Lebanese soldiers cordon off the area at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Nearly 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, according to Lebanon's health ministry, as Israel dramatically escalated strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah’s military capacities.

Over the past week, Israel has carried out several strikes in Beirut targeting senior Hezbollah commanders. Earlier in the day, a strike in eastern Lebanon killed 20 people, most of them Syrian migrants, according to Lebanese health officials. Also Thursday, the health ministry said two people were killed and 15 were wounded after an Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building in a southern suburb of Beirut. The Israel Defense Force said the strike killed a Hezbollah drone commander, Mohammed Hussein Surour.

Lebanon's disaster risk management unit said Thursday in a report that 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon and 81 injured over 24 hours, bringing the total killed since Monday in Lebanon to 696. More than 1,540 people have been killed in Lebanon in the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel since last October, the report said.

After the Beirut explosion, dozens of rockets were fired toward the northern Israeli city of Safed, with one hitting a street in a nearby town. In total, 175 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Thursday, the military said. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas, some sparking wildfires.

The strikes came after Israel's military chief said Wednesday that the country was preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Late Wednesday, the United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations as fears grow that the violent escalation in recent days — following 11 months of cross-border exchange of fire — could grow into an all-out war.

The International Organization for Migration estimated Thursday that more than 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war. That figure includes the more than 100,000 who were displaced before this week’s escalation.

___

Here’s the latest:

Lebanon's foreign minister calls for immediate cease-fire ‘on all fronts’

Lebanon’s foreign minister called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire “on all fronts,” warning that continued violence at his nation’s border will “transform into a black hole that will engulf international and regional peace and security.”

Abdallah Bouhabib, speaking before the U.N. General Assembly, decried Israel’s “systematic destruction of Lebanese border villages.”

“The crisis in Lebanon threatens the entire Middle East,” Bouhabib said. “We wish today to reiterate our call for a cease-fire on all fronts.”

He said Lebanon welcomes efforts by the United States and France to move urgently toward a cease-fire before things spin out of control.

Israel intercepts missile fired from Yemen that set off air raid sirens

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen that set off air raid sirens across the country’s center. Air raid sirens rang out across Israel’s populous central area, including the seaside metropolis of Tel Aviv.

Another missile from Yemen landed in central Israel about two weeks ago.

Hezbollah confirms death of a drone unit commander Mohammed Hussein Surour

BEIRUT — Hezbollah confirmed the death of Mohammed Hussein Surour, one of its drone unit commanders, in a statement.

The Israeli military had earlier said it killed Surour in a strike in Beirut.

The strike hit an apartment building in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Until recently, Israel had rarely targeted sites in Beirut during the low-level conflict with Hezbollah that has been ongoing since October. However, in the past week, Israel has struck Beirut’s southern suburbs several times.

French President says it would be a mistake for Israel to reject a 21-day halt in fighting

MONTREAL — French President Emmanuel Macron says it would be a mistake for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject a 21-day halt in fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to give time for negotiations. Macron says rejecting the proposal by France, the United States and allies will only cause further violence and France is “opposed to Lebanon becoming a new Gaza.”

Macron spoke as he visited Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who also said there needs to be an immediate cease-fire.

Netanyahu said earlier Thursday that Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Both France and Canada have close ties to the people of Lebanon.

White House national security spokesman says the U.S. had ‘every reason to believe’ that Israel was willing to consider a cease-fire

WASHINGTON — White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. had “every reason to believe” that the Israeli government was willing to consider a cease-fire across its border with Lebanon before President Joe Biden and other world leaders called for a 21-day pause in the fighting late Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters, Kirby declined to detail what changed between that point and Thursday morning when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to reject the cease-fire proposal and pledged further efforts to weaken Hezbollah’s military capacity.

“I think you ought to ask that question to Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he said.

Still, Kirby said senior U.S. negotiators were still working with the Israelis and other partners to try to bring about a temporary cease-fire.

“It’s not clear to us that from a practical perspective that there isn’t cause for us to continue to have these conversations with the Israelis,” Kirby said.

Kirby declined to say why the U.S. believed Wednesday that a “breakthrough” was near and whether Biden believes he was misled by Netanyahu.

