Netanyahu addresses response to Iran attack, potential French arms embargo

The Emirates airline announced that it will not allow passengers to board flights with walkie-talkies and pagers.

Authorities will reportedly confiscate any device found during screenings.
 

The possibility that Esmail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Force in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was wounded in an Israeli bombing in Beirut is being investigated, N12 reported on Saturday.

Qaani oversees Iran's terrorist and proxy affiliates in the region, N12 reported, noting that he may have been hit in an air force strike in southern Beirut, in the same attack that targeted Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah's presumed successor.

Qaani succeeded Qasem Soleimani after the latter was assassinated by the United States in 2020.

This is a developing story. 

The IDF announced that residents of certain areas of southern and central Gaza should evacuate to humanitarian zones, IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated in a post to X/Twitter on Saturday morning.

The IDF will operate forcefully against Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the area, the spokesperson said. 

#عاجل إلى سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في البلوكات التالية: 660, 664-666, 2210, 2220, 2221, 2314-2316, 2322
⭕️تواصل حماس والمنظمات الارهابية أنشطتها الإرهابية داخل منطقتكم وبناء على ذلك سيعمل جيش الدفاع بقوة شديدة ضد هذه العناصر.
⭕️من أجل سلامتكم اخلوا هذه المناطق فورًا نحو المنطقة… pic.twitter.com/7fWHrBLcRo

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 5, 2024

The blocks from which residents are being asked to evacuate include 660, 664-666, 2210, 2220, 2221, 2314-2316, and 2322. 

Former president Donald Trump stated that Israel should target Iran's nuclear facilities while speaking at a campaign event in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Friday.

Trump's comments came in response to US President Joe Biden's earlier statements cautioning Israel against striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

"I think [Biden] got that wrong. Isn't that what you're supposed to hit?" Trump asked.

The IDF has allegedly attached surveillance cameras to street lamps in the Philadelphi corridor, Qatari news outlet Al-Araby al-Jadeed reported on Saturday. 

Additionally, the IDF has reportedly paved roads and established advanced infrastructure, such as cranes and observation posts in the Philadelphi Corridor.

The Philadelphi Corridor runs along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor of former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, was killed along with those with him in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on Friday, the Saudi news organization Al Hadath reported on Saturday morning.

The Saudi outlet claimed that Israel had confirmed the elimination, but The Jerusalem Post has not yet been able to verify the Saudi report.

Israel allegedly tried to eliminate Safieddine in the Dahieh suburb in Beirut, Israeli media reported overnight between Friday and Saturday, citing Lebanese reports.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar reportedly seeks a wider regional war and has hardened his stance on a hostage deal, US officials told the New York Times on Saturday.

Sinwars' attitude has "hardened in recent weeks," US officials told NYT, and they believe that Hamas currently has no intention of reaching a hostage deal with Israel. 

These US officials said Hamas has not shown any engagement or desire to continue talks in recent weeks. 

A South Korean military transport aircraft returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon on Saturday as Middle East tensions rise, the foreign ministry said.

A KC-330 aircraft left Beirut on Friday afternoon with the evacuees, who include Lebanese family members, and arrived at a military airfield south of Seoul, the ministry said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday ordered military aircraft to be deployed to evacuate South Korean citizens from parts of the Middle East as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the armed group's backer, Iran.

South Korea's defense ministry said it flew a C130J transport plane as backup, which is capable of operating on shorter runways and under fire, as a precaution, and sent 39 military personnel, including mechanics and diplomats.

The government will take further actions to ensure the safety of its citizens, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.

South Korean diplomats stationed in Lebanon remained in the country, Yonhap news agency reported.

More than 200 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon, China's foreign ministry said on Saturday.

"These people, who have been evacuated in two batches, include three Hong Kong residents and one Taiwan compatriot," the ministry said in a statement in response to a Reuters query on the situation.

"The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon remains firm in Lebanon and continues to assist Chinese citizens remaining there in taking security measures," it added.

The move comes after conflict in the Middle East has intensified following Iran's missile strike on Israel on Tuesday and Israel's incursion into Lebanon.

On Wednesday, China's official Xinhua news agency said the government had safely evacuated more than 200 Chinese citizens from Lebanon.