September 21, 2024 - Israel-Hezbollah conflict

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Hezbollah says it has launched “tens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2” rockets toward Ramat David air base in northern Israel for a second time on Sunday. The rockets, Hezbollah says, are in response to repeated Israeli strikes in Lebanon that have led to the deaths of “many civilians.”  

Hezbollah had earlier said that it launched “tens of rockets” at the Ramat David base. CNN had reached out to the Israeli military for comment but has yet to hear back.  

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to Ramat David base that Israel is at the “beginning of a new era in this war.” 

The Israel Defense Forces announced new restrictions on public activities Sunday in northern Israel and parts of the Golan Heights as its fighting with Hezbollah ramps up.

From 6 a.m. this morning local time through Monday evening, schools will be closed. Gatherings will be limited to 10 people outdoors and 100 people inside, according to the IDF.

Beaches will also be closed to the public. Work-related activities can continue as long as shelter is nearby.

Among areas affected by the new rules are the the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and upper and lower Galiliee.

The military earlier raised restrictions for much of the north, warning of a possible Hezbollah attack “within a short time frame.”

Al Jazeera has broadcast live footage of Israeli soldiers entering its offices in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and ordering its closure for 45 days.

The footage showed the network’s bureau chief Walid Omary and staff members live on air as Israeli soldiers entered.

Video broadcast by Al Jazeera showed one soldier informing Omary of a military order to close Al Jazeera’s office for 45 days. The soldier then told Omary that staff members need to leave the office immediately. 

Reading the military order given to him on air, Omary said staff members need to take their personal belongings and cameras and leave.

Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah has been operational for decades. It became even more essential for the network after Israel shut down its Jerusalem office and seized some of its communication equipment in May, prompting condemnation from the United Nations and rights groups over what they said were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s moves to restrict press freedoms.

After Al Jazeera staff had left the Ramallah office, live footage showed Omary and others in the street outside, as the journalist said soldiers had taken over the office and were confiscating materials.

Shortly after, as Israeli soldiers approached Omary, the live video feed was cut, and Omary was heard saying that soldiers had taken the camera and broadcast equipment the team were using.

CNN has contacted Al Jazeera and Israel’s military for comment.

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Hezbollah says it has launched “tens of rockets” at the Ramat David air base in northern Israel in retaliation for strikes carried out by the Israeli military in Lebanon.

The Israeli military says about 10 projectiles were launched from Lebanon into northern Israel overnight.

All but one were intercepted, the Israel Defense Forces said.

A man was “very lightly scratched” by shrapnel from an interception near a village in the Lower Galilee, according to a spokesperson for Israel’s national emergency service MDA. 

“MDA medics and paramedics are providing treatment at the scene for a 60-year-old man in a very mild condition,” the spokesperson said.

Israeli police said falling debris from projectiles fired from Lebanon had caused a fire and damaged property in Israel’s Northern District.

Firefighting units are working to contain the flames, while police bomb disposal experts are searching the area, authorities said.

Carmel Gat.

The family of slain hostage Carmel Gat says it takes “no comfort” in the Israeli military’s announcement that it has killed two of her captors.

The family thanked Israeli soldiers for risking their lives but said Carmel “wouldn’t have minded” whether the militants were dead or alive.

“She would have wanted to know that the hostages returned home alive,” the family said, according to a spokesperson of the Be’eri kibbutz from where she was taken.

It also called on the government to strike a deal that would secure the release of the remaining hostages and prevent a “regional escalation – before it’s too late.”

Earlier on Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed two captors of the six hostages it says were slain by Hamas in a Gaza tunnel last month.

The military “eliminated” the two men during a confrontation in the area of Tel Al-Sultan, a day after the hostages were killed, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a briefing.

Israel determined the two men were among the captors based on DNA evidence from equipment inside the tunnel and other items the pair carried with them, Hagari said.

He added that officials were still determining their exact involvement in the killing of the hostages.

The US Embassy in Lebanon is urging American citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial flights are available due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. 

The US State Department issued an updated travel advisory on Saturday, warning Americans: “Do Not Travel to Lebanon due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and the risk of armed conflict.”