Kirby said there were legitimate reasons for Israel to want to take out Hezbollah targets, mentioning a Wednesday ballistic missile launch aimed at Tel Aviv. “He and his cabinet and the Israeli people have every right to want to thwart that threat,” Kirby said.

“We still believe an all-out war is not the best way to get people back in their homes,” Kirby added. “If that’s the goal, an all-out war, we don’t believe is the right way to do that.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting Thursday with Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Jordan's Foreign Minister says Israel is ‘dragging the whole region into the abyss of a regional war’

UNITED NATIONS — Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters at the United Nations on Thursday that Israel “is dragging the whole region into the abyss of a regional war, as we see happening in Lebanon."

He added: "This has to stop, it has to stop immediately ... (Israel) is continuing with its war on Lebanon. In this (UNGA) week, many, many leaders and foreign ministers were here, and the question on everybody’s mind is, ‘Then what? How are we going to get this to stop?’”

Israeli vehicles seen transporting tanks and armored vehicles toward the northern border with Lebanon

KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel — Israeli military vehicles were seen transporting tanks and armored vehicles toward the country’s northern border with Lebanon on Thursday, a day after commanders issued a call-up of reservists.

Several tanks arrived in Kiryat Shmona, a hard-hit town just several kilometers (miles) from the border. Earlier, Israeli air defenses intercepted a barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon.

Israel’s military chief has said the army should prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, and Israel has begun massing forces along the border in recent days.

White House says Israel is ‘aware’ of calls for a 21-day cease-fire

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Israel was “aware” of the joint statement by members of the Group of Seven industrial nations, the European Union and Middle Eastern countries that calls for a 21-day cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon. Jean-Pierre said there continue to be diplomatic conversations in New York City about how to stop the conflict.

Asked if the conflict amounted to a war, Jean-Pierre said, “I’m not going to get into semantics from here.”

Migration group linked to UN says 100,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced from their homes by this past week’s fighting

BEIRUT — The International Organization for Migration estimated Thursday that more than 200,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in Lebanon, including more than 100,000 who were displaced before this week’s escalation.

Lebanon’s General Security agency said more than 31,000 people crossed the border from Lebanon into Syria in two days.

Nearly 700 killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since Monday

BEIRUT— Sixty people were killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon and 81 injured over the past 24 hours, the country’s disaster risk management unit said in a statement Thursday, bringing the total killed since Monday in Lebanon to 696.

A total of 1,540 people have been killed in Lebanon in the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel since last October, the report said.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese have fled areas targeted by heavy Israeli bombardment over the past four days. A total of 77,100 had been registered at shelters for the displaced in that period, the report said. The actual number displaced could be “many times higher,” it said, as many people who went to stay with relatives or to their own second homes or rented apartments or hotels were not officially registered.

Lebanon’s General Security agency recorded 31,730 people crossing the border from Lebanon into Syria over the past two days alone, the report said. Of those, 15,600 were Syrian and 16,130 Lebanese.

Shrapnel from last in a series of rocket attacks on northern Israel injures a man

JERUSALEM — Israel’s rescue services say a 45 year-old man was moderately injured by shrapnel in the last of a series of rocket attacks on northern Israel on Thursday.

According to the Israeli army, some 25 rockets were launched from Lebanon in the last barrage, setting of sirens in a cluster of towns and communities east of Haifa.

A total of 175 projectiles were fired so far today from Lebanon on northern Israel, according to the army, most of which were intercepted or fell in open areas.

A second barrage of rockets is fired from Lebanon into Israel's north, with no reported injuries

TEL AVIV — Some 45 rockets were fired from Lebanon on the northern city of Safed and surrounding communities, according to the Israeli army, shortly after Israel killed a Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut.

Israeli police said heavy damage was caused by falling fragments, but there were no reports of injuries. It was the second heavy barrage on the area Thursday.

A total of 150 projectiles were fired so far Thursday from Lebanon on northern Israel, according to the army, most of which were intercepted or fell in open areas.

UK echoes urgent calls for Israel and Hezbollah leaders to accept a cease-fire

LONDON — Britain's defense secretary has echoed the call for a pause in Israel's conflict with Hezbollah.

