Israel carries out deadly strikes on Lebanon’s capital

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About 10 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel Saturday morning, the Israeli military said.

“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the Upper Galilee area, approximately ten projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “Some of the projectiles were intercepted.”

Hezbollah has not issued any statements claiming responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, a CNN team in Beirut saw smoke rising from the city’s southern Dahiyeh neighborhood as the sun rose over Lebanon’s capital.

It was 3 a.m. and southern Beirut was under the most intense bombardment it had seen in nearly 20 years. A CNN team drove past a sea of people camped out on sidewalks, mostly on the seaside boardwalk that hugs the coast in the still untouched western parts of the city.

These were the displaced from neighborhoods being pummelled by Israeli warplanes. Some were chatting on the curb, a few lay asleep on benches and on the ground. Women cradled sleeping babies and toddlers. Children wandered the streets, snaking through double-parked cars aimlessly in their pyjamas.

On the city’s commercial Hamra Street, a crowd outside an abandoned building forced the traffic to a near stop. A man knocked down the iron gate, allowing a flood of displaced people in for shelter. A fresh wave of arrivals pulled up. Visibly exhausted women emerged from the cars hauling their kids, blankets and mattresses.

Most people were carrying little more than the clothes on their backs as they rushed out in search of safety. Many tried to put on a brave face, the anxiety lying under the thin veneer of bravado. “We’re OK! I’m sure our home is OK. There’s nothing to worry about,” one women in her early 60s told a group of people around her.

This is a sleepless night in the Lebanese capital. The streets were busier than usual in the early hours of Saturday morning. Restaurants and cafes were open, serving food and coffee as the images of the explosions lighting up the night sky, just a few miles away, flashed on TV screens.

As we crisscrossed the city in our car, the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders for the residents of not yet struck parts of southern Beirut. One of the listed neighborhoods was Bourj el Barajneh, a densely populated area that includes a Palestinian refugee camp and where many poorer migrants live. Less than 30 minutes later, Israeli forces began strikes there.

Whether many of those residents managed to make it out on time is unclear. Meanwhile the people of Beirut wait for the sun to rise, to see what has become of their homes, their city and its civilians.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Saturday, September 28.

The pace of Israeli airstrikes is now continuous in Beirut after being intermittent earlier in the night, according to CNN’s crew in the Lebanese capital.

The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for residents of Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb but left little time between the orders and the commencement of additional strikes.

Hundreds of families have gathered on the Beirut waterfront to escape the bombardment.

Israel’s military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, according to a statement on Saturday.

“Over the past hour, the IDF has struck additional terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beqaa,” the statement said.

The announcement came as dozens of explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

The Beqaa valley, located in the east of the country along the border with Syria, has come under repeated Israeli airstrikes over the past week.

On Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that humanitarian needs in the area were outpacing the capacity of aid agencies to respond with residents forced to flee their homes and shelters struggling to house them.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israeli military issued another evacuation order for residents of Al-Barajneh and Al-Hadath neighborhoods to leave specific locations indicated on maps in Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh.

“You are present near Hezbollah facilities and for the safety of you and your loved ones, you are obliged to evacuate the buildings immediately and move away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on Saturday.

Those buildings include some near a school in the Al-Barajneh neighborhood, a densely populated Palestinian refugee camp that is also home to Syrian refugees and migrant workers. Adraee also ordered residents to evacuate the buildings in front of and near another school in Al-Hadath.

Shortly after the evacuation order was issued, a CNN team in Beirut saw at least four airstrikes hit multiple locations in the southern suburbs.

The evacuation order comes after an earlier one in which Adraee also told residents in several buildings in the Al-Laylaki neighborhood to evacuate, as well as in Al-Hadath.

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is currently striking buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, that it alleges are used by Hezbollah as command centers and weapons production and storage sites.

“Following precise IDF intelligence, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) is currently conducting strikes on strategic terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beirut. Among the targets struck are weapons production facilities, buildings used to store advanced weapons and key command centers of the terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement.

The statement comes hours after the IDF began striking buildings in the Dahiyeh neighborhood in southern Beirut.

Hezbollah has denied that its weapons are being stored in civilian buildings targeted by Israeli strikes.

The sun was setting on Beirut, casting a warm glow over the city’s coastal skyline. Suddenly, a succession of loud bangs rang out and a plume of smoke rose from the city’s southern suburbs. The images broadcast on local TV later showed a yawning chasm where six buildings had just been, rescuers navigating the rubble dwarfed by the enormity of the crater.

Israel said it targeted Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Shia Islamist militant group Hezbollah. Nasrallah has led the armed group for more than 30 years, presiding over its rise from a guerrilla organization to the best-armed non-state force in the Middle East. His influence extends well beyond Lebanon’s borders – commanding a following from Muslim Shia groups across the region.

The enormity of the strike – which is believed to have involved 2,000-pound bombs – seemed to match the gravity of the moment. This was the doomsday scenario many in Lebanon and across the region feared – both Nasrallah’s admirers, and many of his detractors.

“Would they really do this? Would they really go after him?” one dumbfounded elderly woman, displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, wondered aloud.

While it remains unclear whether Nasrallah was among the victims of the blast, its repercussions have already thrust the Middle East into the unknown.

Hezbollah has neither confirmed nor denied Nasrallah’s killing. Shortly after the massive strike, the Israeli military announced a fresh wave of strikes in southern Beirut. From a rooftop in the west of the city, CNN could see the bright red of explosions light up the night sky, spanning the breadth of the densely populated area where Hezbollah has a strong presence, and where much of its leadership is based.

These explosions are smaller than the strike that targeted Nasrallah. But they have already displaced thousands of people, sending them to shelters in other parts of Beirut. In their desperation, many have taken to sidewalks of the relatively safe western part of the capital, namely the seaside boardwalk known as the Corniche.