The level-four advisory – the highest issued by the State Department – said that US citizens in southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria or in refugee settlements should “depart those areas immediately,” citing potential cross-border attacks and clashes between security forces and “extremist” groups.

Those who decide to remain in the country should be prepared to shelter in place if the situation worsens, the alert said.

Gideon Sa'ar attends a campaign event for the center-right "National Unity Party" in northern Israel on October 11, 2022.

Veteran Israeli politician Gideon Sa’ar says he won’t take the post of defense minister following speculation that he could replace the current minister Yoav Gallant.

Sa’ar withdrew from consideration in light of the security situation along the border with Lebanon, he said in a statement Saturday.

Still, he insisted that he is qualified to hold the position, saying a defense minister “needs to obtain deep knowledge on security and diplomatic affairs and have experience as a member of government … I have such experience. I have such an understanding.” 

He added that the role should not be held by someone from the “defense establishment,” saying Israel’s biggest military and strategic failures had occurred while the job was held by those who came from within the military.

The announcement follows speculation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to oust Gallant, a retired major general who served for decades in the Israel Defense Forces, and replace him with Sa’ar, a near-lifelong politician.

People rally against the government and in support for hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas at a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, on September 21.

Protesters in Tel Aviv are calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and be “replaced with someone who can bring about a hostage release deal.”

Demonstrations took place in multiple cities across Israel on Saturday, including in Caesarea, Haifa and Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, protesters chanted “we will not give up” and waved signs calling on the government to bring the hostages home.

The Hostages and Families Forum Headquarters, a group representing the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, told CNN the protesters wanted Netanyahu to make way for another leader who could secure a hostage deal. 

The group said Israel’s government had “failed miserably” on October 7, and “for almost a year now, it has failed to make amends.” 

The protest in Tel Aviv also heard from some of the family members of the hostages.

Ifat Kalderon, cousin of hostage Ofer Kalderon, said, “The only way to save those still alive is a deal. Remove Netanyahu from his position so someone else can bring about a deal.” 

The Israeli police said it deployed “significant resources” to intervene at a demonstration where fires had been ignited on Begin Road near the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv. 

One person was taken into custody for allegedly rolling a tire into the protest with the intent to ignite it during a procession on Namir Street in Tel Aviv, police said.

Israel is “extensively striking” southern Lebanon after uncovering plans for a Hezbollah rocket attack on its territory, according to Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

The intensity of airstrikes Saturday is among the highest recorded since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel last year in support of Hamas amid Israel’s war in Gaza.

The Israeli government warned a possible Hezbollah attack could happen “within a short time frame.” Citizens are under expanded restrictions amidst the warnings.

Here are other headlines you should know:

More about the strikes:

Rocket barrages from Lebanon into Israel: 

Remember: 

Mourners:

Western warnings:

Meanwhile in Gaza:

Rescuers sift through the rubble at the scene of an Israeli strike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs a day earlier, as search and rescue operations continue on September 21.

At least 82 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past few days as a result of Israeli attacks and the detonation of communication devices, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Saturday.

Thirty-eight of them were killed in the strike on southern Beirut that targeted several Hezbollah commanders on Friday, Abiad said. Among them were three children and seven women. Search and rescue operations are still ongoing. 

Some 2,950 people were injured by the pager detonations, Abiad said. Of those, 777 are still in hospital and 152 in critical condition. 

Many of the injured have lost their vision partially or completely, Abiad said, adding that some 2,087 surgeries have been conducted so far. 

The vast majority of the injured were civilians who were in stores and supermarkets at the time of the attacks, the minister said, describing Israel’s actions as a “war crime.”

A day after an Israeli airstrike leveled a building in Beirut’s southern district and Hezbollah stronghold, rescue teams on Saturday dug through the rubble in search of survivors. 

As funerals were held for some of the more than 30 people killed in the attack, hopes for those still missing were beginning to fade.

Still, families waited for news on a nearby street, as others walked away in tears. Some tired ambulance and civil defense workers took turns to rest nearby, their clothes covered in dust.

The strike leveled one building and damaged several in the densely clustered neighborhood and its narrow streets. 

Municipality and civil defense workers inspect the damage in adjacent buildings in Beirut on Saturday, September 21.