“I urge President Netanyahu and the Lebanese Hezbollah leaders to pay heed to the combined voices at the United Nations to do just that," John Healey said after a meeting with his U.S. and Australian counterparts in London.

Healey said his country has sent 700 troops to Cyprus to assist in a potential emergency evacuation of civilians in Lebanon should a full war break out.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pressed both Israel and Lebanon to choose the path of cease-fire and urged each side to accept a temporary pause to avoid further escalation.

“Israel and Lebanon can choose a different path,” he said. “Despite a sharp escalation in recent days, a diplomatic solution is still viable ... All parties should seize this opportunity."

And he issued a warning to Iran and other U.S. adversaries, saying: “No one should try to exploit this crisis or expand this conflict.”

Netanyahu says Israel won't stop striking Hezbollah

NEW YORK — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.

Netanyahu spoke as he landed in New York to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting and as U.S. and European officials were pressing for a 21-day halt in fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to give time for negotiations.

Netanyahu said Israel’s “policy is clear. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force. And we will not stop until we reach all our goals, chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes.”

He added that he approved the “targeted killing operation” of the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit in south Beirut Thursday.

Israel has dramatically escalated strikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is targeting Hezbollah. Israeli leaders have said they are determined to stop more than 11-months of cross-border fire by the militant group into Israel, which has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from communities in the north.

IDF says it killed a Hezbollah drone commander in Beirut airstrike

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israel Defense Force says an airstrike on Beirut has killed a Hezbollah drone commander.

Israel's military said Thursday that its fighter jets attacked Beirut on Thursday and killed Mohammed Hussein Surour, who it described as a “commander of Hezbollah’s aerial unit."

It said Surour “promoted, directed and commanded many aerial terrorist attacks, including drone attacks, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles aimed at Israel.”

Hezbollah has not commented on the claim.

Lebanon says 2 killed in strike on apartment building in south Beirut

BEIRUT — Lebanon's Health Ministry says two people were killed and 15 were wounded after an airstrike hit an apartment building in a southern suburb of Beirut.

The health ministry said those wounded included a woman who was in critical condition.

Al-Manar TV, the TV station of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, reported earlier Thursday that an Israeli airstrike caused an explosion on an apartment building in south Beirut, but did not give further details.

The Israeli military said it carried out a “targeted strike” south of Beirut. It said more details will be released later.

The strike came two days after a similar attack killed a senior Hezbollah military commander with the group’s missile unit.

Blinken: The world is united in calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah

NEW YORK — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the world is united in calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah and will be seeking approval from Israeli officials after the release of a proposal for a temporary 21-day halt in fighting.

“It is now the G7 countries, the European Union, the leading Arab countries, everyone speaking with one clear voice about the need to get that cease-fire in the north,” Blinken said in an interview with MSNBC on Thursday before he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top strategy advisor, Ron Dermer, in New York.

Netanyahu himself is en route to New York where he will speak on Friday at the UN General Assembly. His office said the cease-fire call is only a proposal and that Israel would continue to defend its land and people from attacks by Hezbollah from Lebanese territory.

“I can’t speak for him,” Blinken said of Netanyahu. “I can just say that the world is speaking clearly for virtually all of the key countries in Europe and in the region on the need for the ceasefire."

“What we’re saying, what the world is saying, is very clear, and we’ll be looking to work with the Israelis and all the parties throughout the rest of the day,” he added.

Reports: Israeli strikes wound 5 along Lebanon-Syria border

BEIRUT — Syrian pro-government media outlets say Israel’s air force has carried out airstrikes along the Lebanon-Syria border, wounding five people and destroying a bridge that links the countries.

Syria’s Sham FM radio station and Dama Post reported that the airstrike wounded five people and destroyed the bridge near the Matraba border crossing on the Lebanese side in the northeastern Hermel region.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli airstrikes in Hermel.

The Israeli military said it attacked infrastructure used to transfer weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hostages' families urge Israel to agree to a cease-fire with both Hezbollah and Hamas

TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza for nearly a year are urging Israel to ensure than any possible cease-fire deal with Hezbollah includes provisions for the war in Gaza.

