September 26, 2024 Middle East conflict news

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Destruction in a area targeted by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon's town of Saksakiyeh, on September 26, 2024.

Israel said it is considering a US-led ceasefire proposal that would see a 21-day pause in fighting in Lebanon as fears rise of a fully-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah that risks escalating into a wider regional conflict.

While top US officials initially suggested the proposal was a done deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later threw cold water on the plan, saying any reports of an imminent ceasefire were “incorrect.”

Netanyahu’s office clarified in a statement that it is discussing the ceasefire proposal and “shares the aims of the US-led initiative of enabling people along our northern border to return safely and securely to their homes.”

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s foreign minister warned the crisis in the country “threatens the entire Middle East” and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire “on all fronts.”

Here’s what we know about the ceasefire initiative:

• Proposed by US and allies: The proposal comes amid deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that many fear could spill into a wider conflict. Hoping to prevent such an outcome, diplomats and leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly hurriedly worked to secure a plan that would pause the fighting and allow room for diplomacy to take hold.

• Which countries were involved?: President Joe Biden said the plan had been endorsed by the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

• Has Hezbollah agreed?: Hezbollah has not yet commented on the proposed deal, and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has denied reports of signing the framework for Lebanon. Media reports claimed earlier that Mikati signed a ceasefire proposal after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and envoy Amos Hochstein on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

• Fighting rages: Netanyahu, who is expected to speak Friday at the UN General Assembly, said Israel’s military will continue fighting Hezbollah with “full force” after days of strikes on Lebanon that have killed hundreds and which Lebanon’s health minister said have displaced up to half a million people.

Israel carried out part of its device attack targeting Hezbollah by concealing explosives inside the batteries of pagers brought into Lebanon, according to two high-ranking Lebanese security officials, who said the technology was so advanced that it was virtually undetectable.

Lebanese security officials watched a series of controlled explosions of some of the weaponized pagers, as investigations into who manufactured the wireless communication devices and how they made their way into Hezbollah’s pockets continued.

The pagers used in the controlled explosions were switched off at the time of the attack on September 17, which meant they did not receive the message that caused the compromised devices to detonate. The officials had a front-row seat to see just how catastrophic the blasts would have been to those carrying the devices and others around them.

Thousands of explosions struck Hezbollah members last week, targeting their pagers on Tuesday, and then walkie-talkies a day later. In all, the blasts killed at least 37 people, including some children, and injured nearly 3,000, according to Lebanese health authorities, many of them civilian bystanders. The attack blindsided the group, which had opted for analogue technologies after forgoing cell phones to avoid Israeli infiltration.

Israel has not commented directly on the attacks, but CNN has learned that the explosions were the result of a joint operation by Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, tacitly acknowledged his country’s role the day after the pager attack, praising “excellent achievements, together with the Shin Bet, together with Mossad.” Both Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks.

Read the full investigation.

Lebanon Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, on September 26, 2024.

Lebanon’s foreign minister on Thursday warned the crisis with Israel “threatens the entire Middle East” and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire “on all fronts.”

“Lebanon is currently enduring a crisis, which is threatening its very existence,” Abdallah Bou Habib said while addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

“The crisis in Lebanon threatens the entire Middle East with the worst, if the situation remains as it currently is, and if the world remains immobile,” he said.

“We wish today to reiterate our call for a ceasefire on all fronts,” he said, expressing support for the efforts by the United States, France and several allies to move toward an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.

He went on to assert that the underlying cause of the instability in the region came from the lack of a permanent solution to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

“To claim anything else would be a loss of time,” Habib said.

Israel is discussing the US-led ceasefire initiative and “how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Thursday.

The statement said it was “important to clarify a few points” due to “misreporting on the US-led ceasefire initiative.”

Israel and the US met to discuss the ceasefire proposal on Thursday and “will continue those discussions in the coming days,” the statement read.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats in New York on Tuesday, September 24.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the importance of a temporary ceasefire agreement in his meeting with Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.

The two also spoke about efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, according to a State Department readout.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said the teams had met “to discuss the U.S. initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes” in a statement released following their meeting Thursday.

“We will continue those discussions in the coming days,” the statement said.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the past four days have displaced about 140,000 children “with many arriving at shelters showing signs of severe distress,” Save the Children, a humanitiarian organization, said in a statement on Thursday.

Dr Firass Abiad, Lebanon’s health minister, told CNN earlier on Thursday that he estimates there are likely 400,000 to 500,000 internally displaced people, much higher than officially recorded figures. He said authorities only know how many people have been internally displaced to official shelters but there are “multitudes” that have also fled to stay with relatives, friends or the homes of strangers who have offered them accommodation.

Save the Children staff expressed concern over the psychological impact of the conflict on children, “many of whom are showing signs of severe distress due to the displacement and constant shelling,” according to the statement.

The humanitarian group also expressed concerns about the closure of many schools across Lebanon, saying it has impacted “all of the country’s 1.5 million children, with Lebanon’s already critical mental health crisis worsening as the hostilities continue to escalate,” the statement said.

Cars sit in traffic as they flee southern Lebanon amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Monday, September 23, 2024.