The Israeli strike leveled a building in Beirut and destroyed the first floor of an adjacent building, pictured Saturday.

Members of the media were allowed to film the site of the attack Saturday.

The Israeli strike leveled a building in Beirut and destroyed the ground floor of an adjacent building, pictured Saturday. Civil Defense teams continue removing the rubble in the background. 

Rescue workers remove the rubble of the collapsed building on Saturday afternoon. At that point there was little hope to find survivors.

The damage in surrounding buildings reveal parts of homes and shops in southern Beirut.

Warning of a possible Hezbollah attack “within a short time frame,” the Israeli government is extending emergency guidelines further south for civilians, limiting public and outdoors gatherings.

For months, the guidelines have already been in force for Israel’s northernmost communities. But with rising fears of Hezbollah retaliation for a number of Israeli attacks in Lebanon this week, the rules will now apply “from Haifa northward,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an address Saturday.

Under the guidelines, beaches are closed, outdoors gatherings are limited to 30 people and indoor gatherings are limited to 300 people. Workplaces and schools may continue operating as long as a shelter is available.

Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following Israeli strikes, as pictured from Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, on September 21.

Israel said it is “extensively striking” southern Lebanon after uncovering plans for a Hezbollah rocket attack on its territory.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said dozens of Israeli fighter jets are striking the launchers that the military claims were to be used in the attack.

Hagari said the IDF struck southern Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood on Friday, killing senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and 15 other commanders that were plotting to strike Israel.

“They met in order to plan terror attacks and infiltrations into Israel territory. But we knew where they were and got ahead of them with a precise and powerful operation,” Hagari said.

The Israeli military said it is carrying out a new wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces did not provide details on the scale of the strikes or the exact location.

Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that more than 50 air raids happened in multiple parts of southern Lebanon in less than 40 minutes on Saturday night local time.

Planes targeted towns in the western part of the country, including Tir Harfa, Shihin, Al-Jibeen, Zibqin and Al-Duhayra, NNA reported.

Heavy drone activity was observed during strikes targeting the outskirts of Tuffahta and Al-Baysariya, according to the agency. Other strikes were reported around the Deir Amas valley in the Tyre district.

People stand next to coffins during a funeral for three Hezbollah members who were killed by an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 21.

Hundreds of mourners gathered outside a cemetery in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern district and a Hezbollah stronghold, for funerals for the militant group’s fighters and members for the third time this week.

Yellow sachets mark families of the dead in the crowd of mourners, this time bidding farewell following Israel’s strike on southern Beirut on Friday.

Zahraa was wearing a badge with a picture of her 18-year-old son, who was killed in 2008, while she consoled a friend who lost a son in Friday’s attack.

Zahraa, who lost her son in 2008, attends the funeral to support her friend, the mother of a fighter killed on Friday.

In the crowd, some of those wounded from the pager and walkie-talkie blasts this week could be spotted through their injuries. A man with a bruised face and a patch covering his eye told CNN he was injured this week. He waved his bandaged hands, signaling he didn’t want to elaborate.

It’s been a week of funerals, but Hezbollah members and supporters told CNN their morale remains high. Om Fadel lost her brother early in this conflict and says other family members were injured in Friday’s strike.

“Yes, loss is difficult, but patience and time heal wounds. Victory is the most important thing,” she said. “We won’t back down.”

Zahraa said her other children are on the same path as her killed son.

“If we all told our children to stay home, who would defend us?” she said. “We are defending a nation, not a specific sect. We are defending the Sunnis, the Christians, the Armenians, the Druze. Our sons are defending the borders of this country.”

Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported that Israeli aircraft carried out a total of 111 airstrikes in one hour on Saturday. 

It said the strikes occurred between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. local time.

The Israel Defense Forces earlier said about 180 targets have been struck in southern Lebanon on Saturday. According to the IDF, approximately 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel.

For context: The intensity of airstrikes Saturday is among the highest recorded since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel last year in support of Hamas amid Israel’s war in Gaza.

In late August, the Israeli military said about 100 fighter jets had “struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels” in more than 40 areas of southern Lebanon in one day. 

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike in Jezzine, Lebanon, on September 21.

About 180 targets have been struck in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli Air Force “struck thousands of launcher barrels that were ready for immediate use to fire toward Israeli territory,” the IDF said.  

