Dubai, Oct 12 (AP) An explosion involving unexploded ordnance killed a student and injured 24 others during a school trip in northern Israel on Monday, officials said, as tensions continued across the Middle East.
Iran again denied involvement in a suspected attempt to attack a US-run military airbase in England. Meanwhile, Saudi forces responded to a drone and cruise missile attack on the kingdom launched from Yemen, according to state-run media, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels said airstrikes on two districts in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and in the country’s north killed 10 people and wounded 19 others.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Read our full coverage here.
Cluster munition detonates during school outing in Israel
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An unexploded munition detonated during a school trip along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon on Monday, killing a teenage boy and injuring 24 others, Israeli authorities and rescue workers said.
The Israeli military said the munition was believed to belong to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. An initial examination of the scene indicated it had been left in the area, the military said.
Local officials said the students were on an annual school trip. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blast was under investigation.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said two people were seriously injured.
Iran denies involvement in military airbase incident in England
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Iran’s ambassador to Britain on Monday again rejected allegations of Tehran’s involvement in an incident at a US-run military air base, urging British authorities to provide evidence supporting their claims, state-run IRNA reported.
Ambassador Ali Mousavi made the remarks during a meeting with Stephen Doughty, Britain’s minister for the Middle East, at the Foreign Office in London. Mousavi told Doughty that Iran had no involvement in the Sept. 27 incident at RAF Fairford and reiterated Tehran’s willingness to cooperate with British authorities in the investigation.
The meeting came as British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the incident was “almost certainly” directed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
“We will not tolerate these threats on our soil,” he told lawmakers Monday.
Police have arrested seven men in the investigation into the alleged plot on the airbase, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran, but all have been released on bail, and no one has been charged.
Gaza holds funerals for 5 people killed in Israeli strikes
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Funerals were held on Monday for five people killed in two separate Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.
The first attack on Sunday evening killed three people, according to Nasser Hospital officials, at a spot where people gather to charge phones and other batteries in the Musawi area of Khan Younis.
A second attack early Monday in Rafah killed two others near the territory’s biggest bream fisheries.
The Israeli military said it targeted several Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in the first strike and several Hamas militants in the second.
EU to step up support for Lebanese army
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The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday a new support mission to Lebanon will help train the country’s army and security forces “to strengthen territorial control, border security, and internal security.”
She told a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg the new mission would strengthen EU support of Lebanese efforts to restore the government’s full sovereignty and build stability. She described the mission as “a major update of our security ties.”
The mission follows long-serving UN peacekeepers leaving at the end of the year.
(PTI News)
