Live Updates: Israel Mounts Heavy Attack on Southern Lebanon
After days of attacks there, Israel carried out further strikes in Lebanon and said it was sending more troops to fight Hezbollah. It also struck in Gaza to destroy a rocket launcher that Hamas used to target Tel Aviv. Share full article The aftermath of an explosion in the Lebanese village of Qmatiyeh, south of Beirut. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times Explosions in a neighborhood and Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut in the early hours of Monday. EFE/EPA via AP The scene of a rocket hit in Kfar Chabad. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times First responders dealing with a fire in the north of Israel after rockets were fired overnight from Lebanon. An Israeli police officer inspecting the damage to a residential building in Haifa after a rocket was fired from Lebanon. Rami Shlush/Reuters An Israeli airstrike hit the village of Khiam, in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel. Matthew Mpoke Bigg Liam Stack and Natan Odenheimer Israel’s military kept up its strikes on two fronts on Monday, with an intense barrage on southern Lebanon and a retaliatory attack targeting Hamas in southern Gaza, a sign of how significantly the fighting has spread in the year since Hamas’s cross-border assault. As Israelis commemorated the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza, Hamas targeted what it called “the depths of the occupation” in Tel Aviv with a rare rocket attack that left little damage. Hours later, Israel responded with what it said was an attack on the rocket launcher that had fired the projectiles. At the same time, Israel said it was conducting “extensive” strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Dahiya, the densely packed cluster of neighborhoods adjoining Beirut. The skyline in Beirut has been thick with smoke after days of bombardment. Israel said that it had sent more troops to Lebanon to join the invasion it launched last week to fight Hezbollah, and called on more residents in the country’s south to evacuate. The Israeli deployments and bombardments show how the fighting has broadened a year after the attack on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were taken hostage. In addition to its invasions of Lebanon and Gaza — where more than 40,000 people have been killed — Israel has also conducted airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen in recent days, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against Iran for its missile and drone attack on his country last Tuesday. Hezbollah, which like Hamas and the Houthis is backed by Iran, began firing missiles and rockets across Israel’s northern border roughly a year ago in support of Hamas. But Israel expanded its campaign against Hezbollah last month with a wave of bombardments and assassinations, and started a ground invasion last week targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. At least 2,083 people have now been killed in Lebanon and nearly 10,000 wounded since the war began last October, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health, most of those over the last three weeks. Israel also called on residents of large parts of northern Gaza to evacuate. It says that Hamas’s main fighting units in the enclave have largely been destroyed, but it has continued its operations, seeking to eradicate any threat posed by the group and prevent it from reconstituting its forces. Here’s what else to know: Oct. 7 anniversary: Israelis are gathering to commemorate those killed and abducted a year ago, as Palestinians in Gaza continue to endure a war that has killed tens of thousands of people. Read our live coverage of the anniversary of the attack. U.N. peacekeepers: The Israeli military established new positions beside a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon during its invasion of the country’s southern region last week, according to two U.N. spokesmen and satellite imagery obtained by The New York Times. The U.N. said the Israeli move was putting its peacekeepers in the crossfire. Gaza evacuations: The Israeli military appeared to label the vast majority of northern Gaza an evacuation zone on Sunday, hours after launching a major raid there targeting Hamas. The announcement suggested that Israel planned to step up pressure on residents of northern Gaza to relocate. The Israeli military posted another evacuation order for residents in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday night. Over the last two weeks, such orders have typically preceded intense airstrikes in the residential neighborhoods south of Beirut, where Hezbollah holds sway. The Israeli military has said the airstrikes are aimed at the militant group’s weapons, command centers and operatives. Abu Obeida, the military spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in a statement on the armed group’s website on Monday vowed that Hamas would continue fighting in the Gaza Strip in what he called “a long, painful and extremely costly war of attrition” for Israel. Israel declared five more towns and villages along its border with Lebanon as closed military zones. The villages, which had been evacuated months ago, stretch along a roughly seven miles-long segment of the border, beginning in its westernmost point on the Mediterranean coast. The declaration follows warnings issued to Lebanese civilians earlier on Monday to stay away from the country’s coast. With the latest declaration, Israel seems to be enclosing its border with Lebanon from its eastern and western ends. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said on Monday that Israeli officials were debating when and where to attack Iran in retaliation for the missile barrage Tehran fired at Israel last week. “It will happen," Danon said. "It will take place.” Hezbollah said that it had ordered its fighters not to target Israeli forces who have set up a position near to a U.N. peacekeeping base in Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah accused Israel of using the peacekeepers as “human shields.” The position is manned by Irish and Polish troops. Last week Israel had asked them to move, citing their safety, U.N. peacekeeping officials declined. On Sunday, UNIFIL that Israeli activities near their forces were “extremely dangerous.” The Israeli military signaled on Monday that it would soon begin operating in the maritime area off the coast of southern Lebanon. The military’s Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, warned people in a statement not to use the beach or go out at sea anywhere below the Awali River. The Biden administration imposed new sanctions on Monday intended to curtail the Hamas fund-raising network, taking new steps to cut off the group’s money supply a year after its attack on