For hours, the sirens of ambulances, the rumble of warplanes overhead, and the loud buzz of drones have intermingled. And the cries of those civilians caught in the middle, faced with the specter of a cataclysmic war, rise barely above a whimper.

The Israeli military says it killed Hezbollah commanders during Friday’s strikes in Lebanon.

“Additional Hezbollah commanders and operatives were eliminated alongside them,” the IDF added.

The IDF said Muhammad Ali Ismail was responsible for directing attacks against Israel, including the launch of a surface-to-air missile on Wednesday.

Hezbollah has not confirmed the deaths of these figures.

Israeli strikes hit Lebanon throughout Friday, including in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the IDF said it was conducting “targeted strikes” on Hezbollah weapons stored beneath civilian buildings.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb early on Saturday, September 28.

Hezbollah has denied that its weapons were being stored in civilian buildings targeted by Israeli strikes on the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut on Friday.

Explosions continue to rock the Lebanese capital early Saturday morning local time.

The Israel Defense Forces previously said it was “conducting targeted strikes on weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization that were stored beneath civilian buildings,” and had told residents to evacuate certain areas.

The latest strikes come hours after an initial Israeli attack on what it said was Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on Friday. That operation flattened several buildings in a densely populated area, killing at least six people and wounding dozens of others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Rescuers are still searching for survivors and any further victims, warning the current death toll is not final.

An explosion breifly lights up the sky in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israeli military continues to strike southern Beirut, a CNN team in the Lebanese capital reports.

More than an hour after the Israel Defense Forces began striking buildings allegedly with Hezbollah missiles in them, airstrikes continue to hit the Dahiyeh neighborhood in southern Beirut, CNN can see.

Large flashes can be seen in southern Beirut, and the thuds of impacting Israeli missiles are echoing across the capital.

A crisis management center in Beirut is urging displaced people to contact it for immediate assistance in finding shelter.

The government-run Crisis Management Room published two phone numbers for those seeking shelter to call in a statement by the state-run news agency NNA.

The move comes after the Israeli military warned residents of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut to evacuate, and then began striking buildings in the area that it alleged were being used to store Hezbollah missiles.

The Lebanese government says tens of thousands of people have been displaced due to recent fighting at its southern border with Israel.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed “several times today” by his national security team following a series of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon, an official told reporters traveling with Biden in Delaware Friday.

Biden has ordered the Pentagon to look at the US force posture in the region and “adjust as necessary” to support US objectives, the official said, adding that the president has also directed embassies to take the appropriate protective measures.

He will continue to receive “regular updates,” they added.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israel Defense Forces is currently striking buildings in Beirut that it alleges are storing Hezbollah missiles.

“The IDF is currently conducting targeted strikes on weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization that were stored beneath civilian buildings in the area of Dahiyeh in Beirut,” the IDF said in a statement.

The strikes came about 90 minutes after the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson issued a warning on X, formerly Twitter, for residents of several southern Beirut neighborhoods to leave the vicinity of buildings it identified on a map.

From the ground: CNN’s team in Beirut has heard explosions and can see smoke rising over the southern Dahiyeh neighborhood.

At least six people were killed and 91 injured by Israel’s strikes in Beirut Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The casualty count is “not final,” and rescuers continue to search for victims, it added.

Moody’s Ratings cut Israel’s sovereign credit rating on Friday over worries about prolonged conflicts in the Middle East and Israel’s domestic political situation, the second such cut this year.

A country’s credit rating can help investors decide if it’s worth loaning the country money, such as by buying securities like bonds. A lower credit rating can give investors pause and, in turn, demand higher interest rates for their money. Moody’s cut Israel to Baa1 from A2.

Moody’s had already downgraded Israel’s rating in February. This time, however, Moody’s analysts noted that, “Longer term, we consider that Israel’s economy will be more durably weakened by the military conflict than expected earlier.”

The outlook remains negative, which means Moody’s could cut again in the future.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, IDF spokesperson, speaks during a press conference in the early hours of Saturday, September 28.

The Israeli military in the early hours of Saturday morning warned it will not allow airplanes carrying weapons to land at the airport in Beirut, Lebanon.

CNN’s team in Beirut can hear the warplanes in the sky.

“The state of Lebanon, unlike Syria, has behaved responsibly over the years and has not allowed the transfer of weapons through the civilian airports,” Hagari said. “We inform you in advance that we will not allow hostile flights with weapons to land at the civilian airport and clarity: this is a civilian airport for civilian use and must be kept as such.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gives a statement to the media on Friday, September 27.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that his call today with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant happened as the operation targeting Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut was “already underway.”

Austin emphasized that the US is still gathering information on the strike.

He also stressed the need to avoid “an all-out war.”

“Diplomacy continues to be the best way forward, and it’s the fastest way to let displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens return to their homes on both sides of the border,” said Austin.

The defense secretary also said he would be speaking again with Gallant “soon,” and that he would “look to get an update from him when we have that conversation.”

Some context: Sources told CNN earlier Friday that Israel’s last-minute notification of the US about the strikes had added to US officials’ mounting frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

Netanyahu has sent mixed messages this week on a US-led ceasfire proposal for the Israel-Lebanon border, and the Israeli leader made a combative speech at the UN General Assembly today, vowing to continue the fight with Hezbollah.

The Israeli military says it will “in a short time” attack buildings in southern Beirut that it claims are storing Hezbollah missiles.

The Israel Defense Forces used its Arabic-language spokesperson late Friday night to tell residents of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut to leave specific areas.

The buildings surrounding the structures indicated by the IDF are almost entirely residential.