Lebanon has recorded nearly 109,000 people displaced by the recent conflict, but authorities said the actual number is likely much higher.

The official figure reported by the country’s disaster risk management unit Thursday includes at least 31,730 Lebanese and Syrians who have already fled across the border into Syria.

In a statement, the agency said many displaced people not represented in the official figure had moved to their homes in other areas, to stay with relatives, or to rented rooms or hotels.

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad on Thursday told CNN he estimates there are likely 400,000 to 500,000 internally displaced people. Abiad said authorities know how many people have been internally displaced to official shelters but “multitudes” more were being provided shelter by relatives, friends or strangers.

Humanitarian needs are growing as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon escalates, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned in a statement.

“Many are traumatized from losing homes and loved ones, including MSF’s own staff,” the statement said. “In addition to medical support, people are in need of basic supplies like mattresses and hygiene products as the shelters and schools currently housing them were not prepared to accommodate so many people.”

Maram Sukkariyeh, a health promotion supervisor with MSF, described days of strikes in northern areas of Lebanon’s Beqaa region.

Sukkariyeh said people who fled their homes were “scared and worried.”

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Choukîne on Thursday, September 26.

Senior US officials were practically triumphant Wednesday night: The United States and a large number of its allies had nailed down a proposal after days of feverish talks that would put in place a ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

In a hastily arranged call with reporters just moments after the release of a joint statement, top administration officials hailed the framework as “an important breakthrough.” The 21-day pause in fighting that the nations were proposing would give time for diplomacy and could prevent a full-fledged war from breaking out between Israel and Hezbollah.

Those officials were clear: The question was not if Israel and Hezbollah would accept the ceasefire proposal, but precisely when. Both Israel and Hezbollah were “familiar with the text,” one official said, and the US felt comfortable going public with the framework, with the understanding that both sides were ready to sign on.

But only hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would throw cold water on the multi-national proposal. First, the prime minister’s office released a statement saying any reports of an imminent ceasefire were “incorrect” and that the Israel Defense Forces would continue fighting with “full force.”

Then, the prime minister himself told the press as he got off his plane in New York City:

Some 24 hours after the White House’s announcement of the ceasefire proposal, there has still been no indication that Israel and Hezbollah are ready to agree to it. Israel’s initial response was clearly not the reaction the White House had anticipated, and it raised immediate question of why, if Israel was on board with the proposal, its leader appeared so eager to dismiss it.

Netanyahu’s apparent reversal amounted to a major disappointment, but for some officials it also underscored a reality that has existed for months: Netanyahu’s willingness to break publicly and openly with Biden, particularly when he faces internal political opposition in Israel.

Read more

The Israeli military has intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen, using the Arrow Aerial Defense System, it said in a statement in the early hours of Friday morning local time.

“Sirens and explosions were heard following the interception and falling shrapnel,” the statement read.

Nic Robertson, CNN’s international diplomatic editor in Tel Aviv, heard sirens across the city but did not hear or see an interception.

A spokesperson for Israel Airports Authority told CNN on Friday that Ben Gurion Airport is operating as usual following the red alert sirens.

Yemen’s Houthis have said they will release an “important statement” soon.

The Israeli military said it struck about 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon throughout Thursday, with targets including the group’s infrastructure sites, launchers and weapon storage facilities.

The statement comes amid another wave of exchanges across the Israel-Lebanon border between the Israel Defense Forces and the Iran-backed militant group. According to the IDF, Hezbollah fired more than 150 projectiles today, triggering sirens in Israel. Hezbollah confirmed it carried out several attacks in northern Israel with rockets and drones.

A man looks at destroyed houses amid an ongoing search for survivors, a day after an Israeli strike on residential buildings in Maaysrah, Lebanon, on Thursday, September 26.

At least 92 people have been killed in Israeli strikes across Lebanon in the past 24 hours, according to several statements from Lebanon’s health ministry, sharing casualty figures by region.

The ministry also said at least 153 other people have been wounded across the country.

Hezbollah has confirmed one of its commanders, Muhammad Hussein Srour, was killed on Thursday, but did not elaborate on the circumstances around his death..

Hezbollah said Srour was killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” in reference to those who are fighting to support people in Gaza, the group said in a statement released shortly after midnight on Friday local time.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli military said its strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Srour, who, it said, was the head of Hezbollah’s Aerial Command. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the “assassination operation” during his flight to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, according to his office.

Neither Israeli Strategic Minister Ron Dermer nor Ambassador Michael Herzog answered when asked directly by CNN Thursday if they are going to accept the ceasefire proposal between Israel and Hezbollah.

Instead, both Israeli officials just slightly chuckled. Dermer made a quip that “less is more” when speaking as a diplomat. He claimed that the day of meetings was just getting started since he flew over on Wednesday.

The two arrived for their meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken just before 5 p.m. — four hours after it was scheduled.

The US is engaged in a diplomatic “full court press” to try to get the Israelis and Hezbollah to accept the 21-day ceasefire unveiled on Wednesday night.

