Live: Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza after Iran attack

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Hello Middle East Eye readers.

The Middle East is on a knife’s edge waiting for a widely expected Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s unprecedented attack on the country. The US and Israel said they are discussing a response and US President Joe Biden said that he opposes an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting is underway between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon. At least 8 Israeli soldiers were killed and 3 Israeli tanks destroyed by the group. Israel also carried out strikes across Lebanon, including in central Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 46 people were killed in the last 24 hours.

Other developments: 

• Israel's  ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon,  said Iran will “pay a heavy price” for its attack on Tuesday on Israel
• Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack on Jaffa that left seven people dead on Tuesday
• China’s ambassador to the UN warned that the Middle East was on the verge of an “all-out war”, as he called on Israel to show restraint.
• Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to flee Lebanon for Iran days before he was assassinated by Israel, Reuters reported
• The US has organised a chartered flight from Beirut to evacuate citizens who wish to leave
• Israel banned UN chief Antonio Guterres from the country

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah agreed to a ceasefire with Israel before he was assassinated in an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said in a PBS interview. 

“He agreed. Yes, the Lebanese side agreed. We consulted with Hezbollah, [Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih] Berri consulted with Hezbollah, and we informed US and French representatives," ” Bou Habib said. 

Israel striked central Beirut's Bachoura neighbourhood early on Thursday, killing at least two people and wounding at least 11, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement.

The strike marks an expansion of Israel's air campaign on Beirut to a neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital's centre. 

The Gulf Cooperation Council issued a statement condemning escalation in Lebanon and Palestine, and urging for the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701. 

"The Council condemned the escalation in Lebanese and Palestinian territories and warned of the serious repercussions of this escalation, which extend beyond this region to a wider circle, posing a threat to international peace and security and undermining efforts for peace and security in the region and the world," the GCC said in a statement. 

On Lebanon, the GCC called for implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 Lebanon War and the Taif Accord, which ended Lebanon's 15 year civil war. 

On Palestine, the GCC condemned " the Israeli aggression against Gaza and the West Bank".

At least 46 people were killed and 85 wounded in Israeli strike across Lebanon in the last 24 hours, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Intense fighting was reported in southern Lebanon earlier today, with at least eight Israeli soldiers killed and Hezbollah reporting it destroyed three Israeli tanks.

According to Lebanon's health ministry, Israel's strikes hit Nabataba, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, and Mount Lebanon.

Israel conducted a strike in Beirut, the military said, without providing further details. 

Photos posted on social media showed a large mushroom cloud in the city. 

Hours after Iran launched 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday, the Biden administration deemed the action “ineffective” and vowed that there would be consequences, despite a continued insistence on avoiding a wider regional war.

But by continuing to lend Israel its full-throated support over the past year both in Gaza and Lebanon, where tens of thousands of people have been killed - and by backing the crippling of Hezbollah’s leadership structure - the US has inadvertently provoked Iran.

But there is another way to see it. 

"To a certain extent, the US shares Israel’s interests and objectives and has been using flowery human rights rhetoric and 'ceasefire talks' as a way of distracting all parties involved and buying Israel time to carry out its genocide in Gaza, strike heavy blows against its regional adversaries, and reestablish the status quo through brute force," Tariq Kenney-Shawa, US policy fellow at al-Shabaka, told Middle East Eye.

READ MORE: 'Failure or deception?': Iran missile attack, Israel's Lebanon invasion taint Biden's diplomacy

Israel has told the US that its retaliation against a direct Iranian attack in April was “too little and too restrained”, in discussions on how to respond to Iran’s latest attack on Tuesday, a senior US official told The New York Times.

Israel largely listened to the Biden administration's call for Israel to "tale the win" in April, firing a single drone near Iran’s nuclear site that did little damage after Iran's highly choreographed attack. 

Middle East Eye revealed at the time that Israel, apparently resentful of the Biden administration’s call for a limited strike, launched the drone without informing the US.

Analysts expect Israel’s response to Iran’s attack on Tuesday will be much larger.

Israel's intelligence penetration of Iran and Hezbollah is making it hard for Hezbollah to choose a new leader because officials fear Israel's infiltration will put Hassan Nasrallah's successor at risk, four Lebanese sources told Reuters. 

Iran is now conducting a new purge of Israeli spies, the report said, noting that the Islamic Republic is investigating certain members of the Revolutionary Guard Corps who have travelled abroad, including to Lebanon. 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is now paranoid about spies within his circle, the report added. 

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told Israel and Iran that the Hashemite Kingdom will “defend itself with all its capabilities against any threat”.

Safadi's remarks came after Iranian missiles fired at Israel were intercepted over Jordan's airspace. 

“Jordan will not be anyone’s battlefield,” Safadi said in a phone call with his British counterpart, David Lammy. 

The US said Israel’s decision to bar  UN chief Antonio Guterres from the country was “not productive”.

“Steps like these are not productive to [Israel] improving its standing in the world,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

“The UN does incredibly important work in Gaza. It does incredibly important work in the region. And the UN, when it’s acting at its best, can play an important role for security and stability,” he added.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US was discussing with Israel what type of response it should take against Iran.

“But ultimately, it’s up to them - as it is for any sovereign country - to make their own decisions,” he said.

President Biden said earlier he opposed strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. 

The US has organised chartered flights from Beirut to Istanbul to allow American citizens to leave Lebanon, Reuters is reporting. 

More than 240 rockets have been fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing a “large salvo” of rockets against a group of Israeli soldiers in the town of Ya’ara in northern Israel.