“The way the missiles are stored in these buildings allows them to be moved and launched outside of the buildings within minutes. This poses a real and immediate threat to global shipping routes and Israel’s strategic infrastructure,” Hagari claimed.

The spokesperson said residents “must move as far away from the buildings as possible.”

Iran has condemned Israel’s deadly strikes on Beirut, calling the attack a “war crime” and claiming the US is complicit.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described the strikes as a “flagrant war crime” that “once again reveals the terrorist nature of the Israeli regime,” the state news agency Press TV reported.

Iran’s foreign ministry also denounced the strikes in Beirut’s suburbs, describing the attack as a “barbaric” act facilitated by American-supplied bombs.

Both the Israeli and American governments should be held accountable, the ministry’s spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

“The ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestine and Lebanon exposes the hollow nature of Western calls for ceasefire, serving only to prolong Zionist atrocities,” Kanaani added.

What the US is saying: Israel notified the US — which has been pushing for ceasefire deals in both Gaza and at the Israel-Lebanon border — only moments before it carried out Friday’s strikes, the US defense secretary said Friday.

President Joe Biden told reporters the US had “no knowledge of or participation in” the attack.

This post has been updated with additional comments from the Iranian foreign ministry.

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, on Friday, September 27.

Several big explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Friday as Israel said it carried out strikes on the headquarters of the Iran-backed paramilitary group Hezbollah.

Here’s what we know so far:

Where: CNN has geolocated a video shared on social media which showed multiple large plumes of smoke in an area of the city’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, which is a densely populated area with a strong Hezbollah presence, and where many of the group’s leadership is based.

Intended target: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of Israel’s strikes, an Israeli official told CNN. The country’s military is now working to verify whether he was killed in the strike, with a senior Israeli official saying it’s “too early to say” if Nasrallah is dead.

Impact: At least two people were killed and 76 injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. Six buildings were completely destroyed, state news agency NNA reported. Video from the immediate aftermath of the attack showed a massive crater that dwarfed the rescuers navigating the rubble nearby. The area affected by the strikes appeared to be considerably larger than previous Israeli strikes on Beirut.

Weapons used: Images of the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut suggest 2,000-pound bombs were used, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal expert has told CNN.

“With the level of damage, it is hard to determine the exact munitions and amount, but likely multiple 2,000-pound bombs, Mk 84s, MPR-2000, or BLU-109 “bunker busters,” or a combination of them,” specialist Trevor Ball said after analyzing video and images of the strike on the Lebanese capital.

What Lebanon has said: Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged the international community to help stop what he called Israeli “tyranny,” state news agency NNA reported Friday.

Netanyahu’s movements: The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office shared an image of Benjamin Netanyahu approving a strike on Beirut. He is returning to Israel a day early from the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he made a combative speech earlier today.

Iran’s response: The Iranian embassy in Beirut said the Israeli strike Friday “changes the rules of the game,” and warned that Israel would be “punished” for what the country’s president described as a “flagrant war crime.”

United States frustrated: Israel informed the US they were taking military action only moments before the strike — once the operation was already underway, one US official said, adding that that “does not qualify as a heads up.” President Joe Biden later told reporters the US had “no knowledge of or participation in” the attack.

Top Biden administration officials were already furious this week after Netanyahu threw cold water on a US-backed ceasefire proposal for Israel and Hezbollah, sources tell CNN.

A former senior Israeli official told CNN the military would not have attacked its target in Beirut on Friday if it was not certain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was there.

A current Israeli official told CNN earlier Friday that Nasrallah had been the target of the strike.

Now the military is assessing the results, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a news conference Friday, describing the strike as “very precise.”

Israel’s attack rocked Lebanon’s capital with explosions, flattening buildings in a densely populated area. The strikes killed at least two people and wounded dozens of others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The Israeli military has told residents to leave parts of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut, highlighting those locations on maps that were distributed on the social media platform X.

The Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson posted maps of several buildings in the Al-Laylaki and Al-Hadath neighborhoods.

This call for evacuations comes hours after Israel launched major airstrikes in southern Beirut, in an attack an Israeli official told CNN targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, on Friday, September 27.

At the opening of a United Nations Security Council meeting, UN Secretary-General António Guterres made the case that “international humanitarian law is in tatters” amid the war in Gaza.

He said the rate of killing there surpasses anything he has seen in his role.

Guterres also spoke about Friday’s Israeli strikes on Beirut, warning that “war in Lebanon could lead to further escalation involving outside powers.” He urged the two sides to agree to a proposed temporary ceasefire at the Israel-Lebanon border.

“We need this ceasefire now. We cannot afford endless negotiations, as we have on Gaza,” Guterres said. “We must avoid a regional war at all costs. Gaza remains the epicenter of the violence. And Gaza is key to ending it.”

Remember: Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed paramilitary group based in Lebanon, have been in conflict for decades, but the fighting has intensified since Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has decided to end the meetings he was holding in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and return home, following Israeli strikes that rocked southern Beirut on Friday.

Mikati decided government meetings would continue and an emergency meeting would be held as soon as he returned to Beirut, a statement from his office said.

Emergency personnel respond after Hezbollah struck the northern Israeli city of Safed on Friday, September 27.

Hezbollah has struck the city of Safed in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military and local authorities.

The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah fired around 30 rockets, some of which were intercepted. At least two rockets hit the city, according to Safed municipal officials.

Israeli Fire and Rescue services said four crews were working to put out fires caused by the strikes. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but first responders were still searching for any people who may have been trapped.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the strikes, saying they were in support of “the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” as well as “in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, September 27.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking hours after a major Israeli strike in Lebanon targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, made a forceful plea for diplomacy in the Middle East, saying that while Israel has the right to defend itself, “the way it does so matters.”

Blinken warned that not pursing diplomacy would lead to “more conflict, more violence, more suffering, and greater instability and insecurity, the ripples of which will be felt around the world.”

