What we know
- Iran has urged Arab nations not to allow Israel to use their airspace as part of any retaliatory attack, two Gulf diplomats told NBC News. The timing of the U.S. ally's response remains unclear, but U.S. officials believe Israel intends to target Iranian military and energy infrastructure.
- The fate of peacekeepers in Lebanon was in doubt as the U.N. force told NBC News that two more soldiers were injured in an attack this morning. The Israeli military said its forces were responding to an "immediate threat" when it hit the UNIFIL post.
- Lebanon's capital, Beirut, was reeling from Israeli strikes in the city center that killed at least 22 people and injured 117 others, according to the Health Ministry.
- A U.N. report has accused Israel of war crimes and "the crime against humanity of extermination" for carrying out a “concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system.” Israel rejected the findings, calling them "outrageous."
Greta Thunberg ties Palestinian rights to 'climate justice'
Climate activist Greta Thunberg linked the campaign for climate justice to support for the Palestinians at a protest march in the Italian city of Milan today.
“You cannot claim to fight for climate justice if you ignore the suffering of all colonized and marginalized people,” she told the crowd.
What the U.S. believes it knows about an Israeli response to Iran
U.S. officials believe Israel has narrowed down what they will target in their response to Iran’s attack, which these officials describe as Iranian military and energy infrastructure. There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, but U.S. officials stressed that the Israelis have not made a final decision about how and when to act.
The U.S. does not know when the response could come but officials said the Israeli military is poised and ready to go at any time once the order is given. U.S. officials stressed that they have no information to indicate the response will come today but admitted that Israel has not shared a specific timeline with them — and it is not clear Israeli officials have even agreed on one yet. U.S. and Israeli officials said a response could come during the Yom Kippur holiday.
Israel has shared more information with the U.S. about the retaliation, the officials said, but they withheld many details out of operational security concerns. The U.S. is poised to defend its assets in the region from any immediate counterattack from Iran but is not likely to provide direct military support to the operation.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, last night and they discussed broad strokes about an Israeli response. However, it’s not clear that Gallant provided any concrete details. Their call came after an Israeli Cabinet meeting about the retaliation, but Gallant did not share the specific targets discussed in that meeting.
U.S. officials have continued to urge the Israeli government to make their response proportional, sticking to military targets and avoiding oil, gas and nuclear facilities.
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not discuss specifics in their call this week either, U.S. officials said. Biden strongly urged Netanyahu to focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and in Lebanon and urged him to bring an end to the fighting. The U.S. president also stressed that Israel needs to consider how difficult it would be to successfully carry out the war in Lebanon and face a strong threat on a second front from Iran.
Analysis: Putin meets with Iran's president, as America’s adversaries move toward one another
The Iranian president’s latest stop in a diplomatic drive aimed at blunting Israel’s promised attacks was a meeting today with Russian President Putin in Turkmenistan.
“Relations with Iran are a priority for us,” the Kremlin said, as it released video of the two leaders together. “We work together actively in the international arena, and our assessment of events happening in the world are often very close.”
The relationship is about more than agreeing on anti-Western ideology. Russia has an air defense system that would help Iran if it comes under attack from Israel.
Iran, meanwhile, has supplied Russia with weapons like Shahed drones for its war in Ukraine. And support for Iran by a nuclear-armed Russia will inevitably factor into any assessment of a strike on the country.
The meeting between Putin and Iran's Pezeshkian appears to have been arranged in a hurry. Russian media only announced it on Monday. And it underscores the ways in which events around the world are pushing America’s adversaries toward one another.
In 10 days, at a meeting in Russia of BRICS countries, which China is expected to attend, Pezeshkian says he hopes Iran will sign a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia. The last country to sign such an agreement with Moscow, earlier this year, was North Korea.
Spanish prime minister calls for arms embargo to Israel
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for countries to stop selling arms to Israel following a meeting with Pope Francis at Vatican City.
“I do believe that it is urgent that under the spotlight of all that is happening in the Middle East, the international community should cease to export arms to the Israeli government,” Sánchez told reporters.