This comes as the Biden administration insisted Thursday that there is still a diplomatic path for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, on Thursday, September 26.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets toward Israel on Thursday, as the Israeli military continued its bombing campaign in Lebanon with fresh strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and on infrastructure on the Lebanon-Syrian border.

More than 150 projectiles were launched toward Israel on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said, causing sirens to sound across northern Israel through the day.

Hezbollah claimed on Thursday to have carried out several attacks on various areas in northern Israel with dozens of rockets and drones, according to several statements released by group.

In one statement, Hezbollah said it fired 50 rockets on Ahihud in northern Israel, saying it was “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, and in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

The group also said it had fired at Kiryat Ata, a city in northern Israel, with 50 rockets; the northern city of Kiryat Shmona; a northern military base; and two Israeli warplanes that it said were attempting to cross into Lebanese territory.

On Thursday evening local time, Israeli police reported that debris from projectiles and interceptors had fallen in the Safed and Rosh Pina areas. No one was hurt, but there was “heavy damage” to property, and Israel’s fire and rescue service said it was fighting fires caused by the falls.

A 45-year-old man was being treated by medics after he was struck by shrapnel in the Galilee area, according to Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA).

In Lebanon, at least 60 people have been killed and 81 wounded in Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours, according to a report released by the country’s Disaster Risk Management Unit on Thursday.

Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen's family (Yotam, Viki and Romi Cohen) at a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City on September 26.

The family of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, Nimrod Cohen, is visiting New York this week to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly. The Cohens criticize him for pivoting attention to Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying the leader should instead be focused on a hostage and ceasefire deal.

“We need to talk about the hostages and we need to keep the subject alive so we don’t forget them,” Nimrod’s sister Romi Cohen said.

The family criticized Netanyahu for not making the primary goal of his government to bring back the hostages still held in Gaza as fighting moves north to the Israel-Lebanon border.

“Vengeance,” his brother Yotam Cohen said, “was the first goal of the war.”

“Now it’s Lebanon, and there is no deal,” his mother Viki Cohen said. “The first priority that the government says is to destroy Hamas. The other priority was to bring back the hostages, but this was not the main goal.”

Viki Cohen and her husband Yehuda also spoke at the protest near the UN, accusing Netanyahu of continuing the war to stay in power.

Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen's parents Yehuda and Viki Cohen speak at a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York City on September 26.

“I want my son alive,” he told CNN. “I want him to get back his life. I want him to be free.”

Zahiro Shahar Mor, the nephew of killed Israeli hostage Avraham Munder, also warned against a conflict in Lebanon.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza “was a mistake from day one,” he said. “Don’t deepen the mistake. Stop the war immediately.”

Eran Etzion, the former deputy national security adviser and head of policy planning in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, was at the protest as well.

He said he flew to New York “to voice the majority of Israelis who are interested in an immediate hostage deal and a ceasefire agreement.”

Netanyahu, he said, is a “rogue prime minister who is acting against the national interest of our country, against the expressed will and interests of the vast majority of Israelis.”

More than 40 health care workers have been killed in “targeted attacks” this week, according to Lebanese Health Minister Dr. Firass Abiad.

Ambulances are “being directly targeted as they are doing their job,” he said, stressing ambulances should be protected by international law.

For the time being, the country’s health care system — weakened by multiple crises in recent years — is “holding,” but health care workers are facing extreme challenges, he said. “We have surgeons who have been operating almost nonstop for 48 hours or more,” according to Abiad.

Supplies of some medications are running low, he warned.

Dr Firass Abiad, the Lebanese health minister, participates in an interview with CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh in Beirut.

The Lebanese health minister has described the situation in his country as “a full-fledged war” after a week of escalating fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and a climbing civilian death toll in Lebanon.

The attacks are taking their “main toll on innocent civilians, on women, on children and clearly the intent is to create an environment of terror,” he said, adding that it has led to a mass exodus of people from their homes.

Authorities know how many people have been internally displaced to official shelters, but there are “multitudes” that have also fled to stay with relatives, friends, or the homes of strangers who have offered them accommodation.

Abiad called on the international community to exert more pressure on Israel to accept a proposed ceasefire agreement that has been floated by the US and its allies this week, which he said Lebanon had accepted.

“Unfortunately, it seems that everyone is intent on finding a diplomatic solution to this conflict except one party that wants to continue with its indiscriminate attacks on civilians,” he said, laying the blame on Israel for the failure to find a diplomatic solution so far.

Hezbollah has made its position clear that with a ceasefire in Gaza, it will cease its attacks on Israel, Abiad said, adding that the US could be doing more to pressure Israel into a ceasefire.

Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar told soldiers on Thursday that the force is preparing alongside the army for a ground invasion into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah in case an order is issued.

Bar also said that the military aimed as a “top priority” to prevent weapon transfers from Iran to the Iran-backed militant group.

“The confidence of (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah, Hezbollah, and their ability to recover from what happened to it a number of days ago depends on the pipeline coming in from Iran,” he said.

Israel’s deadly strikes on Lebanon and last week’s pager and walkie-talkie explosions have killed Hezbollah figures, including elite commander Ibrahim Aqil.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds a press briefing at the White House on Thursday.