The top US diplomat claimed that a path to diplomacy still exists, though it “may seem difficult to see at this moment.”

“In our judgment, it is necessary and we will continue to work intensely with all parties to urge them to choose that course,” he said.

Blinken’s comments also come days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled his unwillingness to agree to a ceasefire proposal championed by the US.

Blinken also echoed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recent comments warning other parties in the region such as Iran not to use the escalation between Israel and Lebanon to target US assets in the region.

The Israeli military says it has struck Hezbollah targets “in the south and deep into Lebanon.”

The strikes targeted launchers and buildings where weapons were stored, the Israel Defense Forces said, as it attempts to “degrade and dismantle” the group’s infrastructure and capabilities.

Earlier Friday, Israel targeted Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in strikes on the Lebanese capital of Beirut, an Israeli official told CNN. The Iran-backed paramilitary group has not commented on Nasrallah’s fate.

A senior Israeli official said it is “too early to say” whether Friday’s strike targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was successful.

The official added, “it’s a question of time…,” noting that it took weeks to confirm that an Israeli operation was successful in killing Hamas leader Mohammed Deif in Gaza in the summer.

The official said the decision to target Nasrallah was a “very tough call,” and said confirmation could come at any moment, noting it “depends on the intelligence, they usually try to hide it.”

When asked whether Nasrallah is alive or dead following themassive Israeli strike in Beirut, a Lebanese security official told CNN: “We wait.”

President Joe Biden speaks the the media after stepping off Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Friday, September 27.

US President Joe Biden said he’s waiting for more information before commenting on Israel’s Friday airstrikes in Beirut, reiterating that the US was not involved in the Israel Defense Forces operation.

CNN reported earlier Friday that, according to a US official, Israel informed the United States of the operation once it was already underway and Israel had planes in the air.

“We had no foreknowledge of this and that does not qualify as a heads up,” the official said.

An Israeli official told CNN the notification was sent “shortly before” the strike, and the US did not play a role in the operation.

Pressed if he believed the strikes — which CNN has reported were targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah — were justified, Biden declined to say.

“We have to get more detail, he said. “I don’t know enough to answer that question.”

He said he’s “always concerned,” about the conflict escalating tensions in the region.

Blinken comments: Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said Friday that the US is still trying to learn more about the Israeli strikes.

“We are still gathering information, making sure that we fully understand what happened, what the intent was — and until we have that information, I can’t address in detail our response to it, so we’ll continue to work on that in the hours ahead,” Blinken said at a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The top US diplomat again stressed the need to pursue a diplomatic solution to the tensions in the region and to avoid a wider war.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with comments from the US secretary of state.

The UK’s Foreign Office has urged British nationals in Lebanon to leave at the earliest opportunity.

In a statement, the Foreign Office advised Britons to take the next flight available and said that efforts were underway to increase capacity.

The Iranian embassy in Beirut said the Israeli strike Friday “changes the rules of the game” and warned Israel would be “punished.”

“The Israeli regime once again commits a bloody massacre, targeting heavily populated residential neighborhoods, spewing false justifications to try and cover up its brutal crimes,” the embassy posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“There is no doubt that this reprehensible crime and reckless behavior represent a serious escalation that changes the rules of the game, and that its perpetrator will be punished appropriately,” it added. 

Lebanese soldiers walk over the rubble of leveled buildings following Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

At least two people were killed and 76 injured by several Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said Friday.

The ministry added this was a preliminary casualty count. Rescuers continue to search through the rubble and the ministry “expects the casualty count to rise in the coming hours.”

An Israeli official told CNN that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strikes on Friday.

Top Biden administration officials were furious Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw cold water on an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire proposal that a group of nations led by the US released Wednesday night, prompting them to demand that the Israelis put out a public statement to remedy the diplomatic embarrassment, sources tell CNN.

Leading up to Wednesday, US officials had been given every assurance by Ron Dermer – one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants – that the prime minister was on board with the ceasefire framework that suggests a pause in hostilities for 21 days across the Israel-Lebanon border. Sources said Dermer himself had seen – and approved – the text of the proposal.

But within hours of the Biden White House announcing the ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu and his office dismissed it, calling the idea of an imminent ceasefire “incorrect,” while the prime minister vowed to continue Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah.

Angry senior US officials – convinced that Netanyahu was reacting to backlash at home from far-right members of his government – scrambled to get answers from their Israeli counterparts.

When Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Dermer in New York City Thursday, for example, he demanded that the Israelis put out a public statement, according to one official. That, in part, appeared to prompt the prime minister’s office to release a statement on Thursday that said discussions about the ceasefire proposal would continue in the coming days. That statement did not explicitly accept or reject the proposal.

“Israel appreciates the US efforts in this regard because the US role is indispensable in advancing stability and security in the region,” the statement said.

A source familiar with Blinken’s lengthy meeting with Dermer on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly would only describe it as candid.

Prior to seeing Blinken, Dermer also saw top White House officials including Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein. Those meetings were described by a source as “frank.” McGurk and Hochstein were among the senior officials who believed that because Dermer had been involved in the process of drafting the ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu was on board.

What Israel is saying: A senior Israeli official said Friday that all the confusion and contradiction over the ceasefire proposal “was an honest misunderstanding” between Israel and the US.

There were still questions that needed to be answered before Israel agreed to the proposal, a second Israeli official said.

“What happens in a ceasefire? Can they (Hezbollah) re-arm?” the official asked. “Can they bring in weapons, not only through the Beirut airport, how about the Syrian border?”

“Obviously it requires serious discussion,” they added.

This post has been updated with comment from Israeli officials.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and Alex Marquardt contributed reporting to this post.

Six buildings were completely destroyed by several Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, state news agency NNA reported Friday.