Lebanese media reported Israeli strikes in a wide area of southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday, saying they also caused forest fires.

Fires broke out in northern Israel as well, after Hezbollah claimed to have fired multiple barrages into the country on Saturday, including targeting the Israeli military’s Beit Hillel barracks with Katyusha rockets. The IDF earlier said that approximately 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan attends a press conference in Beijing on August 29.

The “risk of escalation is real” between Israel and Hezbollah, amid a moment where the threat is “more acute,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Saturday.

Asked if the Israeli strike in southern Beirut that killed at least 37 people, including high-level commanders of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, was an escalation in his view, Sullivan pushed back, saying that “the United States is not going to score keep like that.”

He continued, “There’s a number of different ways to look at this strike. The chief way I personally look at it goes back to the discussion we were having before, which is, it was a strike against a senior terrorist who has both Israeli and American blood on his hands.”

Remember: Friday’s strike in southern Beirut killed high-level figures of Hezbollah, including Ibrahim Aqil, the leader of an elite unit who had a $7 million bounty on his head from the United States for his suspected involvement in the 1983 strike on the US Embassy in Beirut, which killed 63 people, as well as the bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks, which killed 241 US personnel later that year.

Israeli strikes have been reported in a wide area of southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday, according to Lebanese media.

The state news agency NNA said the areas bombarded included near Jezzine and areas south of the city of Sidon, as well as the western Beqaa valley.

Israeli warplanes “carried out a series of intense airstrikes in multiple rounds, targeting the valley between the towns of Ansar and Zrarieh (south of Sidon),” a nearby valley close to the town of Zefta, and another area close to Deir al-Zahrani, also southeast of Sidon, according to NNA.

The strikes also caused forest fires, according to NNA, which civil defense teams were working to extinguish. The Israel Defense Forces has not issued any statement on strikes in Lebanon Saturday.

Rocket barrages from Lebanon into Israel: Fires also broke out in northern Israel after Hezbollah claimed to have fired multiple barrages into the country on Saturday, including targeting the Israeli military’s Beit Hillel barracks with Katyusha rockets.

The IDF said that approximately 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Saturday, with the Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority confirming “a number” of fires in the Safed area and Beit Hillel in northern Israel.

A fire broke out in a house in Kadita in the central Galilee, according to the Northern District Fire and Rescue, which added that three teams were working to control the fire and search for trapped people. Several teams were also trying to extinguish fires in the Biriya Forest.

There are no reports of casualties, but some property damage has been recorded.

Correction: This post has been updated with the location of Beit Hillel.

Lebanon’s health ministry has updated the death toll from Israel’s strike on southern Beirut to 37.

Previously, 31 people had been reported killed in the strike on Friday, which also killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil. Three children and seven women have also been reported dead, and 68 wounded, according to the ministry.

The ministry added that debris removal efforts are still ongoing.

Damaged cars are seen at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut on September 21.

The death toll has continued to rise after Israel launched a deadly strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut Friday. The attack, which Israel says targeted Hezbollah militants, flattened a multistory residential building in a Hezbollah stronghold.

Elsewhere, as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise amid the war in Gaza, an Israeli strike on a school compound in the enclave has killed at least 22 — most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Here’s what you need to know about the Beirut strike:

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City's Al-Zaytoun neighborhood on September 21. 

Here’s the Israel-Gaza war latest:

Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Saturday that the recent attacks in the country have compelled the government to closely monitor the movement of foreigners and hotel activities.

The government will “intensify our efforts, especially intelligence and security efforts on the ground,” Mawlawi said.

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City's Al-Zaytoun neighborhood on September 21. 

The death toll from an Israeli strike on a school compound Saturday has risen 22, according to the Gaza Health Ministry – most of them women and children.

Separately the Government Media Office in Gaza reported that 20 of those killed were women and children: 13 children, six women, and a 3-month-old infant. Thirty people were injured, the GMO added, including 9 children who had needed amputations and others with severe burns.

The Israeli military had said earlier Saturday that the compound was being used as a Hamas command center and precautions had been taken to avoid civilian casualties. 