The White House was unable to explain the apparent disconnect between a call from the US and its allies for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has cast news of any imminent ceasefire as “incorrect” — but repeatedly stressed that Wednesday’s ceasefire statement was “coordinated” with Israel.

“The statement was indeed coordinated with the Israeli side,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question from CNN.

Discussions between the negotiating parties in New York, Jean-Pierre said, are “ongoing” and “coordinated with the Israeli side,” later adding that there could be “more to share later in the day.”

Pressed again on Netanyahu’s comments, Jean-Pierre referred inquiries to the prime minister’s office but did not offer more explanation.

Benny Gantz is seen in Ramat Gan, Israel, in June.

Israel has exhausted all diplomatic options with Hezbollah, the chairman of Israel’s opposition National Unity Party Benny Gantz said Thursday.

Israel “has exhausted every diplomatic opportunity possible to try stop Hezbollah’s onslaught targeting the people of northern Israel,” he told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a visit to Germany on Thursday.

Remember: One of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most prominent political challengers, Gantz left the government in June when he resigned as war cabinet minister, after accusing Netanyahu of preventing the country from moving toward a “real victory” in Gaza.

On Thursday, the centrist Gantz echoed the sentiments of Netanyahu’s right-wing Israeli government, saying the country was determined to dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities.

He also said Israel was ready to “hold the State of Lebanon accountable for terror originating from its territory and facilitate a sustainable agreement that will ultimately distance Hezbollah from the border with Israel.”

Gantz’s comments come a day after Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told reporters at the UN that his country prefers a “diplomatic solution” in Lebanon to deal with the Iran-backed militant group, but that Israel would not hesitate to “use other methods to show to the other side that we mean business.”

Rescuers sift through the rubble at the scene of an Israeli strike in Beirut on September 21.

At least 1,540 people have been killed across Lebanon since hostilities erupted between Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and Israel on October 8 last year, according to a report released by Lebanon’s Disaster Risk Management Unit on Thursday.

At least 5,410 other people have been wounded since then, the report said.

Among the victims, 60 people have been killed and 81 wounded in the past 24 hours, according to the report.

The figures in the report did not distinguish between militants and civilians.

More context: Israel and Hezbollah have been trading deadly cross-border fire for months, forcing tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border to flee. Violence escalated over the past week in a series of Israeli surprise attacks and strikes.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks at Old Royal Naval College in London on Thursday.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin forcefully advocated for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called reports of an imminent ceasefire in Lebanon “incorrect.”

Austin’s comments come after the US and allies called for a 21-day ceasefire, and Netanyahu said that Israel will continue fighting “with full force.”

Austin also warned that “no one should try to exploit this crisis or expand this conflict” against US forces in the region.

“Make no mistake, the United States remains postured to protect our forces and our personnel across the Middle East,” said Austin.

He also said a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah would allow for time to continue working toward a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

British Defense Secretary John Healey and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles echoed their support for the proposed 21-day ceasefire, with Healey saying that Israel has said it is “prepared to accept” the proposal.

Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant is seen in December 2023 in Tel Aviv.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the military has “additional missions to complete” in its fight against Hezbollah, as it presses on with intense strikes against the militant group.

“We have additional missions to complete in order to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes. We will continue throwing Hezbollah off balance and deepening their loss,” he said.

Gallant’s remarks come as the US and allies have been urging for a ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border to prevent an all-out regional war from erupting.

The defense minister said he met with top military officials on Thursday to “approve planned operations in the northern arena,” referring to the part of Israel close to the border with Lebanon.

“We are continuing our sequence of operations: eliminating Hezbollah terrorists, dismantling Hezbollah’s offensive infrastructure, and destroying rockets and missiles,” Gallant said.

Israel has been launching a barrage of airstrikes across swathes of Lebanon as its conflict with Hezbollah escalates.

Israel’s military has vowed to speed up its “offensive operations” against Hezbollah without reprieve. Troops on Wednesday held exercises simulating ground combat in Lebanon, which the military has not ruled out.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, on September 26.

The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the United Nations General Assembly that the whole world is responsible for what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank.

Abbas said Gaza is now unrecognizable and called for the international community to impose sanctions on Israel.

“Seventy-five precent of everything in Gaza has been fully destroyed,” Abbas said.

Abbas criticized the US for vetoing resolutions against Israel in the UN Security Council and for providing Israel with weapons that have been used to kill thousands of innocent civilians.

He went on to say: “Israel does not deserve to be a member of the United Nations and says it has not fulfilled the conditions for membership to the UN.”

Remember: World leaders are in New York City for the 79th United Nations General Assembly to discuss global issues and highlight their countries’ priorities.

Official speechmaking began on Tuesday morning, with the war in Gaza dominating attention.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak on Friday.

The Israeli military claimed its strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday killed Hezbollah commander Muhammad Hussein Srour, who it said was the head of the group’s Aerial Command.

Under “the direction of IDF intelligence, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] struck and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Hussein Srour in Beirut,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF alleged Srour was a longtime member of Hezbollah who had “promoted and executed several terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers using UAVs and explosive devices.”