Video from the immediate aftermath of the explosion showed a massive crater that dwarfed the rescuers navigating the rubble nearby.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is returning to Israel from New York a day early.

He had originally been slated to return on Saturday after his address to the United Nations General Assembly, but the Prime Minister’s Office said that he would now depart Friday evening.

The Israeli military has “high preparedness in attack and defense in all sectors,” according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released soon after it carried out a large airstrike in Beirut targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Some background: Intense Israeli airstrikes have been targeting the militant group in Lebanon. Monday saw the deadliest day for the country in two decades, when Israeli bombs killed more than 500 people, including women and children, and wounded more than 1,800 others.

Israel has focused most of its offensive in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is strongest, but it also carried out two airstrikes in the Harbata plain, in the Baalbek district, in the northern part of Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has urged the international community to help stop what he called Israeli “tyranny” following a series of strikes on Beirut, state news agency NNA reported Friday.

“The new aggression proves that the Israeli enemy does not care about international efforts and calls for a ceasefire,” Mikati said in New York, NNA reported.

Mikati added that the current situation meant the international community had a responsibility “in deterring this enemy, and stopping its tyranny and the war of extermination it is waging against Lebanon.”

The prime minister was in touch with the coordinator of the National Committee for Coordination of Disaster and Crisis Response Operations, Minister Nasser Yassin, and had ordered a full mobilization of the relevant agencies to deal with what is expected to be a high number of casualties, NNA said.

Lebanese army soldiers and emergency personnel work at the scene of an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, September 27.

Israel notified the United States only moments before the Beirut strike on Friday, according to an Israeli official and two US officials. It is not immediately clear whether the target was shared with the US.

One of the US officials said Israel informed the US government they were taking military action once the operation was already underway and Israel had planes in the air.

CNN reported earlier that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of Israel’s strike.

The Israeli military is working to verify whether he was killed in the strike.

Context: This is the second time in a matter of days that US officials have expressed frustration about the notification — or lack thereof — before major Israeli operations in Lebanon.

Before Israel caused hundreds of Hezbollah pagers to explode 10 days ago, Israeli officials notified the US that something was coming in Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had spoken with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that morning, relaying the message. But the heads up lacked any substantive details, officials said, leaving the US in the dark about what Israel was planning. The US only learned about the operation when reports of exploding pagers began emerging from Lebanon. And there was no additional notification given before walkie-talkies began exploding in Lebanon one day later, officials said.

On Friday, Israel notified the US of another operation in Lebanon ahead of the strikes, an Israeli official said. Once again, Gallant spoke with Austin before the massive strikes, according to the Pentagon.

But by that time, “the operation was already underway,” said deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh.

“We had no advance warning,” said Singh, declining to say whether Gallant told the US that the target was Nasrallah. “Having no involvement, having no knowledge that the strike was actually going to occur, we’re still pulling for more details and trying to understand the operation itself.”

In this handout photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approves a strike on Beirut, Lebanon, from an undisclosed location on Friday, September 27. Portions of this image have been obscured by the Prime Minister's Office.

Following several explosions in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office shared an image of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving a strike on the Lebanese capital.

When asked whether Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is alive or dead following a massive Israeli strike in Beirut, a Lebanese security official told CNN: “We wait.”

Nasrallah was the target of Israel’s strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut, an Israeli official told CNN, adding that the Israeli military is working to verify whether he was killed.

Images of the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut suggest 2,000-pound bombs were used, a former US Army explosive ordnance disposal expert has told CNN.

“With the level of damage, it is hard to determine the exact munitions and amount, but likely multiple 2,000-pound bombs, Mk 84s, MPR-2000, or BLU-109 “bunker busters,” or a combination of them,” specialist Trevor Ball said after analyzing video and images of the strike on the Lebanese capital.

Video from the immediate aftermath of the explosion shows a massive crater, the bottom of which is not visible. Rescuers navigating the rubble are dwarfed by the size of the hole.

Video from Hezbollah-owned Al Manar broadcasting, which filmed live from the scene, also shows rubble, fires and extensive damage.

An Israeli official told CNN that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of Israel’s Friday strike.

Emergency responders were dispatched to the scene of Israeli strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday. The strikes, which the IDF said targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters and leader Hassan Nasrallah, have left several buildings in ruins.

See pictures from the scene:

Rescue workers stand on the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike on Friday.

Smoke rises from behind a building in Beirut's southern suburbs following the strike.

Rescue teams arrive near the site of Friday's strike.

Rescuers arrive at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.

A massive crater at the site of Friday's strike.

People and a fire truck rush to the scene of the strike.

Several buildings were destroyed in the Dahiyeh area of Beirut’s southern suburbs after several Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital on Friday, the country’s state news agency reported.

Several videos posted on social media showed large plumes of black smoke rising in the air after the strike. One video showed several large consecutive explosions along several buildings, suggesting Israeli forces fired at multiple targets.

The targeted buildings appeared to have been reduced to rubble in footage shared by some neighbors, with first responders seen arriving at the scene on foot.

The area affected by the strikes appeared to be considerably larger than previous Israeli strikes on Beirut.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it had dispatched 10 of its teams to the southern suburbs following the strike.

Some background: Dahiyeh is a densely populated area with a strong Hezbollah presence, and where many of the group’s leadership is based. An Israeli official told CNN that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of Israel’s Friday strike.

Intense Israeli airstrikes have been targeting the militant group in Lebanon. Monday saw the deadliest day for the country in two decades, when Israeli bombs killed more than 500 people, including women and children, and wounded more than 1,800 others.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of Israel’s Friday strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut, an Israeli official tells CNN.

The Israeli military is working to verify whether he was killed in the strike, the official said.

Smoke rises behind buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday, September 27.

