Relentless Israeli airstrikes pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight and closed the main highway linking Lebanon to Syria, forcing fleeing civilians to cross the border on foot.
The airstrikes come as Iran’s supreme leader, who supports anti-Israel groups Hamas and Hezbollah, praised his country’s recent missile strike against Israel and said Friday he was ready to do it again if necessary .
Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel almost exactly a year ago, killing 1,200 Israelis, taking 250 hostage and sparking a war with Israel that destroyed much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. More than 41,000 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. It says more than half were women and children.
In late September, Israel shifted some of its attention to Hezbollah, which holds much of the power in parts of southern Lebanon and other parts of the country, attacking fighters with explosive pagers, airstrikes and , finally, incursions into Lebanon.
Here’s what you need to know:
What is the latest news on Israeli operations in Lebanon?
Israel said it targeted the crossing with Syria because Hezbollah fighters were using it to import weapons, and its planes also hit a smuggling tunnel. Much of Hezbollah’s weaponry is believed to come from Iran via Syria.
Tens of thousands of people fleeing the war in Lebanon have crossed the border into Syria over the past two weeks.
Israeli officials said they targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in the Beirut suburb airstrikes. He did not say whether any fighters had been killed, but he said he had killed 100 Hezbollah fighters in the past 24 hours.
Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed Thursday in a drone attack in northern Israel, military officials said. An Iran-backed militia group in Iraq, calling itself Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said it carried out three drone strikes Friday in northern Israel.
The Israeli army launched a ground incursion into Lebanon earlier this week and is fighting Hezbollah on a narrow strip of land along the border. A series of attacks before the incursion killed some of the group’s key members, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah, in a show of solidarity, began launching rockets into northern Israel immediately after the Hamas cross-border attack on October 7.
Israel on Thursday extended its evacuation warnings to communities in southern Lebanon, including and beyond an area that the United Nations had declared a buffer zone after Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006 .
Lebanese officials say nearly 1.2 million people have been displaced from their homes because of the fighting.
What happened in the airstrike on a West Bank cafe?
An airstrike Thursday on a West Bank cafe that Israeli officials said targeted Palestinian fighters also killed a family of four, including two young children, relatives said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 18 Palestinians were killed.
The Israeli military said the airstrike in the Tulkarem refugee camp killed several fighters, including the Hamas leader in the camp, whom it accused of being involved in multiple attacks on Israeli civilians and having planned an attack on Israel on the occasion of the anniversary of October 1, 2017. 7 assault.
Tulkarem, a hotbed of Palestinian militancy, is frequently the target of the Israeli army.
Airstrikes were rare in the Palestinian territory, but have become more frequent as Israeli forces crack down, saying they want to prevent attacks on their citizens.
Israeli fire has killed at least 722 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian health officials. During this period, Palestinian fighters launched a number of attacks against soldiers at checkpoints and in Israel.
What does Iran say?
A senior Iranian official warned Friday that he would retaliate harshly if Israel attacked Iran.
“If the Israeli entity takes any action against us, our retaliation will be stronger than the previous ones,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in Beirut after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Araghchi’s visit comes three days after Iran launched at least 180 missiles at Israel, the latest in a series of rapidly escalating attacks that threaten to push the Middle East closer to regional war.
What did Biden say about Netanyahu?
President Joe Biden said he could not say whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was delaying a Middle East peace deal to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
“No administration has helped Israel as much as I have. None. None. None. And I think Bibi should remember that,” Biden told reporters Friday, using the Israeli leader’s nickname. “And if he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on it.”
Biden, who has long pushed for a diplomatic deal and whose relationship with Netanyahu has become increasingly complicated, was responding to comments from one of his allies, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut.
“I don’t think you have to be a hopeless cynic to view some of Israel’s actions, some of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s actions, as being linked to the American election,” Murphy told CNN.
A peace deal would help heal divisions within the Democratic Party and could increase electoral support for Vice President Kamala Harris. Netanyahu fears, however, that his far-right coalition would stop supporting him if he signed a deal, leaving him out of power and facing his own legal problems.
Netanyahu has a significantly closer relationship with former President Donald Trump than with Biden.
