct military operations against Hezbollah.

Five peacekeepers were wounded in attacks since Israel began a ground campaign against Hezbollah, with most blamed on Israeli forces. Israel has escalated its campaign after a year of exchanges of fire, while it is also at war with Hamas in Gaza.

Israel's defense minister, meanwhile, vowed “a forceful response" to Sunday's drone attack by Hezbollah that killed four soldiers in Israel.

It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 people captive inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.

Here's the latest:

Iranian paramilitary leader whose status was in question is shown on state TV

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of the expeditionary arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has appeared in television footage aired Tuesday by Iranian state television.

Rumors circulated for weeks over Gen. Esmail Qaani’s status in the time since an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in late September. But Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, was seen in a black bomber jacket, wiping away tears at an event early Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.

While Iranian state television did not acknowledge the rumors, it made a point to film Qaani for over a minute and later share the footage from the airport ceremony online.

Qaani was on hand for the repatriation to Iran of the body of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, 58, who was killed in the airstrike.

Australia puts sanctions and travel bans on 5 Iranians

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia’s government has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranians contributing to the country’s missile defense program, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Tuesday.

Iran’s launch of at least 180 ballistic missiles against Israel on Oct. 1 was “a dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war,” Wong said in a statement.

The fresh sanctions target two directors and a senior official in Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, the director of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, and the commercial director of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.

The decision brings to 200 the number of Iran-linked individuals and entities now sanctioned by Australia.

“Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilizing actions,” Wong said.

China calls for dialogue between Israel and Iran in talks with their foreign ministers

BEIJING — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed concern over the escalation in tensions in the Middle East during talks Monday with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts.

China urged Israel and Iran to hold talks to try to resolve their conflict and avoid falling into a “vicious circle,” Wang told Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz during a phone talk, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Wang also called for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, and for all hostages to be released.

The “humanitarian disasters” in Gaza must stop, Wang told Katz, according to a readout of their talk.

Wang also spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said Iran was deeply concerned about the risk of a “comprehensive escalation” of the conflict and did not want to see it further expand.

UN Security Council voices concern over attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council has expressed “strong concern” after several U.N. peacekeepers were wounded when they came under fire in southern Lebanon, and has reiterated its support for the peacekeeping mission’s role “in supporting regional security.”

The council’s statement Monday was its first reaction to the escalating attacks across the U.N.-drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon, and the firing at frontline positions of the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.

The statement did not name Israel or the Hezbollah militants who have been firing into Israel in support of Hamas in Gaza since the Iranian-backed resistance group’s surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The statement urges all parties “to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and U.N. premises.”

Council members also expressed “deep concern” at civilian casualties, the destruction of infrastructure and the rising number of displaced people. They called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians.

Council members called for the full implementation of the council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war “and recognized the need for further practical measures to achieve that outcome.”

That resolution calls for the Lebanese army to deploy throughout the south and for all armed groups, including Hezbollah, to be disarmed, neither of which has happened. UNIFIL’s mandate includes monitoring the border and supporting implementation of the resolution.

The Security Council “also emphasized the need for diplomatic endeavors that would bring a durable end to the conflict and allow civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes.”

Netanyahu reasserts that UN peacekeepers must leave southern Lebanon

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has “repeatedly asked” the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to temporarily leave the area where the Israeli military is operating.

The peacekeepers belong to the 10,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, who have been patrolling the border area between Lebanon and Israel for nearly 50 years.

At least five members of UNIFIL have been injured since Israel started its ground incursion into Lebanon two weeks ago, leading to criticism of Israeli operations.

“Hezbollah uses UNIFIL facilities and positions as cover while it attacks Israeli cities and communities,” Netanyahu said Monday.

He says Israel “regrets any harm done to UNIFIL personnel,” but insisted the peacekeeping force should temporarily evacuate the area.

The UNIFIL chief has said U.N. peacekeepers will stay on Lebanon’s southern border despite Israel’s request.

Hundreds attend funeral of Revolutionary Guard general in Karbala, Iraq

KARBALA, Iraq — Hundreds of members of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups have attended the funeral of a prominent general in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard who died in an Israeli airstrike that also killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last month.

The body of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan was flown by private plane from Beirut to Baghdad, then transported to the city of Karbala where the funeral took place Monday. Karbala is 70 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of Baghdad.

The mourners wore military uniforms and carried the flags of the Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba militias, and the Popular Mobilization Forces — a collection of mostly Shiite armed groups that have semi-official status in the Iraqi military — and pictures of Nasrallah.

They chanted, “Death to Israel and America.”

The representative of the religious authority in Karbala, Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbala, attended the funeral prayers at the shrine of Imam Hussein. A second funeral will be held in the city of Najaf, then the body will be transferred to Iran for burial.

UN chief says mission in southern Israel is trying to protect peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations’ chief is in frequent contact with the commander of the U.N.’s peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon and says the mission is doing its best to protect its forces.

The mission, known as UNIFIL, has come under attack several times since Israel began a ground campaign against the Hezbollah militant group. Five peacekeepers have been wounded. Israel has said the U.N. is keeping its forces along Lebanon’s border with Israel to obstruct its military operations.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Monday that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is extremely appreciative of the courage and dedication of the more than 10,000 uniformed peacekeepers and civilian staff serving in the mission.”

The Security Council established UNIFIL in 1978 and its mandate was strengthened after the Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon in 2006.

“UNIFIL continuously assesses and reviews all factors to determine its own posture and its own presence,” Dujarric said. “The mission is taking all possible measures to ensure the protection of its peacekeepers.”