Netanyahu approved the “assassination operation” during his flight to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the prime minister’s office said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu approves the assassination operation in Beirut from the "Wing of Zion” plane.

There has been no comment from Hezbollah on the Israeli strikes or the Israeli military’s claim a commander was killed.

More on the strikes: At least two people were killed and 15 injured when Israeli warplanes struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, on Thursday afternoon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

One of those injured is a woman in a critical condition.

CNN has geolocated the scene of the strike as Haret Hreik in Dahiyeh, a densely populated area with a strong Hezbollah presence.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has landed in New York, an Israeli official tells CNN, where he will address the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu had been set to fly on Wednesday and address the UN on Thursday but delayed his trip due to the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

He is now expected to speak at the General Assembly on Friday.

An Israeli official told CNN earlier that talks over a potential temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah are a main motivator for Netanyahu’s trip.

People and rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26.

At least two people were killed and 15 injured when Israeli warplanes struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, on Thursday afternoon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

One of those injured is a woman in a critical condition.

CNN has geolocated the scene of the strike as Haret Hreik in Dahiyeh, a densely populated area with a strong Hezbollah presence.

Israel has been launching a barrage of airstrikes across swathes of Lebanon as its conflict with Hezbollah escalates.

Israel’s military has vowed to speed up its “offensive operations” against Hezbollah without reprieve. Troops on Wednesday held exercises simulating ground combat in Lebanon, which the military has not ruled out.

Thousands of people in Lebanon have been forced to flee their homes amid the intense attacks.

Details surrounding a possible ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel remain scant, but this is what we do know:

• Proposed by US and allies: The proposal comes amid deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that many fear could spill into a wider conflict. Hoping to prevent such an outcome, diplomats and leaders in New York for the United Nations General Assembly spent the last 48 hours hurriedly working to secure a plan that would pause the fighting and allow room for diplomacy to take hold.

Which countries were involved?: President Joe Biden said the plan had been endorsed by the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Has Hezbollah agreed?: Hezbollah has not yet commented on the proposed deal, and the Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has denied reports of signing the framework for Lebanon. Media reports claimed earlier that Mikati signed a ceasefire proposal after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and envoy Amos Hochstein on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Has Israel agreed?: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that media reports suggesting there could be an imminent ceasefire in Lebanon were “incorrect” and that he has told the Israeli military to continue fighting “with full force.” However, a source told CNN on Thursday morning that it was notable that Netanyahu has not denied reports that the US is pushing for a 21-day ceasefire.

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Jabalia, Gaza, on September 26.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least fifteen people, including children and women, on Thursday in the Jabalia camp, according to the Gaza Civil Defense Authority.

The Al-Faluja school has for many months been used as a shelter by displaced civilians. The Israel Defense Forces alleged that the school was being used as “a command and control center” by Hamas.

The airstrike left dozens injured, Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basal told CNN. Nine corpses from the strike arrived at the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the head of that facility, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, told CNN. All bodies received at the hospital were dismembered, he said.

The IDF said that “prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information.”

Footage of the aftermath of the strike on the school, obtained by CNN, shows weapon remnants consistent with the tail actuation section of a US-made GBU-39 small-diameter bomb (SDB), according to Trevor Ball, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal technician.

For context: Despite the events unfolding in Lebanon, there has been no letup in airstrikes on Gaza. Hospitals in the besieged enclave are overwhelmed and under equipped, and the daily search for food and water remains desperate.

This post has been updated with information about the weapon remnants.

There is no “formal mediation” between Hezbollah and Israel for a ceasefire in Lebanon, Qatar said a day after the United States and allies proposed a 21-day truce to de-escalate the conflict.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a news conference in Doha that it’s still “too early” for talks between the warring parties.

“I don’t think we can now say that there is a formal mediation track, rather that all channels of communication remain open,” he said.

The Gulf Arab country was one of several US allies to endorse a framework for a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire proposed by the US Wednesday.

Senior US administration officials asserted that the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire proposal could “open up diplomatic space” and “galvanize” a stalled ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Al Ansari said that there is no “direct correlation” between talks on potential ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, and that the 21-day Lebanon truce was proposed by the US and its allies. Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, is mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel.

“There is a track now for Lebanon that is working more urgently, with several parties involved, with the aim of stopping the war immediately. And then there’s the track on Gaza,” he said.

“However, that does not mean that there are tracks working (together) to reach de-escalation in both these case(s),” he added.

Palestinians carry a shrouded body as the bodies of those who lost their lives in Israeli attack on Rafah are brought to the European Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, on September 26.

It has been nine days since Hezbollah pagers exploded in Lebanon and Israel’s pivot to the north. That shift in military focus has yet to be felt in Gaza.

More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during that time, according to numbers released by the health ministry in the enclave. This includes a couple and their young child in a Nuseirat school housing the displaced; a mother and her four children killed in their home while they slept; and 20-year-old twin men, killed as they read their phones on their front porch, along with two children playing near them in the street.

