Israel-Hezbollah attacks escalate

A 16-year-old who was injured in Kiryat Bialik this morning has described the moment a Hezbollah rocket blew the door from her house as she hid in the shelter with her parents, siblings and grandfather.

“There was a loud boom in the air and a flame started from the explosion. It shattered our shelter’s window, the entire metal window moved out of its place, the glass broke, and the cars were set on fire. The explosion of the cars hit the window and resulted in shrapnel hitting my face,” she said.

Amzaleg said the family sought shelter for ten minutes before leaving and as she wiped her face, she felt blood running down the side.

“I’m now suffering from headaches, my face is in pain, the side’s a bit swollen, and I still have some glasses and there’s anxiety. I keep rewinding it, again and again… If we weren’t inside the sheltered room, we wouldn’t stand here [alive] today,” she added.

Hezbollah retaliated overnight to a week of intensive Israeli attacks in Lebanon by launching a barrage of projectiles that targeted areas farther into Israeli territory than most of its previous strikes. 

The Israeli military said that it intercepted most of the airborne weapons but reported impacts in Kiryat Bialik, Tsur Shalom and Moreshet near the port city of Haifa, around 40 km (25 miles) south of the border. 

CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi contributed to this report.

First responders work at the site of a rocket attack in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, on September 22.

Hezbollah has fired projectiles targeting areas farther into Israeli territory than the majority previous strikes on Sunday, with the last 48 hours bringing the most intense exchanges of fire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group since October 7.

Two people were killed in fresh Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, Lebanese media reported, with exchanges of fire continuing after Israel pounded Hezbollah targets with nearly 300 strikes overnight.

Hezbollah has been left reeling after two days of blasts targeting pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members was followed by an Israeli strike on southern Beirut, which killed a top commander and other senior operatives.

Below are the latest on tensions between Hezbollah and Israel:

Below are the latest updates on the conflict in Gaza:

The Ministry of Health in Gaza says that the bodies of 40 people have been brought into hospitals over the past 24 hours and that 58 people have been injured as a result of Israeli military operations.

CNN reported Saturday on the deaths of at least 22 people in a strike on a school compound in central Gaza. There was at least one other strike resulting in fatalities in southern Gaza Saturday.

The cumulative death toll in Gaza since October 7 is now 41,431, with over 95,000 people injured, according to the Ministry.

Emergency personnel stand near the site of a Hezbollah rocket attack in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, on September 22.

Hezbollah retaliated overnight to a week of intensive Israeli attacks in Lebanon by launching a barrage of projectiles that targeted areas farther into Israeli territory than most of its previous strikes. 

The Israeli military said that it intercepted most of the airborne weapons but reported impacts in Kiryat Bialik, Tsur Shalom and Moreshet near the port city of Haifa, around 40 km (25 miles) south of the border. This marks one of the deepest direct hits by the Iran-backed group since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

Hezbollah said it targeted the Ramat David airbase southeast of Haifa with Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 missiles, two previously unknown weapons that may have a longer range than those normally used by the Lebanese militant group. Hezbollah attacks have largely involved short-range Katyusha and Burkan rockets as well as attack and surveillance drones. 

The Israeli military did not respond to queries about whether the Ramat David airbase was impacted. Israeli emergency services reported three people were wounded in the attacks. 

Hezbollah boasts an arsenal of short, medium and long-range missiles. In his previous speeches, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the group had yet to use some of its most sophisticated weaponry.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike in Khiam, Lebanon, on September 22.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in the past few days “We have struck Hezbollah with a series of blows it didn’t imagine.” 

“If Hezbollah didn’t get the message - I assure you - they will get the message. We are determined to return our citizens in the north to their homes safely,” said the prime minister, speaking ahead of a government meeting on Sunday. 

Speaking from an air force command and control room, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “Hezbollah has started to sense some of the IDF’s capabilities, and there’s already a difficult feeling there that we’re after them, and we’re seeing the results.” 

Some context: Israel carried out some of its most intense strikes on Lebanon against Hezbollah since the October 7 attacks, striking thousands of launchers on Saturday after it said it uncovered plans for a Hezbollah rocket attack. On Friday, at least 45 people were killed, including high-level Hezbollah commanders, in an Israeli strike on southern Beirut.