Erdogan calls for the UN to protect its peacekeepers in Lebanon

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rebuked the United Nations, describing its failure to protect peacekeepers in Lebanon as “shameful” and “worrying.”

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, has come under direct attack in the past week, with Israeli troops firing at the peacekeepers’ headquarters and positions.

“Israeli tanks enter UNIFIL territory, attack peacekeepers, even injure some of them. But the United Nations Security Council is just watching these bandits from the tribunes. This is weakness. This is surrendering to Israeli aggression,” Erdogan said in a televised address Monday.

“The image of a United Nations that cannot even protect its own personnel is shameful and worrying for the international system,” he said. “We ask ourselves what else the Security Council is waiting for to stop Israel.”

The Turkish president has consistently called for reform of the U.N., especially of the Security Council, saying it is unfair that global decisions are made by its five permanent members.

UN peacekeepers find explosives near UN base in southern Lebanon

ROME — A patrol of the Italian contingent of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon found explosive devices positioned along the road leading to a U.N. base.

The Italian Defense Ministry says a team of bomb disposal experts secured the area close to Forward Operating Base UNP 1-32A, but they couldn't complete the clearance operation because one of the devices ignited, causing a fire. No one was injured.

The ministry says UNIFIL — the U.N. peacekeepers — and Lebanese authorities are “investigating the dynamics of the events and tracing the perpetrators of the potential threat.”

Israeli military says it found a huge underground Hezbollah compound in southern Lebanon

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says its forces operating in southern Lebanon uncovered an underground compound stretching 800 meters (half a mile) that served as a command center for Hezbollah’s special forces.

A video released by the army Monday shows weapons and ammunitions that it says are stored inside the tunnel, including helicopter-fired missiles and mortar shells. It also shows motorcycles and living quarters containing beds and a kitchen stocked with food and supplies.

The army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, says the tunnel is a few kilometers from Israel’s border, and that the weapons stocked there were to be used in a raid on northern Israel.

Israeli leaders and its military have for years accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters inside homes and other civilian structures in border villages.

The army has mobilized thousands of troops for what it says is an ongoing ground operation to dismantle Hezbollah’s military infrastructure along the border.

At least 1,700 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in the past month. Around 60 Israelis have been killed in Hezbollah strikes in the past year. Israel says it wants to drive the militant group away from shared borders so some 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Israel says it allowed 30 trucks of aid into northern Gaza, the first in 2 weeks

JERUSALEM — Israel says it has allowed 30 trucks of aid to reach northern Gaza, breaking a 2-week stretch during which the U.N. says aid levels fell precipitously in the area.

The Israeli body managing aid crossings into the territory, COGAT, said Monday that 30 trucks carrying flour and food from the U.N.’s main food agency traveled through the northern crossing after inspection. The U.N. has not confirmed the statement.

For the last two weeks, nearly no food, water, fuel or supplies have reached the north, the U.N. says, with both major crossings closed since Oct. 1.

The cutoff, combined with a renewed Israeli offensive in the area, has raised fears that Israel is pursuing an extreme plan proposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would besiege the northern third of the strip in an effort to prompt a Hamas surrender.

COGAT says 30 trucks were transferred into Gaza on Sunday through a crossing known as “Gate 96,” north of the strip, though it was unclear where the aid went because, the UN says, trucks traveling through that crossing do not go directly to the north.

Rocket fire from Lebanon sets off sirens in Tel Aviv and other locations

TEL AVIV, Israel — Rocket fire from Lebanon set off sirens in Tel Aviv and over 180 communities across central Israel on Monday.

The Israeli military says three projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon and all were intercepted. Israel’s police say debris from an interception fell in a city south of Tel Aviv but there were no reports of injuries or significant damage.

Rocket attacks on northern Israel meanwhile continued unabated, with the army saying that approximately 90 projectiles were identified by the afternoon. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas.

A 50-year-old woman was lightly injured and heavy damage was caused in a volley of 15 rockets on the northern town of Karmiel, the military and the Israeli rescue service said.

Hezbollah has fired more than 12,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the hostilities one year ago, according to the army. Most of the fire has been directed at the north of the country, but attacks have reached deeper into Israel and become more frequent since the conflict escalated in mid September.

On Sunday, a Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in the city of Binyamina killed four soldiers and wounded 61.

Israeli military details messages and calls made in Lebanon urging evacuation

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has sent out 1.7 million text messages, 3.4 million voice messages and made 3,700 voice calls notifying civilians in Lebanon to evacuate as it continues with its ground invasion there.

Some 2,300 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since last October, more than three-quarters of them in the past month, according to the Lebanese government. At least 1.2 million people have been displaced — the vast majority since Israel ramped up airstrikes across the country last month.

Israel says it is making an effort to communicate with civilians ahead of airstrikes, but people interviewed by the the Associated Press say that they don’t receive the warnings -- or that they come in the middle of the night or don’t adequately cover the area that is struck.

An Israeli intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said Monday that there are 60 Arabic speakers working to call village leaders -- from doctors and governors to teachers -- to urge their communities to evacuate.

The official said that the military makes the calls to village leaders hours before airstrikes occur, and that the military notifies residents in Beirut before their buildings are struck.

Lebanese say the orders often come at very short notice, and it’s not clear where people can go or when they will be able to return home. Most of the villages along the border with Lebanon have suffered extreme damage and emptied out since the start of Israel’s ground invasion. Beirut’s southern suburbs, too, have seen an exodus.

One quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders, according to the U.N.’s human rights division.