Lebanon Receives First UN Aid Plane since Israel's War

Staff unload a medical aid shipment at the Beirut International Airport - AFP
Staff unload a medical aid shipment at the Beirut International Airport - AFP
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Lebanon Receives First UN Aid Plane since Israel's War

Staff unload a medical aid shipment at the Beirut International Airport - AFP
Staff unload a medical aid shipment at the Beirut International Airport - AFP

A delivery of medical supplies from the United Nations reached Lebanon on Friday, a first since last week's Israeli war on Lebanon, said a UN agency and a Lebanese minister.

"An airlift... landed in Beirut earlier this morning with 30 metric tonnes of trauma and surgical supplies, enough to treat tens of thousands people," the World Health Organization's regional director Hanan Balkhy said on social media platform X.

"More flights are arriving later today and tomorrow, carrying trauma supplies, cholera supplies and mental health supplies," she added, AFP reported.

Rapidly escalating Israeli strikes since September 23 on Lebanon have killed more than 1,100 people in and wounded hundreds more, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Lebanese authorities said the violence has also displaced more than one million people from their homes in the tiny Mediterranean country, already mired in economic and political crises.

Health Minister Firass Abiad was at the Beirut airport on Friday to receive the aid organized by the World Health Organization and UN refugee agency UNHCR and funded by the United Arab Emirates.

"We are receiving the first shipment out of many," he said.

The shipment included "many trauma kits that will be crucial to support the hospitals as they receive the casualties from the Israeli attacks on Lebanon," he added.



US, Britain Launch Airstrikes by Fighter Jets and Ships on Yemen’s Iran-Backed Houthis

 Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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US, Britain Launch Airstrikes by Fighter Jets and Ships on Yemen’s Iran-Backed Houthis

 Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from the site of strikes in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2024. (Reuters)

The US and British militaries struck more than a dozen Houthi targets in Yemen on Friday, going after weapons systems, bases and other equipment belonging to the Iranian-backed militias, US officials confirmed.

Military aircraft and warships bombed Houthi strongholds at roughly five locations, according to the officials.

Houthi media said seven strikes hit the airport in Hodeidah, a major port city, and the Katheib area, which has a Houthi-controlled military base. Four more strikes hit the Seiyana area in Sanaa, the capital, and two strikes hit the Dhamar province. The Houthi media office also reported three air raids in Bayda province, southeast of Sanaa.

The strikes come just days after the Houthis threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel after they apparently shot down a US military drone flying over Yemen. And just last week, the militias claimed responsibility for an attack targeting American warships.

The Houthis fired more than a half dozen ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles and two drones at three US ships that were traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but all were intercepted by the Navy destroyers, according to several US officials.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet publicly released.

Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza started last October. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors.

Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels.

The Houthis have maintained that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.