Israel under fire from Hezbollah as cross-border battle worsens
Israel said a fresh barrage of missiles was fired from Lebanon a day after a Hezbollah drone strike killed four soldiers, as cross-border fighting between the two sides intensified.
The Israeli military reported on Monday that 90 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon, and sirens were later heard across the center of the country. A large number of people rushed to bomb shelters, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which later said all threats aimed at the central region were intercepted.
Hezbollah’s Sunday assault on the encampment south of Haifa injured more than 50 troops as well as killing four soldiers, one of the militant group’s deadliest cross-border attacks in at least a year. Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli air strike in the remote district of Ehden, well north of Beirut, killed nine people on Monday, as Israel widened its offensive in the neighboring country.
Hezbollah’s attacks show it can still strike at least 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Israel despite weeks of attacks on its commanders and missile stockpile, part of Israel’s effort to degrade the group after more than a year of clashes. The IDF has sent tanks and troops across the border, and the area’s hilly villages and dense forests have become a major battleground.
Israel’s military is also stepping up strikes against Iran-backed Hamas in northern Gaza, where war has raged for more than a year. The Hamas-run health ministry in the territory said earlier Monday that 62 people had been killed in the past 24 hours.
Israeli strikes on southern and central Lebanon and the Bekaa valley on Sunday killed at least 51 people, one of the deadliest single days for the country in recent weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Almost half that number were killed in the Chouf district, where many from Lebanon’s south had fled, it said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday the army is targeting border villages he alleged were the locations of Hezbollah tunnels and arms stockpiles, vowing to push the group back permanently so tens of thousands of displaced Israelis could return to their homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told United Nations peacekeepers to withdraw from southern Lebanon “immediately” after several were wounded last week in an incident that Israel said happened when the army was trying to fire at Hezbollah positions. The mission known as Unifil has urged the IDF to ensure the safety of United Nations representatives.
Israel has promised significant retaliation to an Oct. 1 missile barrage from Iran, with deliberations on how and when kept under wraps. The firing of about 200 ballistic missiles was mostly foiled by Israeli air defenses, although there was property damage from interception debris.
Netanyahu’s government has said a response is coming soon. That’s set off frenzied consultations with Washington which, while supportive of Israel’s right to counter the attack, is urging the country to avoid Iran’s nuclear facilities and energy sector.
Asked on Israel’s 94 FM radio whether he is “happy with the direction the response to Iran is going,” far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “Without getting into details, in one word — yes.”
An Israeli official said that deliveries of a U.S.-supplied THAAD missile defense system are due to start on Tuesday. Washington pledged the THAAD, and accompanying U.S. troops, on Sunday to bolster its ally’s defenses. That, Israeli experts said, would also make it less likely Netanyahu would sanction action without Washington’s backing, given the presence of U.S. troops operating the system.
Gaza fighting
Israel has stepped up fighting in northern Gaza against Hamas, the group whose raid of Israel on Oct. 7 last year triggered the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in that attack, while over a year of fighting in Gaza has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory.
The IDF said it targeted Hamas in a strike in the area of Deir al-Balah on Sunday night, aiming for a center embedded in a compound in what has previously served as a hospital. Four people were killed there, the Gaza health ministry said.
Gaza has been devastated by the conflict, with much of its population displaced. The U.N. World Food Programme said Saturday main crossings into the north have been closed amid the escalating battles, meaning no food aid has entered since Oct. 1.
COGAT, the Israeli agency overseeing humanitarian efforts in Gaza, said Israel isn’t preventing aid from entering the territory.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. Almost 400 Israeli troops have died in fighting in Gaza and on the Lebanon front.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Iraq on Sunday and Oman Monday as part of a tour designed to drum up regional opposition to any retaliation by Israel. He visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar last week.
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(With assistance from Sherif Tarek and Dana Khraiche.)