The prime minister’s message came after peacemakers with the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured in Israeli attacks today. The Israeli military said its forces were responding to an “immediate threat” when it hit the UNIFIL post.
The leaders of Spain, Italy and France earlier Friday issued a joint statement condemning the attacks, saying they constitute an Israeli violation of international law.
Over 100 medics and emergency workers killed in Lebanon over past year, U.N. rights office says
More than 100 medical and emergency workers have been killed in Lebanon since last October, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“There are recurring reports of essential civilian infrastructure having been struck, including hospitals, clinics, ambulances and schools — along with destruction of housing,” the U.N. office warned in a statement, adding that Lebanese civilians are “bearing the brunt” of the latest phase of the conflict.
The office said the only way the conflict will end is at the negotiating table.
“Widening conflict and progressive escalation put the lives and wellbeing of potentially millions of people across the region at risk,” the agency said.
Lebanese prime minister condemns Israeli attack in southern Lebanon
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Israel’s attack on an army center in Kafra, southern Lebanon, that killed two soldiers and wounded two others.
“This ongoing Israeli crime against Lebanon has not spared even the brave soldiers who fulfill their national duty in protecting the land and defending the people,” Mikati said in a statement. “It is a call for the international community, which remains silent about Israel’s violations, to take a global stand that puts an end to this aggression.”
U.N. 'appalled' by Israel's 'inflammatory language' amid Lebanon campaign
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said it's “appalled” by recent “inflammatory language” from Israel amid its military campaign in Lebanon.
“Recent language threatening Lebanese people as a whole and calling on them to either rise up against Hezbollah or face destruction like Gaza, risks being understood as encouraging or accepting violence directed against civilians and civilian objects, in violation of international law,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement Friday.
Shamdasani warned that this conflict will “have an impact that will reverberate across many generations of people in the Middle East.”
“The trauma of families, the impunity that has marked this conflict, which means that it is going to continue to feed cycles of revenge, injustice, revenge, injustice, revenge, injustice,” Shamdasani said at a news briefing. “It’s so difficult to see it.”
WHO director says plans to ban UNRWA in West Bank and Gaza are 'unacceptable'
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus called plans to ban the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza and the West Bank “unacceptable.”
“If implemented, a ban would, in effect, deprive Palestinians of lifesaving services, such as health care,” Ghebreyesus wrote Tuesday on X. “UNRWA was established by the countries of the world — the @UN members — to ensure health and well-being of Palestinians and it has done so for over 70 years.”
Spain, France, and Italy condemn attack on U.N. peacekeepers
The leaders of the Spanish, French, and Italian governments on Friday issued a joint condemnation of the deadly attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), specifically saying the Israeli military had violated international law.
“As longstanding contributing nations to UNIFIL and partners of Lebanon and Israel, We, leaders of France, Italy and Spain, condemn the recent targeting of UNIFIL by the IDF,” read the statement co-signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. “We express our outrage after several peacekeepers were injured in Naqoura. These attacks constitute serious violation of the obligations of Israel under UNSCR 1701 and under humanitarian international law. Those attacks are unjustifiable and shall immediately come to an end.”
The joint statement continued: “We recall that all peacekeepers must be protected and reiterate our praise for the continued and indispensable commitment of UNIFIL troops/personnel in this very challenging context. We count on Israel’s commitment to the security of UN and bilateral peacekeeping missions in Lebanon as well as international organisations active in the region.”
U.S. reaffirms support for Israel; discusses safety of U.N. peacekeepers
In a Friday phone call with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself amid its escalation in Lebanon.
“Secretary Austin also emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety of UNIFIL forces in the area and urged coordinating efforts to pivot from military operations to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” according to a readout of the call from Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.
Austin and Gallant also discussed “the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the Secretary called for urgent steps to address it,” per the readout.
The defense secretary also said the U.S. is ready to defend its personnel, allies and partners against attacks from Iran and their proxies.