It’s just a snapshot of just some of those killed by Israeli strikes this week while many have been distracted by events unfolding elsewhere. Israel says it takes measures to minimize civilian casualties as it targets Hamas hiding among civilians, but many of those killed have been women and children.

There’s been no letup in airstrikes, hospitals are overwhelmed and under equipped, the daily search for food and water is desperate. One big difference is that the world’s attention is elsewhere.

Nabiha al-Shanar, also displaced from the north, adds: “Now no one is talking about the suffering of the Palestinian people, only the Lebanese people. They are our brothers, and we want a ceasefire for them but also for us.”

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has denied reports of having signed a ceasefire framework for Lebanon proposed by the United States and its allies.

Media reports claimed earlier that Mikati signed a ceasefire proposal after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Amos Hochstein on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Mikati’s office said the prime minister clarified that he had welcomed the US statement on the framework proposal but its implementation should come through an “Israeli commitment” to international resolutions.

Hezbollah hasn’t commented on the proposal or accepted it. Without the group’s backing, Mikati’s signing is unlikely to be effective.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Thursday denied reports of an imminent ceasefire and said Netanyahu has not responded to the proposal.

Netanyahu also instructed the Israeli military to continue fighting in the north “with full force,”, the statement added.

People check the rubble of destroyed buildings in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley village of Younine, on September 26.

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on Younine in northeastern Lebanon Wednesday night has risen to 23, the town’s mayor Ali Al-Kassas told CNN.

The dead are all Syrians from one family, including women and children, he said, adding that they were day-laborers and their wives and children.

The airstrike shortly before midnight local time hit a building near a gas station. Eight others were injured, including the Lebanese owner of the building, the mayor said.

Al-Kassas said the Syrians had been renting the building, and that he was not aware of any links to Hezbollah.

On Thursday morning, a young boy was pulled from underneath the rubble after an overnight effort led by the municipal authorities.

Separately, three people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon on Thursday, and 17 others injured, the ministry of public health said.

Some context: More than a million Syrians have fled war in their homeland to take refuge in Lebanon. The Lebanese authorities have, to some extent, turned a blind eye to those entering the country illegally, and many hundreds of thousands of them are unregistered.

Correction: The timing of this strike has been updated in this post.

The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported that at 3.15 p.m. local time, Israeli warplanes launched three missiles targeting an apartment in a 10-story building near a busy intersection in the Al-Qaim neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh.

CNN has geolocated the scene of the strike as Haret Hreik in Dahiyeh. This is a densely populated area with a strong Hezbollah presence, and where much of the group’s leadership is based.

This is the sixth Israeli strike in Beirut this year.

People inspect the damage in a building targeted by an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26.

The Israeli military says it is “currently carrying out precise strikes” in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

It offered no further details.

CNN teams saw a plume of smoke rising from the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.

More to follow.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to discuss a proposed temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah during talks at the UN General Assembly, an Israeli official told CNN.

While the prime minister rejected suggestions the ceasefire would be imminent — instead asserting that the Israeli military would continue fighting “with full force” — the source said it was notable that Netanyahu has not denied reports that the US is pushing for a 21-day ceasefire.

The ceasefire plan was proposed by the United States and its allies in an attempt to stop wider war in the region and was described by one senior US official as an “important breakthrough.”

Here’s what else to know:

• Netanyahu comments: In response to reports that a ceasefire was “imminent,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: “The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond.” The Foreign Minister Israel Katz also said Israel would continue to fight Hezbollah “with all our might.” But the Israeli source said that the main reason for Netanyahu’s trip to the UNGA was diplomatic talks, and that “Israel favors a diplomatic solution.”

• Ceasefire plan: The details are scant, but we do know that the United States and its allies are pushing for a 21-day ceasefire that would allow for a pause in the fighting and room for diplomacy to take hold. President Joe Biden said the plan had been endorsed by the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

• Right-wing politicians rage at Netanyahu: Right-wing Israeli ministers on Thursday expressed indignation at reports that the United States is pushing for a weeks-long ceasefire in Lebanon, and the silence from their own prime minister. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X: “The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows.”

• Strikes continue: The Israeli military said it struck about 75 targets in Lebanon overnight. The military added that it was continuing to “dismantle and degrade” Hezbollah infrastructure and capabilities. Sirens meanwhile sounded in northern Israel as around 45 rockets were launched towards the country from Lebanon this morning, the Israeli military said.

• Thousands displaced: Fleeing Israeli bombardment, thousands of internally displaced people in Lebanon have headed for the city of Sidon on the Mediterranean coast, where schools have been opened to shelter them. Read their stories here. Separately, 70,000 people are registered in shelters across the country.

A new wave of Israeli airstrikes hit Lebanon on Thursday afternoon local time.

The Lebanese state news agency NNA reported attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon and areas bordering Syria.

The Israeli military said it was “striking Hezbollah terror targets” in the country, adding that it “attacked infrastructures used to transfer weapons from Syrian territory to Hezbollah.”

“Fighter jets of the Air Force recently attacked infrastructures on the Syria-Lebanon border, which are used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah to transfer weapons from Syrian territory to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” it said in a statement.