CNN is unable to verify whether Hamas operatives were present at the compound. The IDF has frequently accused Hamas of using schools and hospitals from which to direct operations. 

A CNN stringer filming the aftermath said that Civil Defense workers said that at least 20 people were killed. Video from the scene showed multiple casualties as rescue workers scrambled through debris. 

Khader Al-Za’anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed reporting.

The Israeli military on Saturday said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, continuing its string of attacks this week against the militant group.

Few other details were available on the fresh strikes but the military is expected to give further details shortly.

Wave of attacks: The strikes come a day after at least 16 operatives of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, including high level commanders, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut. A total of 31 people were killed in that strike, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

The first major attack against Hezbollah this week came Tuesday afternoon when pagers belonging to the militant groups’ members exploded near-simultaneously. The pagers had been used by Hezbollah to communicate after the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, encouraged members to switch to low-tech devices to prevent more of them from being assassinated.

Almost exactly 24 hours later, at least 37 people were killed when Lebanon was rocked by a second wave of explosions, after Hezbollah walkie-talkies detonated in Beirut and the south of the country.

The Gaza Civil Defense Directorate says at least 17 people were killed, including women and children, in an Israeli missile strike Saturday in central Gaza. 

The dead included eight children, and more than 30 people had been wounded, according to Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal, who added that people were still missing.

Basal said there was an Israeli missile strike on Al-Zaytoun School “which shelters thousands of displaced people from Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.” 

The Israel Defense Forces said that aircraft carried out a strike Saturday on a school compound in central Gaza being used by Hamas as a command center.

The military said its aircraft conducted a “precise strike on terrorists” who were operating inside a Hamas command and control center, and that numerous steps were taken to mitigate the harming of civilians.

People inspect the site of an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, September 20.

At least 31 people have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on a multistory building in south Beirut on Friday targeting Hezbollah, the Lebanese health ministry says. Among the dead is a Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Aqil, a fresh blow to the militant group which had also lost members in the attacks on wireless devices earlier in the week.

Get caught up:

Eden Yerushalmi

The sisters of Eden Yerushalmi, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and held hostage in Israel for eleven months, told CNN they have been living “a nightmare” since her body was recovered by the Israeli military late last month. 

Yerushalmi was killed by Hamas and her body was among six recovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) late last month. 

Her sisters Shani and May told CNN’s Anderson Cooper they had received proof that she was alive on three occasions, including just three weeks before her death. 

“It’s very difficult for us. We feel like we’re in a nightmare,” said Shani Yerushalmi.

Yerushalmi’s family learned details of her captivity from the IDF after her body was returned to Israel.

The IDF said the group’s bodies were found in a Hamas-run tunnel under the city of Rafah, and that they were “brutally” murdered “a short while” before troops were able to reach them. The IDF told the family her sister was “shot in the head from very close range,” and had marks on her hands from defending herself. 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant in October 2023.

Israel on Friday formally challenged the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction and its prosecutor’s requests for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israel is arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction in the case of the Israel-Hamas war, spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry Oren Marmorstein said Friday.

It is also challenging the prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, calling it a “wrongful breach of the Court’s Statute and the principle of complementarity” and arguing that the court failed to provide Israel “with the opportunity to exercise its right to investigate by itself the claims raised by the Prosecutor, before proceeding.”

“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the prosecutor,” wrote Mamorstein in a statement on X. 

In May, the ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he was seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

A medical personnel works at the site of Friday's Israeli strike as search and rescue operations continue, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on September 21

The number of people killed in the Israeli missile strike on a multistory building in south Beirut has risen to 31, the Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad says. 

Abiad said at a news conference Saturday that those killed included three children and seven women.

Three Syrian citizens had been killed, he said, and 68 people had been wounded. 

It comes after Hezbollah confirmed at least 16 of its operatives, including high level commanders, were killed in Friday’s airstrike.

Rescue teams were still clearing the rubble Saturday, Abiad said, and searching for missing people. They had retrieved body parts that are unidentifiable.

The minister also updated the death toll from the explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies which targeted Hezbollah members earlier this week to 39; 12 on Tuesday and 27 on Wednesday.

Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Islamist movement with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East. The group’s main base is on the Israel-Lebanon border, where the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war has been palpable — Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in skirmishes since the war began, putting the entire region on a knife’s edge with fears it could spark a wider regional conflict.

This is the latest in a decades-long conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Here’s what to know:

Israeli invasion: Israeli forces took almost half of Lebanon’s territory when it invaded Lebanon in 1982. This included Beirut, where Israeli forces, along with right-wing Israel-allied Christian Lebanese militias, laid siege to the western part of the capital to drive out Palestinian militants.

Israel’s operation resulted in more than 17,000 deaths, according to contemporary reportsand an Israeli inquiry into a massacre at the Beirut refugee camp of Sabra and Shatila. It’s one of the bloodiest events in the region’s recent history. The investigation, known as the Kahan Commission of Inquiry, held Israel indirectly responsible for the massacre that was carried out by the right-wing Christian Lebanese fighters. Estimates for the number of deaths at Sabra and Shatila vary between 700 and 3,000.

The rise of Hezbollah: As droves of Palestinian fighters left Lebanon, a band of Shia Islamist fighters trained by the nascent Islamic Republic of Iran burst onto Lebanon’s fractious political landscape. The ragtag group had an outsized and violent impact. In 1983, two suicide bombers linked to the faction attacked a US Marine barracks in Beirut, killing almost 300 US and French personnel, plus some civilians.

A year later, Iran-linked fighters bombed the US Embassy in Beirut, killing 23 people. In 1985, those militants coalesced more formally around a newly founded organization: Hezbollah.

A “supportive front” for Gaza in 2023: Hezbollah is part of a larger Iran-led alliance of militant groups spanning Yemen, Syria, Gaza, and Iraq that has engaged in increased clashes with Israel and its allies since the war with Hamas started on October 7, 2023. The alliance said it will continue striking Israeli targets as long as the war in Gaza goes on, rebranding itself as a “supportive front” for Palestinians in the strip, as described by a senior Hezbollah leader.

Killing of key leader: After months of tit-for-tat exchanges, tensions escalated when Israel said it killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander, Fu’ad Shukr, with a strike on Beirut in July. In retaliation, Hezbollah launched hundreds of drones and missiles at targets in Israel in August. Israel denied any important targets were struck, and no evidence has been made public to contradict that denial.

Displaced residents: The increase in cross-border fighting has forced people from their homes in both northern Israel and southern Lebanon. On Tuesday, Israel made it a new war objective to return tens of thousands of Israel’s northern residents to their homes near the border. Officials and residents from the northern region have placed increasing pressure on the Israeli government about the need to return. More than 100,000 people have been displaced from southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Latest attack: Hezbollah confirmed that senior commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed on Friday. Israel said Aqil was among senior Hezbollah figures who were killed in an airstrike on a residential building in Beirut. Lebanon was already reeling after thousands of small blasts hit Hezbollah members’ pagers and walkie-talkies during the week, killing dozens and wounding thousands.

An undated photograph shows Ibrahim Aqil.

Hezbollah has confirmed that Ibrahim Aqil – the commander of the elite Radwan Force – was killed in Israeli’s strike on southern Beirut.

Last year, to mark the 40th anniversary of Hezbollah’s bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983, the US State Department announced a reward of up to $7 million for information on Aqil.

The US has accused Aqil of involvement in the 1983 embassy strike, which killed 63 people, as well as the Hezbollah bombing of the Beirut Marine barracks, which killed 241 US personnel later that year.

Rewards for Justice, a State Department body that offers rewards for information on terrorists, claims Aqil serves on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s highest military body.

In the 1980s, he was a member of Islamic Jihad, the militant group that claimed the two 1983 attacks.

Smoke rises above the southern suburbs of Beirut after an Israeli strike on September 20

At least 16 Hezbollah operatives, including high-level commanders, were killed in Israel’s airstrike on Beirut on Friday, according to the militant group.

Among the dead were the top commander of the Iran-backed group’s elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Aqil and a senior commander, Ahmad Mahmoud Wehbe.

The strike hit a multistory residential building in the southern part of the city.

The deadly strike comes after two days of explosions hit wireless devices carried by Hezbollah members and has sharply escalated the conflict between the two sides and raised fears of all-out war.