These strikes followed the detonation of walkie-talkies in Lebanon earlier this week, which killed at least 20 people and pager blasts targeting Hezbollah members which killed at least 12, including children, and injured thousands across the country.  

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, on September 11.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Sunday that “Israel is not interested to be at war with Lebanon” while accusing Hezbollah of being behind the military escalation between both nations. 

“We do not want to move to get into a war with Lebanon, but Lebanon has been hijacked by a terror organization which is also a political party in Lebanon called Hezbollah,” he told Sky News’ Trevor Phillips.

Herzog said Hezbollah had been “armed to its teeth by the Iranian empire of evil,” and that the leaders killed in the Friday attack on southern Beirut were “meeting together in order to launch the same horrific, horrendous attack that we had on October 7 by Hamas.” 

The president reiterated Israel “did not seek this war”, which “was instigated by the Empire of Evil, the Iranian proxies in the region, under the command of Iran,” and that his country is only focusing on defending itself. 

“Think for a moment, had the Bournemouth citizens been evacuated to Manchester for a year under attacks from one of the neighbors or Brighton, how long would the British government be restrained?” Herzog asked, referring to cities in northern and southern England. 

“We are working to change this equation,” he said, adding that Israel needed to ensure the return of hostages and secure itself from an attack from Lebanon. “It’s very simple, and life can go on in a peaceful manner on an internationally recognized boundary between Israel and Lebanon,” he concluded. 

Two people have been killed amid a fresh wave of over 60 Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon since dawn on Sunday, the official National News Agency (NNA) in Lebanon has said.

The two people killed were in Al-Khiyyam and Aitaroun, the Lebanese health ministry said. 

NNA said that the latest wave of strikes hit villages in Nabatiyah and Mahmoudiya - as well as al-Adissa and Yaroun close to the border.

The latest round of airstrikes come after Israeli aircraft carried out nearly 300 strikes on multiple locations in eastern and southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman said that the strikes occurred after plans were detected for a Hezbollah rocket attack.

Reports from Gaza say that seven people were killed Sunday morning in an Israeli airstrike on another school compound, after 22 were killed in a similar strike on a school where thousands were sheltering in central Gaza on Saturday.

The Israeli military says the compound was being used as a Hamas base.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that following intelligence leads, the air force “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip. The terrorists were operating from within a compound that previously served as the ‘Kafr Qasem’ School.” 

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

A CNN stringer in Gaza reports that in addition to the seven killed in the strike, others were badly injured. The Kafr Qasem school houses hundreds of displaced people in a camp west of Gaza City. Casualties were transferred to Al Ahli Hospital in the city.

Among those killed was a senior manager in the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, Majed Saleh.

The Israeli military has struck a number of school compounds sheltering the displaced in recent weeks. On Saturday, 22 people – most of them women and children – were reported killed in an Israeli strike on a school compound in Zeitoun, in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said the compound was being used as a Hamas command center, and precautions had been taken to avoid civilian casualties. CNN is unable to verify whether Hamas operatives were present at the compound or whether Hamas fighters were among the casualties.

 Khader Al-Za’anoun of WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed to this post.

Emergency personnel stand near a damaged car at a site of houses damaged following a rocket attack from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, on September 22.

The last 48 hours have seen the most intense exchanges of fire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah since October 7 - with Hezbollah firing rockets deep into northern Israel early Sunday.

On Saturday, Israel pounded Hezbollah targets with nearly 300 strikes, in what the military said was pre-emptive action to ward off a major attack. Further strikes continued Sunday. Lebanon’s official news agency said there had been 60 strikes on villages in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has been left reeling after two days of blasts targeting pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members was followed by an Israeli strike on southern Beirut, which killed a top commander and other senior operatives.

Below are the latest developments: 

The Israeli military says it intercepted an aerial target that crossed into Israeli territory from the east early Sunday.

The interception followed a heavy barrage of rockets from southern Lebanon overnight. About 85 were fired around 6:30 a.m. local time (11:30p ET Saturday), after approximately 20 were fired earlier, the military said.