Some context: Israel has been launching a barrage of airstrikes across swathes of Lebanon as its conflict with Hezbollah escalates.

Israel’s military has vowed to speed up its “offensive operations” against Hezbollah without reprieve. Troops on Wednesday held exercises simulating ground combat in Lebanon, which the military has not ruled out.

Thousands of people in Lebanon have been forced to flee their homes amid the intense attacks.

Displaced women and children sit in a classroom in Beirut being used as a shelter after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, on September 26.

Of the many people who have fled their homes as Israel continues its air campaign in Lebanon, more than 70,000 are registered in shelters, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi told reporters on Thursday.

The total number of people who have fled southern and eastern Lebanon is likely to be far higher as many have fled to family homes and hotels, for example, aside from official shelters.

‘On the brink’: Israel and Hezbollah have been trading waves of strikes, forcing tens of thousands in Lebanon to flee their homes. More than 90,000 people are newly displaced in the country, the United Nations said. UN chief António Guterres has warned that Lebanon is “on the brink,” calling on Israel and Hezbollah to “stop the killing and destruction.”

Adding to the pressure to prevent a regional war from erupting, the US and 10 of its allies called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel’s prime minister has dismissed reports suggesting there could be an imminent ceasefire and told the Israeli military to continue fighting “with full force.”

Smoke billows over southern Lebanonas near the border with Israel, on September 26.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that media reports suggesting there could be an imminent ceasefire in Lebanon were “incorrect” and that he has told the Israeli military to continue fighting “with full force.”

Netanyahu has not responded to a ceasefire proposal made by the United States and France, the statement from his office said.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that “there will be no ceasefire in the north,” and Israel will continue to fight Hezbollah “with all our might until victory and the safe return of residents of the north to their homes.”

Context: Netanyahu’s statement came after a backlash from right-wing Israeli ministers to reports that the US is pushing for a weeks-long ceasefire in Lebanon.

An Israeli official told CNN earlier that talks over a potential temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah are a main motivator for Netanyahu’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets launched from Lebanon towards Israel, on September 26.

Sirens sounded in northern Israel as around 45 rockets were launched towards the country from Lebanon this morning, the Israeli military said.

Prior to this, the last rocket fire into northern Israel had been around 19 hours earlier.

Hezbollah said it had sent a “barrage of rockets” towards Kiryat Motzkin and military sites north of Haifa in “defense of Lebanon” and in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Om Mohammed feeds her 10-year-old son medicine in Sidon, Lebanon, on September 26.

Fleeing Israeli bombardment, thousands of internally displaced people in Lebanon have headed for the city of Sidon on the Mediterranean coast, where schools have been opened to shelter them.

Om Mohammed said she walked for 12 hours on foot with her two young children to escape the bombardment in her village.

Om Mohammed feeds her 10-year-old son medicine in Sidon, Lebanon.

She showed CNN the blisters and bruises on her and her son’s feet. They spent the night outside a municipality building resting on a wall and covered by a blanket. Mohamed, 10, is feverish and Om wakes him up to give him drops of medicine.

Volunteer Reem Afifi told CNN: “The schools are full and people are sleeping here at the municipality and on the street.”

Our interview was interrupted by loud booms, which the volunteers said were the sonic booms of Israeli jets breaking the sound barrier, in a bid to calm down families sheltering around the municipality building.

Volunteers transport mattresses for people displaced by conflict from southern Lebanon at a temporary reception center in the southern city of Sidon on September 25.

Medical charity MedGlobal delivered 100 mattresses to people seeking shelter in a Beirut school on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes across southern Lebanon since Israel started striking the country on Monday.

About 10,000 of them are sheltering in schools and vocational complexes in Beirut, the Lebanese Crisis and Disaster Management Cell said, according to state news agency NNA.

Thousands of others are fleeing across the border into Syria.

Right-wing Israeli ministers on Thursday expressed indignation at reports that the United States is pushing for a weeks-long ceasefire in Lebanon, and the silence from their own prime minister.

Wednesday brought the most explicit threat yet of a ground incursion in Lebanon. The Israeli military’s Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, told troops in the north that airstrikes in Lebanon were intended “to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the ceasefire reports carried by CNN and others.

But, notably, he has not denied them as he flies to to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where a confluence of world leaders could provide a forum for negotiations.

Here’s how some of the ministers have responded:

• Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said: “The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows he received and to reorganize for the continuation of the war after 21 days.”

• Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party said it would convene an “urgent meeting” today – an implicit threat to Netanyahu’s fragile governing coalition.

• Minister Orit Strock warned that “there is no moral mandate for a ceasefire. Not for 21 days. And not for 21 hours.”

• Even the head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, said that while a shorter ceasefire could make sense, “we will not accept any proposal that does not include removing Hezbollah from our northern border.”

• Culture Minister Miki Zohar, from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said that a ceasefire could be a “serious error.”

An Israeli official has told CNN that talks over a potential temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah are a main motivator for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

The source said it was notable that Netanyahu, who is currently flying to New York, has not denied reports that the US is pushing for a 21-day ceasefire.