Several big explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Friday, CNN teams on the ground witnessed.

CNN has geolocated a video shared on social media which showed multiple large plumes of smoke in an area of the city’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, in the aftermath of the strikes. It comes after CNN teams heard a series of very loud booms.

Dahiyeh is a densely populated area with a strong Hezbollah presence, and where many of the group’s leadership is based.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a brief video statement that the Israeli military had struck Hezbollah’s headquarters.

“Moments ago, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a precise strike on the central headquarters of the Hezbollah terror organization that served as the epicenter of Hezbollah’s terror,” Hagari said.

“Hezbollah’s terror headquarters was intentionally built under residential buildings in the heart of Beirut, as part of Hezbollah’s strategy of using human shields,” he added.

Gideon Levy, a former adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, described the current prime minister’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday as “embarrassing and pathetic.”

While acknowledging that Benjamin Netanyahu is an “impressive” public speaker, Levy told CNN’s Becky Anderson that he reached “one of the lowest points of Israeli propaganda.”

Levy pointed to Netanyahu’s hypocrisy, saying that Israel had killed over 40,000 people in Gaza and turned it into nothing but a humanitarian catastrophe, but the prime minister was still talking about “blessing” the region.

He also pointed to a “radicalization” of Israel, saying that Netanyahu was a “hostage of the most radical, fascist partners in his coalition.”

The US Navy intercepted a Houthi barrage launched at three of its warships in the Red Sea on Thursday, according to two US defense officials.

It was one of the largest attacks yet on US warships operating in the Middle East, one of the officials said.

The barrage was launched from the Iranian-backed rebel group toward two guided-missile destroyers (the USS Spruance and USS Stockdale) and a littoral combat ship (the USS Indianapolis) as they traveled north through the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The critical waterway connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea.

Houthi army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yehya Saree said the vessels were targeted “while they were en route to support and assist the Israeli enemy.” Saree said the attack involved a total of 23 projectiles, including ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, and was launched by the Houthi Navy, Air Force and Missile Force.

Saree asserted the operation resulted in “direct hits,” a claim rejected by the two US officials.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, the Houthis have carried out a series of attacks on US warships and commercial vessels they claim are linked in some way to Israel.

In December, the USS Carney shot down 14 Houthi drones targeting the guided-missile destroyer.  When the Carney returned home several months later, the US Navy chief said the ship carried out more enemy engagements than any other ship since World War II.

Then in February, a Houthi cruise missile got within one mile of the destroyer USS Gravely, forcing it to use its defensive Gatling gun, dubbed the Navy’s “last line of defense.”

People unload a truck carrying 88 bodies, which according to the Palestinian health ministry entered Gaza from Israel the day before, to be buried in a mass grave in Khan Younis, on September 26.

Families of people who are unaccounted for in Gaza converged on a container that was dumped in Khan Younis this week, in a desperate and unlikely effort to find and bury loved ones who had been missing for months.

The container was sent across the border from Israel, with 88 decomposing bodies inside. The corpses had been taken to Israel for DNA tests, to ensure there were no Israeli hostages among them.

None of the bodies sent back were identified, and the International Committee for the Red Cross said it was not involved in the transfer. The Gaza Health Ministry initially refused to accept the bodies because they had been sent back without any identification.

A journalist working for CNN said the stench emanating from the container while it was parked at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis was unbearable.

One of those courageous enough to search among the corpses was Umm Mahmoud Yaseen, who last saw her son on October 7, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel. “How are we supposed to identify our children when their bodies are decomposed. I want to see my son, and the bodies are not identified. I can remember what he was wearing when he left the house…”

CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) about the latest transfer. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that “all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday said that normalized relations with Saudi Arabia would be a “blessing” – to a United Nations’ hall without a Saudi delegation.

Amid jeers, many delegates left the General Assembly Hall as Netanyahu took the stage.

“To truly realize the blessing of a new Middle East, we must continue the path we paved with the Abraham Accords four years ago,” Netanyahu said.

“Above all, this means achieving a historic peace agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.”

Prior to Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel and Saudi Arabia had been secretly discussing establishing normal diplomatic relations.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman – also known as MBS – reiterated earlier this month that the Kingdom will not forge diplomatic ties with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is established with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected the idea of any Palestinian state.

Peace with Saudi Arabia, he said on Friday “would be a true pivot of history.”

“It would usher in a historic reconciliation between the Arab world and Israel, between Islam and Judaism, between Mecca and Jerusalem.”

Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike on September 27.

At least two people have been injured as Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanon continued on Friday afternoon, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

According to NNA, the pair was injured when Israel hit a building in Ghazieh, near the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon.

Authorities have yet to report any other casualties, but Israeli airstrikes were reported across the country. Also in the south, NNA reported several strikes in the coastal Tyre district.

The Lebanese minister of health, Dr. Firass Abiad, said earlier that 25 people have been killed in the country since midnight local time.

Remember: Israel has focused most of its offensive in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is strongest, but it also carried out two airstrikes in the Harbata plain, in the Baalbek district, in the northern part of Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday decried the desire by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to seek arrest warrants against him and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, alongside several Hamas leaders.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the real war criminals are not in Israel,” he told the UN General Assembly.

“They’re in Iran. They’re in Gaza, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen. Those of you who stand with these criminals, those of you who stand with evil against good, with the curse against the blessing, those of you who do so should be ashamed of yourselves.”

The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader in Gaza 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.

“Given the antisemitism at the UN, it should surprise no one that the prosecutor at the ICC, one of the UN’s affiliate organs, is considering issuing arrest warrants against me and Israel’s defense minister – the democratically elected leaders of the democratic state of Israel,” Netanyahu said.

“Nobody is above the law,” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN this spring.