The IDF added that fighter jets continued to strike “dozens of Hezbollah terror targets, including launchers and military structures in dozens of areas in southern Lebanon” on Sunday, after reporting 290 strikes since Saturday, some of the most intense since the October 7 attacks.

This screengrab from an Al Jazeera video shows IDF soldiers entering their office in Ramallah, West Bank on September 22.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Under the Oslo Peace Accords, the Palestinian Authority has responsibility for security in “Area A” of the occupied West Bank, which includes Ramallah.

This post has been updated.

The death toll from an Israeli strike on southern Beirut that targeted several Hezbollah commanders on Friday has risen to 45, Lebanon’s health ministry said Sunday.

Emergency services are still combing through the rubble left by the attack, it said, using DNA samples to identify the remains.

A day earlier, the death toll had stood at 38, according to the ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly amid escalating tensions with Hezbollah.

The prime minister had already pushed his departure from Tuesday to Wednesday, but “for now” plans to leave Friday, an Israeli official told CNN.

Netanyahu is set to speak at the General Assembly later in the week, which is expected to lead to a lot of walkouts from the assembly hall.

Some context: The United Nations General Assembly is an annual world leaders’ summit that has gone on for nearly eight decades. It’s a place for long speeches, private country-to-country whisper sessions, and group meetings on everything from regulating artificial intelligence to global conflicts.

This year features a UN once again caught in a debate over its relevancy while attempting to stem wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. According to Richard Gowan, UN director at the International Crisis Group, Netanyahu “hates the organization and he has a deep mistrust of it.” Read more.

Emergency personnel work at a site of houses damaged following a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, on September 22.

More than 100 “projectiles” have been fired from Lebanon into Israel overnight, the Israeli military has said, as Israel and Hezbollah ramp up cross-border attacks. 

About 85 were fired around 6:30 a.m. local time, after approximately 20 were fired about 90 minutes earlier, the military said. 

“Some of the projectiles were intercepted, and fallen projectiles were identified in the areas of Kiryat Bialik, Tsur Shalom, and Moreshet,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.  

Video in Israeli media showed cars on fire on a street corner in the northern town of Kiryat Bialik. Footage released by the Israeli Fire and Rescue Service showed charred cars and buildings with blown-out windows. 

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said it has treated four people for shrapnel injuries overnight – three with minor injuries and one with moderate injuries. 

The Israeli military also said it is “currently striking targets belonging” to Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying those attacks will “continue and will intensify.”  

Hezbollah overnight said that it had fired rockets towards Israel, saying it targeted the Ramat David air base in two separate incidents.  

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the claim. 

In a separate statement, Hezbollah said it also targeted RAFAEL, an Israeli military technologies company based in the Haifa area in northern Israel. 

The group’s statement said targeting RAFAEL is in support of Palestinians in Gaza, and “an initial response to the brutal massacre” committed by Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday. That was a reference to deadly back-to-back attacks targeting Hezbollah members – with pagers simultaneously exploding across the country on Tuesday, then walkie-talkies detonating in a similar fashion on Wednesday. 

The Israeli military told CNN that they are not aware of these claims.  

CNN is also trying to reach out to RAFAEL for comment on the claim by Hezbollah.  

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

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

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

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, on September 22.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hezbollah members take part in a military exercise during a media tour in Aaramta, Lebanon on May 21, 2023.

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

Here’s what to know about Hezbollah

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

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

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

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

Support from Iran: The group made no secret about its ideological allegiance to Tehran and received a steady flow of funds from the Islamic Republic. This helped propel Hezbollah to prominence. It became a participant in Lebanon’s civil war, which ended in 1990, and led a fight against Israeli forces occupying southern Lebanon, ultimately driving them out in 2000.

A terror designation: In Lebanon, Hezbollah is officially considered a “resistance” group tasked with confronting Israel, which Beirut classifies as an enemy state. Yet much of the Western world has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization, largely since Argentina blamed the group for the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people, and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, killing 85, also in the capital. Both Iran and Hezbollah denied responsibility for those attacks.

Read more about Hezbollah here.

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

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

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

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