Israel. The Treasury Department added a “sham” charity, a Hamas-controlled financial institution in Gaza and three Hamas members who are based in Europe to its sanctions list, which cuts them off from much of the global financial system. The sanctions are intended to stop Hamas from using charitable donations to fund its military wing. “As we mark one year since Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, Treasury will continue relentlessly degrading the ability of Hamas and other destabilizing Iranian proxies to finance their operations and carry out additional violent acts,” Janet L. Yellen, the Treasury secretary, said in a statement. The United States estimates that Hamas has been raising as much as $10 million per month in donations from front charities. Europe is a major source of its fund-raising efforts. The charity facing sanctions is called the Charity Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which was founded by the Italy-based Hamas member Mohammad Hannoun. The Treasury Department is also imposing sanctions on Al-Intaj Bank, a Hamas-run financial institution that the United States says is used to circumvent international sanctions. Additionally, the United States is blacklisting Hamid Abdullah Hussein al Ahmar, a Yemeni national who lives in Turkey and who has helped to oversee Hamas’s $500 million investment portfolio. He chairs a “sham” Lebanese charity, Al-Quds International Foundation, according to the Treasury, which is also imposing sanctions on nine of his businesses. “The Treasury Department will use all available tools at our disposal to hold Hamas and its enablers accountable, including those who seek to exploit the situation to secure additional sources of revenue,” Ms. Yellen said. The site of an explosion in the Lebanese village of Kayfoun, south of Beirut, on Monday.Credit...David Guttenfelder for The New York Times Hamas fired rockets from Gaza at Israel on Monday, the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, and Israel responded with an airstrike in southern Gaza that it said destroyed the launchpad. At the same time, Israel carried out extensive air attacks on targets in Lebanon it said were connected with the militant group Hezbollah. Hamas issued a statement on social media saying that its military wing had “targeted the depths of the occupation” in Tel Aviv. Israel’s ferocious air and ground war in Gaza has largely crippled or destroyed Hamas’s main military units, but the group remains capable of directing rockets toward Israel, which sometimes penetrate the country’s aerial defenses. On Monday, four projectiles fired from Gaza fell in open areas in central Israel, and one was intercepted, according to the state broadcaster, Kan, which also said that one woman was slightly injured and that Ben Gurion Airport stopped flights for a time. Israel’s military said its fighter jets struck the rocket launcher used to fire at Israel from the Khan Younis area, a city in southern Gaza that Israeli forces invaded in December in an attempt to crush Hamas, and then returned to months later to try to crack down on a Hamas resurgence. During the strike in Khan Younis, “secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of weapons,” the Israeli military said in a statement. There was no independent confirmation of the claim. A New York Times correspondent in Bani Suhaila, a town just east of Khan Younis, said an airstrike hit the area about 300 yards from where he was standing. Families fled on foot carrying their belongings after the strike, he said. The military also said that it had struck a launcher in northern Gaza from which projectiles were fired toward Israel. The military did not say whether the projectiles landed in Israel, and Hamas did not comment on that claim. Israeli forces first invaded northern Gaza last October, after telling residents to evacuate, and on Monday they again told residents in large parts of the area to leave because of an impending military operation. A year after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, Israel is battling both Hamas and Hezbollah, two armed groups backed by Iran who oppose Israel’s right to exist. Last week Israel followed up on its assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, by sending tanks and troops over the border into southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run news agency on Monday reported intense Israeli airstrikes in southwestern Lebanon, where the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for over two dozen towns and villages. Image The aftermath of an explosion in the Lebanese village of Qmatiyeh, south of Beirut, on Monday.Credit...David Guttenfelder for The New York Times The Israeli military said it was hitting Hezbollah targets. One hit Dahiya, the densely packed cluster of neighborhoods adjoining Beirut, where acrid smoke has been thick after waves of bombardment in recent days. Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike on a fire station in Baraachit, in southern Lebanon, overnight killed at least 10 firefighters who were preparing to go on duty. Israeli airstrikes have battered the country over the past couple of weeks, killing more than 1,000 people, according to a toll provided by the Lebanese health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel’s military also said on Monday that two of its soldiers had died in Lebanon over the past day. In all, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began last October and nearly 10,000 others have been wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Most casualties have occurred over the last three weeks, when Israel ramped up its offensive against Hezbollah. Israeli strikes killed 22 people and wounded more than 100 on Sunday alone, the ministry said. Lebanon’s health ministry, Firass Abiad, has previously said that the number of dead and injured is likely an undercount, since it is only based on casualties reported by hospitals. Hezbollah has for more than a year fired missiles and drones across the border and has continued those launches in the face of the Israeli onslaught. Amid a day of intense bombardments in Lebanon, the Israeli military said it had struck more than 120 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Monday within the span of an hour. The strikes were carried out by more than 100 Israeli air force jets, the military said, targeting Hezbollah field, intelligence, and rocket units, as well as targets belonging to the group’s elite Radwan Force, it said. The Israeli military said the surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen was intercepted. Magen David Adom, an Israeli emergency rescue service, didn’t immediately report any injuries. Lebanese Middle East Airlines (MEA) and Emirates Airlines planes on the tarmac of Beirut-Rafic Al Hariri International Airport in July.Credit...Mohamed Azakir/Reuters Emirates, Dubai’s flagship airline, has banned pagers and walkie-talkies from its flights following Israel’s recent attacks on such communication devices used by Hezbollah. “All passengers traveling to, from, or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage,” the United Arab Emirates-based airline said in a short statement published on its website on Friday. “Such items found in passengers’ hand luggage or checked baggage will be confiscated by Dubai Police,” it said. Last month, Israel staged two waves of attacks in Lebanon via wireless electronic devices used by members of Hezbollah. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds were injured when the devices exploded, but many of those harmed were not part of the militia group. The Emirates statement did not mention the explosions. Days after the incidents, Lebanon’s Civil Aviation Authority barred travelers from carrying such devices on flights leaving the international airport in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. In response, Qatar Airways said pagers and walkie-talkies would be prohibited, though only on flights between Doha and Beirut. Emirates said in a statement on Monday that its flights to and from Lebanon will remain suspended until Oct. 15. The Israeli military said that a surface-to-surface missile had been fired from Yemen minutes after air raid sirens blared across central Israel. The Houthis, an Iranian-backed group in Yemen, have recently fired several missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. In late September, Israel conducted airstrikes in Yemen in response to missiles fired by the Houthis at Israeli territory. At the time, the Israeli military said it attacked power stations and a seaport in the province of Hodeidah that it claimed were being used to import munitions from Iran, military supplies and oil. A spokesman from the Houthi-run health ministry had said at least four people were killed. Air raid sirens blared across the Tel Aviv area for the second time on Monday as Israeli marked a year since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks. The sirens warn of incoming rocket or drone fire. Lebanon’s state-run news agency has reported intense Israeli strikes in southwestern Lebanon, where the Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for over two dozen towns and villages on Monday. The Israeli military said an hour ago that it was conducting “extensive” strikes against Hezbollah targets. An airstrike also just hit Dahiya, the densely packed cluster of neighborhoods adjoining Beirut. The skyline is thick with acrid smoke from the repeated waves of bombardment in recent days. This morning, Palestinian militants had launched rockets at Israel from Bani Suhaila, an area in Khan Younis. Hours later, while I was conducting interviews in the area, an airstrike hit about 300 yards from where I was standing. At least 2,083 people have now been killed in Lebanon and nearly 10,000 wounded since the war began last October, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health. Most of the deaths and injuries have occurred over the last three weeks, when Israel ramped up its offensive against Hezbollah. A total of 22 people were killed and over a hundred wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Sunday, the ministry said. Lebanon’s health ministry, Firass Abiad, has previously said that the number of dead and injured is likely an undercount, since it is only based on casualties reported by hospitals. Israel’s military said its fighter jets struck rocket launchers that had fired at Israel from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday. “During the strike, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of weapons,” a military spokesman said. There was no independent confirmation of the claim. The military also said that it had struck a launcher from which projectiles were fired toward Israel from northern Gaza. The military did not say whether the projectiles landed in Israel. The Israeli military announced that it was launching “extensive strikes” on sites affiliated with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes have battered the country in an intense wave of bombardments over the past couple of weeks, killing more than 1,000, according to a toll provided by the Lebanese health ministry. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. An overnight Israeli strike on a fire station in Baraachit in southern Lebanon killed at least 10 firefighters who were preparing to go out on duty, according to Lebanon’s ministry of health. The Israeli military announced that two soldiers had died in the past day. Both were from the military’s mobility unit, specializing in transporting infantry forces from one location to another. Al Mayadeen and Al Akhbar, two Lebanese media outlets with a pro-Hezbollah slant, said on Monday that they had undergone a cyberattack. Their websites were down, and the Telegram channel of Al Mayadeen had been hacked to display a pinned cartoon of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a sinking boat that read: “We are coming for you with iron swords, for Hezbollah are the losers.” Al Mayadeen said in a statement that it was trying to quicky resolve the issue. Entire cities in southern Lebanon have been depopulated amid the Israeli invasion. The World Food Program said most residents of the southern coastal city of Tyre — once home to 200,000 people — had now been displaced. The U.N. estimates that a total of 1.2 million people across Lebanon have been forced from their homes, or more than 20 percent of the population. The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate wide swaths of the northern Gaza Strip, a day after it appeared to label the vast majority of the north as an evacuation zone. “For your safety, you must evacuate these areas immediately,” the military said. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are believed to be living in northern Gaza, and Israel has not allowed displaced people in other parts of Gaza to return there. The Israeli military told the residents of more than two dozen towns and villages in southern Lebanon to “immediately evacuate” their homes and head north. The statement by the military’s Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, was the latest in a wave of evacuation warnings by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon in recent days. Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has arrived in Beirut where he will meet with Lebanese officials. Speaking to reporters, he said Israel’s offensive in Lebanon was pushing the Middle East into the “abyss of full-scale regional war,” according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency.
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