The source added that the main reason for Netanyahu’s trip is these diplomatic talks, and the message in Israel’s briefings yesterday was that “Israel favors a diplomatic solution.”

Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike on September 26.

The Israeli military said it had struck about 75 targets in Lebanon overnight.

The military added that it was continuing to “dismantle and degrade” Hezbollah infrastructure and capabilities.

Both southern Lebanon and the Beqaa valley are Hezbollah strongholds and have borne the brunt of Israel’s ramped up airstrikes in recent days.

Retired Col. Cedric Leighton speaks with CNN.

Should the Israeli military launch a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, it is likely to concentrate efforts in the southern parts of the country, according to CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton.

Leighton said the military may then move toward the Litani River, which is roughly 18 miles into Lebanese territory, targeting areas that are controlled by Hezbollah.

In this scenario, a large area that is defacto controlled by Hezbollah forces would fall into Israeli hands.

Israel’s military chief told troops yesterday that its airstrikes in Lebanon were aiming to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure and to pave the way for a possible ground incursion by Israeli forces.

Their rhetoric has again raised fears of an all-out war in Lebanon, which risks inflaming tensions across the region.

The Lebanese Armed Forces are not expected to play a major role in an Israeli ground incursion, said Leighton.

He said the Lebanese military was not as powerful as Hezbollah, which gets funding, training and weapons from Iran and is one of the most formidable paramilitary forces in the Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed Israel in the early hours of Thursday morning for the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, according to his government’s press office.

Netanyahu had been set to fly on Wednesday and address the UN on Thursday but delayed his trip due to the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

He is expected to speak at the General Assembly on Friday.

People inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in Jiyeh along the highway linking Beirut to the southern city of Sidon on September 25, 2024.

United Nations chief António Guterres has warned that Lebanon is “on the brink,” calling on Israel and Hezbollah to “stop the killing and destruction.” He said the country had been experiencing its bloodiest period “in a generation” since their conflict escalated.

Joining the push to prevent a regional war from erupting, the US and 10 of its allies called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

Calls for de-escalation ramped up after Israel’s military said it was preparing for a possible ground incursion into Lebanon and had called up two reserve brigades “for operational missions in the northern sector.”

Here’s what to know:

People look at a damaged house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near Safed, northern Israel, on September 25, 2024.

The United States and several of its allies have called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border as they work to prevent a regional war from erupting and to jolt stalled hostage talks between Israel and Hamas.

The proposal, described by one senior US official as an “important breakthrough,” comes amid deadly fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that many fear could spill into a wider conflict.

Hoping to prevent such an outcome, diplomats and leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly spent the last 48 hours hurriedly working to secure a plan that would pause the fighting and allow room for diplomacy to take hold.

Israel and Hezbollah have yet to agree. But US officials said both parties were “familiar” with the contours of the proposal and voiced optimism the moment was right for it to be revealed publicly.

President Joe Biden said the plan had been endorsed by the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Read the full story.

The Israel Defense Forces opened fire near the Lebanese border after identifying suspicious movements, it said in a short statement in the early hours of Thursday local time.

“A short while ago, following the identification of suspicious movements in the area of the Lebanese border, IDF soldiers opened fire in their direction,” the IDF said.

“The soldiers are currently conducting searches in the area,” the IDF added, without providing additional details.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for more details.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a UN Security Council meeting in New York, on September 25, 2024.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned world leaders Wednesday that “hell is breaking out in Lebanon” and it is “on the brink.”

Speaking at an emergency session of the UN Security Council, Guterres said Lebanon had been experiencing its deadliest period “in a generation.”

Guterres emphasized that military escalation was in no one’s interest and called on both sides to do what they could to avoid all-out war.

“To all sides let us say in one clear voice: stop the killing and destruction, tone (down) the rhetoric and threats, step back from the brink. An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe. The people of Lebanon as well as the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to be another Gaza,” he said.

Despite pledging a “battle without limits” against Israel, Hezbollah’s response to days of Israeli attacks in Lebanon appears to have been carefully calibrated.

Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands

But, Hezbollah’s gloves are far from fully off – the group has a range of medium and long-range missiles in its arsenal. Wednesday’s strike appeared to be a signal to indicate how powerful a punch it could pack.

What we know about Hezbollah’s weapons: Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is believed to be the most heavily armed non-state group in the world. Though no match for Israel’s military might, Hezbollah’s increasingly sophisticated arsenal has the potential to inflict significant damage.

Missiles with a range of up to 500km, but they would have to bypass Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system to cause damage. Hezbollah has been stockpiling rockets and missile since its last conflict with Israel in 2006.

Another advantage: Hezbollah has strategic depth. It enjoys strong alliances with the Iran-led axis of fighting groups which span Gaza, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, with Iran providing weapons and training to Hezbollah. The groups have increased coordination since the October 7 attack.

The Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground invasion in Lebanon, according to the army chief.

Herzi Halevi, the head of Israel’s military, told troops on Wednesday that its airstrikes in Lebanon this week were aiming to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure and to pave the way for Israeli forces to be on the ground.

Here’s what Israeli officials have said: