JERUSALEM, Oct 05 (AFP/BBC): An Israeli official told AFP on Saturday that the military is "preparing a response" to the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel earlier this week.
"The IDF (Israeli military) is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel," the military official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.
He did not elaborate on the nature or timing of the response.
Israel's left-leaning newspaper Haaretz, quoting the military, reported that the military's response will be "significant".
"The IDF is preparing for a significant strike in Iran following this week's missile attack from Tehran," the newspaper reported.
At least four hospitals in Lebanon announced on Friday that they were suspending work because of Israeli strikes, while a Hezbollah-affiliated health organisation said that 11 paramedics had been killed in the past 24 hours.
The four closures capped two weeks of Israeli strikes on hospitals and healthcare workers in Lebanon that have shuttered at least 37 facilities and killed dozens of medical staff, according to the World Health Organisation.
Late on Friday night, the Israeli army issued a statement alleging that Hezbollah was using medical vehicles to transport fighters and weapons, warning that it would strike any vehicle it suspected of being used for military purposes. Hospital staff in southern Lebanon told the BBC that health facilities treating wounded civilians had been hit with direct Israeli strikes. The BBC has approached the IDF for comment.
Hezbollah battles on border
as Israel pounds Lebanon
Hezbollah said Saturday its fighters were confronting Israeli troops in Lebanon's southern border region, where the Israeli military said it struck militants from the Iran-backed movement at a mosque.
Rapidly escalating violence in recent days saw intense Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon as ground troops conducted raids near the border, transforming nearly a year of cross-border exchanges into full-blown war.
In the first reported Israeli air strike on the northern Tripoli region in the current flare-up, Palestinian militant group Hamas said "Zionist bombardment" of the Beddawi refugee camp killed a commander, Saeed Attallah Ali, as well as his wife and two daughters on Saturday.
The escalation, which this week included Iran's second-ever missile attack on Israel, intensifying Hezbollah rocket fire and strikes claimed by Iran allies from as far away as Yemen, comes just days before the first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
UN peacekeepers 'remain in all
positions' despite Israel request
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Saturday it would not leave positions in the south despite what it said was an Israeli request to "relocate".
"On September 30, the IDF (Israeli military) notified UNIFIL of their intention to undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon. They also requested we relocate from some of our positions," the UN Interim Force in Lebanon said.
