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The U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Tuesday there was "no ground incursion" going on in the south of the country after Israel said it was carrying out limited raids there.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP there was "no ground incursion right now", after Israel's military said it began "limited, localized and targeted raids" against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
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The Israeli army on Tuesday called on the residents of 29 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate to the area north of the Awali River, as it launched what it called a “limited” ground incursion.
It identified the towns as Yaroun, Ain Ebel, Maroun al-Ras, al-Tiri, Hadatha, Aita al-Jabal, Jmeijmeh, Toulin, Deir Aames, Burj Qalaway, al-Bayada, Zebqin, Jbal al-Botm, Srebbine, al-Shaitiyeh, al-Knaysseh, al-Hinniyeh, Maarakeh, al- Ghandouriyeh, Deir Qanoun Malkiyat al-Sahel, Burj al-Shamali, Ebel al-Saqi, Srifa, Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, al-Abbasiyeh, al-Rashidiyeh, Bint Jbeil and Aitaroun.
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A diplomatic source told LBCI television that joint French and Qatari efforts, supported by the U.S., are underway to de-escalate tensions, starting with the election of a president.
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Hezbollah on Tuesday said it fired salvos of a new kind of medium-range missile, called the Fadi 4, at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv.
The Iran-backed group "launched salvoes of Fadi 4 rockets at the Glilot base of the military intelligence's unit 8200 and the Mossad headquarters located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv," it said in a statement.
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The White House National Security Council said Israel’s “limited operations” to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure across the border were in line with the country’s right to defend itself.
The NSC, however, warned that an expansion of that operation was a risk. It added that a diplomatic solution was the only way to achieve lasting stability along Israel’s border with Lebanon.
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A Lebanese security official said Israel had conducted at least six strikes on south Beirut in the night from Monday to Tuesday, after Israel's army called on residents in the Hezbollah stronghold to evacuate.
"Six or seven Israeli strikes hit the southern Beirut suburbs," the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
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A Palestinian camp official told AFP that an Israeli strike targeted a top Palestinian militant on Tuesday in the community in the south Lebanon city of Sidon.
"The Israeli raid targeted the house of the son of Mounir Maqdah" in the Ain el-Helweh camp, the largest of Lebanon’s 12 refugee camps, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
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German airline group Lufthansa said Tuesday it had extended its suspension of flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv, citing "the current situation in the Middle East".
Flights to Beirut will now be suspended up to and including November 30, while those to Tel Aviv will be cancelled until October 31, the group said in a statement. Flights to Tehran remain cancelled until October 14. "We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers," it added.
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Caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday his country was facing "one of the most dangerous phases of its history", urging the United Nations to provide aid for one million people displaced by Israeli air strikes.
"Around a million of our people have been displaced because of the devastating war that Israel is waging on Lebanon," the National News Agency reported Mikati as saying. "We urgently call for more aid to reinforce our ongoing efforts to provide basic support to displaced civilians," he added in a meeting with U.N. representatives.
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The Israeli military said "intense fighting" was taking place Tuesday after it launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and warned Lebanese residents not to travel by vehicle in the region.
"Intense fighting is taking place in southern Lebanon," wrote Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli army, in a message published in Arabic on Telegram. "For your personal safety, we ask you not to travel by vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani River" in south Lebanon.
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