But “the ICC prosecutors rushed to judgement,” Netanyahu said. “His refusal to treat Israel with its independent courts, the way other democracies are treated, is hard to explain by anything other than pure antisemitism,” he added.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 27.

Israel has “no choice” but to fight back against Hezbollah, so long as the militant group threatens Israel from its base in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right, to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” the Israeli leader said. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Around 60,000 Israeli civilians have been forced from their homes by Hezbollah attacks that began on October 8, the day after Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The Israeli military has in recent days rapidly escalated its fight against Hezbollah, killed hundreds in Lebanon and forced hundreds of thousands of civilians from their homes in southern Lebanon, according to the government there.

“We will continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met,” Netanyahu added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s military has killed or captured more than half of Hamas’ 40,000 fighters during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

The leader also claimed that Israel’s military had destroyed 90% of Hamas’ rocket arsenal and eliminated “key segments” of the militants’ tunnel network over the course of its nearly one-year war against the group.

Netanyahu said Israel was “now focused on mopping up Hamas’s remaining fighting capabilities,” including targeting remaining senior commanders and destroying remaining infrastructure.

Also during his speech, Netanyahu praised Israel’s soldiers for their role in the Israel-Gaza war – which has killed 41,945 people and injured 96,006 in the enclave, according to authorities there – saying they had “fought back with incredible courage and with heroic sacrifice.”

“And I have another message for this assembly and for the world outside this hall: We are winning!” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered little detail during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on who might govern Gaza after the war there concludes.

“Israel will reject any role for Hamas in a post-war Gaza,” he said.

“We don’t seek to resettle Gaza, we seek to demilitarize and deradicalize Gaza. Only then can we ensure that this round of fighting will be the last round of fighting.

Israel, he said, was “ready to work with regional and local partners to support a civilian administration in Gaza committed to peaceful coexistence.”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, on September 27.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brought props to his speech at the UN General Assembly to make his case.

Holding two maps, he said the world much choose between a “blessing” and a “curse.”

At the center of the choice was Israel’s major regional enemy: Iran.

The blessing, he said, “shows Israel and its Arab partners forming a land bridge connecting Asia and Europe.”

“Now look at this second map,” he said. “It’s a map of a curse. It’s a map of an arc of terror that Iran has created and imposed from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.”

He added: “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach – that’s true for the whole of the Middle East.”

As has previously been the case when Netanyahu uses maps, his map did not identify the West Bank or Gaza, but rather identified all that territory as Israel.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, on September 27.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage in the United Nations General Assembly hall, a large number of delegates could be seen leaving the hall.

Jeers could be heard as Netanyahu took the stage.

“I decided to come here and set the record straight,” Netanyahu said in his opening remarks, saying he wanted to defend against the “lies and slander” he’d heard.

The Lebanese minister of health, Dr. Firass Abiad, said 25 people have been killed in the country since midnight local time as Israel continued its strikes on Hezbollah targets.

“Since midnight until now, there have been 25 martyrs and a large number of injured. A statement with the full casualty numbers will be released either today or tomorrow morning,” Abiad told a Friday news conference.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced following a flare-up in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Abiad said the health ministry was working to help deliver medicine and baby formula, and the health services had also helped with more than 12 childbirths among those displaced.

The Israeli military plans to increase its efforts to hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday.

“We’ve been hitting Hezbollah very hard over the year, and especially in recent weeks - we will continue increasing this effort,” Gallant said during a visit to the northern Israeli town of Safed.

“We intend to bring about security to the communities in the north, and return those who left to their homes safely.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday it had struck additional targets following a first wave of strikes. They included the launcher used by Hezbollah that fired towards the northern city of Tiberias earlier Friday.

The IDF said aircraft had struck the launchers used to fire the rockets from the area of Haddatha in Lebanon, as well as dozens more launchers, “weapons storage facilities, and terrorist infrastructure sites” in the areas of Sidon, Nabatieh and elsewhere.

Strikes were ongoing, the IDF said.

Remember: Intense Israeli airstrikes have been targeting militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Monday saw the deadliest day for the country in two decades, when Israeli bombs killed more than 500 people, including women and children, and wounded more than 1,800 others.

Last Friday, Hezbollah confirmed the death of one of its senior military commanders who was killed in a strike on a residential building in a southern suburb of Beirut.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attend a press conference in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 28.

When pagers exploded across Lebanon last week, the year-long war with Hezbollah was not at the top of the Israeli political agenda.

Instead, the political class was convulsed with speculation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replace him with a military neophyte, Gideon Sa’ar, to shore up his domestic power. National security heavyweights were scathing. “It’ll take him months on end to train for the job,” said Gadi Eisenkot, a highly respected former Israeli military chief and member of the opposition.

The pager and subsequent walkie-talkie explosions – which together killed dozens, maimed thousands, and rattled Lebanese nerves – put paid to that scheme, for now. The suddenly heightened tensions with Hezbollah gave Gallant a lifeline. Reports in the Israeli press suggest that the stay on Gallant’s dismissal is only temporary, and that Netanyahu still intends to fire him.

Policy and domestic politics are impossible to separate in any democracy, but especially in Netanyahu’s Israel – and especially now.

Read the analysis here.

The manager of a Palestinian aid group has been shot and killed in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Islam Hijazy, the Gaza program manager of HEAL Palestine, was shot Friday while driving through the city. She leaves behind a husband and two small children.

According to eyewitnesses and local journalists from Khan Younis, a group of armed men killed Hijazy. They said that the gunmen, who were in several cars, stopped her jeep and shot her multiple times. The identity of the attackers is unknown.

However, her husband – Moumen Al-Farram – told CNN: “Initially, it seems to have been an accidental killing due to mistaken identity. Members of the security forces opened fire on my wife’s jeep, which she was driving.”

“The security forces were pursuing a person driving a jeep similar to the one my wife was in.”

A family statement said that they were delaying Hijazy’s burial until local authorities issued a statement explaining what happened.

The Gaza Interior Ministry is expected to issue a statement on the attack later Friday.

Insecurity in Gaza, and the presence of many heavily armed groups, has made humanitarian work in the enclave increasingly difficult since last October. While Hamas has run Gaza since 2006, the last 11 months of conflict have reduced its ability to enforce security, and there has been an upsurge in criminal gangs.

Rescuers check the destruction following an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa on September 27.

The Israeli military says it has struck more Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as cross-border attacks resumed Friday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says dozens of targets in southern Lebanon were struck, and the launcher that fired rockets towards Haifa early Friday was destroyed.

“In dozens of additional strikes, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck terrorist infrastructure sites and terrorist cells” belonging to Hezbollah in several areas, the IDF said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported there had been casualties in an Israeli airstrike on the house of the mayor of Aytit in southern Lebanon.

The IDF added that following the sirens that sounded in the Lower Galilee area, approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. The majority were intercepted.

For its part, Hezbollah announced Friday that it had fired Fad-1 rockets towards the Ilaniya settlement and had also targeted the city of Tiberias in northern Israel.

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.

Israel said Thursday that a further $8.7 billion in military aid is being disbursed by the United States government to “support Israel’s ongoing military efforts,” its defense ministry announced.

Nearly half of the aid – which was approved by Congress earlier in the year – will be used to fund immediate needs, described by the ministry as “critical acquisitions.”

It also includes an additional $5.2 billion in the form of a grant intended to enhance Israel’s air defense systems, including strengthening its Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile interceptors, while supporting the “continued development of an advanced high-powered laser defense system currently in its later stages of development,” the ministry said.

Both systems have been pivotal to Israel’s defense in recent weeks against increasing rocket attacks from Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Israel’s David’s Sling intercepted over the Tel Aviv area a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon.

CNN has reached out to the Pentagon.

The announcement of further aid comes as the US, France and several allies call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border, in a proposal intended to de-escalate the situation and allow residents in both countries along the border to return to their homes.

Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign aid since its founding, most of which has been military assistance, but the aid has been the subject of frequent debate in the US, with pro-Palestinian activists and some lawmakers calling for conditions to ensure it complies with humanitarian law and US policy goals.

The aftermath of a reported overnight Israeli strike that hits tents used as temporary shelters by displaced Palestinians in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on September 27.

One person was killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on tents in the compound of a hospital in central Gaza on Friday.

CNN video from the scene at the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir al-Balah, identified remnants of a US-made Hellfire missile at the scene.

The individual killed was identified as a 41-year-old man.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN that overnight the Israeli air force conducted “a precise strike on Islamic Jihad terrorists who were operating inside command-and-control centers embedded within the Humanitarian Area in Deir Al Balah.”

‏”Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians,” the IDF added.

Umm Ali, a woman taking shelter at the compound with her children, said the strike was at 2:30 a.m. “We wake up tired and sleep tired, We have had enough. We want calm.”

Ali added that “all our tents are destroyed, they said to go south for security, we came here and there is no security.”

CNN has asked the IDF for information on the target of the strike.

Lebanon’s minister of social affairs, Hector Hajjar, says that the poorest families displaced by the conflict in the south of the country will soon begin to receive cash payments for essentials.

Hajjar said China had provided $1 million, which will be distributed to 10,000 families, while $3 million in assistance was coming from European nations, Canada and others. In addition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has contributed $2.3 million.

Hajjar said efforts were being made to overcome shortages in shelter supplies and food.

The grants being provided – which Hajjar said will take two weeks to be distributed – are a limited beginning, as Lebanon’s health minister, Dr. Firass Abiad, told CNN on Thursday that 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 warnings: 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.”

Lebanese soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an apartment in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 26.

Two more senior Hezbollah operatives were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Beirut earlier this week, the Israeli military said Friday, after earlier announcing the attack killed one of the group’s top commanders.

The strike Tuesday that killed Hezbollah’s missile and rocket force chief Ibrahim Qubaisi also killed his deputy, Abbas Ibrahim Sharaf Ad-Din, and another senior operative from the missile unit, Hussein Hany, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Hezbollah confirmed Qubaisi was killed in an airstrike following the Israeli military’s initial announcement on Tuesday.

In its statement Friday, the IDF also said a senior Hezbollah operative from the group’s surface-to-surface missile unit, Fuad Shafiq Khaz’al Khanafer, had been killed in a separate strike, without specifying on which day.

Remember: Israel has claimed it killed a number of senior Hezbollah figures in recent days during strikes on Lebanon. On Thursday, Israel’s military said it carried out “precise strikes” in Beirut that killed Hezbollah’s aerial command chief, Muhammad Hussein Srour.

Hezbollah on Friday confirmed Srour’s death, but did not specify the circumstances.

The Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, on September 27.

The Israeli military said Friday it detected about 10 projectiles fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel’s largest city, Haifa, and nearby communities.

Some of the projectiles were intercepted while others were “identified as having fallen in open areas,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

No damage was reported, though shrapnel from an interception landed in an open area near the town of Kfar Hasidim, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from Haifa, an Israeli police spokesperson said.

Police in the area were scanning for damage, the spokesperson added.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it launched strikes on a settlement in the Haifa area with Fadi-1 rockets in response to recent Israeli attacks, in support of Palestinians in Gaza and in defense of Lebanon.

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 continues: 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.

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 shares the aims of the US-led initiative of enabling people along our northern border to return safely and securely to their homes,” the statement read. “Israel appreciates the US efforts in this regard because the US role is indispensable in advancing stability and security in the region.”

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

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 25, 2024.

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.

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.