Gil Dickmann, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, was kidnapped and was one of six Israelis killed in Hamas tunnels in August, said the families of the hostages are feeling forgotten as attention shifts to the northern front.

“We know that these things are connected to each other, the northern part and the southern part, they’re all part of the same large situation in which we are at from October 7th on. And we’re very worried that if we don’t make the right decisions now, we will miss this amazing opportunity to get the hostages out,” Dickmann said on Thursday.

He slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for missing multiple opportunities to free his cousin over the past 11 months and begged him to agree to a cease-fire with both Hezbollah and Hamas that would include provisions for the hostages.

Dickmann’s sister-in-law, Yarden Roman-Gat, was released in the week-long cease-fire deal last November, along with nearly 100 other hostages.

Hamas-led militants abducted some 250 people during their Oct. 7 attack in Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war in Gaza since then.

Netanyahu's office plays down hopes for a cease-fire

TEL AVIV, Israel — The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cease-fire called on by the United States, France and other allies is only a proposal, and that Netanyahu, who is on a flight en route to the United States for the United Nations General Assembly, has not responded to it.

The U.S. and its allies jointly called Wednesday for an immediate 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who is the acting prime minister during Netanyahu’s trip abroad, said there will be no cease-fire in the north, vowing to continue the fighting in the north “with full force until victory” and returning the tens of thousands of Israeli citizens evacuated from their homes.

Netanyahu's office added that the Israeli military was continuing to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Lebanese state media says an Israeli strike killed 23 Syrian workers

BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike on a village in northeast Lebanon destroyed a building housing Syrian workers, killing 23 of them and wounding another eight people.

State-run National News Agency quoted the village’s mayor Ali Kassas as saying that the bodies of 23 Syrian citizens were pulled out from under the rubble, adding that four other Syrians and four Lebanese were wounded in the same airstrike late Wednesday in the village of Younine, just north of the ancient city of Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley that borders Syria.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it evacuated the bodies of nine people following the airstrike. Others were taken by Hezbollah’s paramedic arm as well as the Lebanese Civil Defense, NNA said.

A country of about 6 million people, Lebanon hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.

Israel strikes 75 sites across Lebanon overnight, military says

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says it struck 75 sites overnight across southern and eastern Lebanon, part of a punishing air campaign in response to Hezbollah rocket fire.

The military said Thursday it was targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers. Around half a dozen Israelis have been wounded in the latest escalation.

Israel strikes have killed more than 630 people in Lebanon since Monday, about a quarter of them women and children. Hezbollah has fired hundreds of projectiles towards Israel over the past week, including a surface-to-surface missile toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted Wednesday.

The Israeli military said around 45 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Thursday, all of them either intercepted or falling in open areas. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza, hoping to pin down Israeli forces. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies of Iran.

The fighting has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border. Israel has vowed to do whatever is necessary to allow its citizens to return, and has moved thousands of troops to the northern border in preparation for what could be a ground campaign into southern Lebanon.

The United States, France and other allies jointly in the conflict to “provide space for diplomacy” as fears grow that the violence could become an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, which would further destabilize a region already shaken by the war in Gaza.

Britain sends humanitarian aid for civilians in Lebanon

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Britain says it’s sending $6.7 million worth of humanitarian assistance, including medical supplies, hygiene kits and fuel to Lebanon to support the civilian population there as fighting forces thousands to flee their homes.

The United Kingdom said in a statement that the United Nations agency for children, UNICEF, will distribute the supplies, which will also help aid workers better deal with urgent health and nutrition needs.

The U.K. earlier announced that 700 troops, including Border Force and Foreign Office officials, would be deployed to a British military base in Cyprus to prepare for possible evacuations of British citizens from the region as fighting could potentially escalate.

An online portal and phone line have been reopened for British nationals in Lebanon to register their presence.

Cyprus is situated approximately 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of the Lebanese capital. The east Mediterranean island nation served as a waystation for the repatriation of approximately 60,000 foreign nationals who where evacuated from Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

Britain’s Minister of State for Development, Women and Equalities, Anneliese Dodds, said the U.K. will continue to support Lebanese people as it urges British nationals to leave the country.

British navy ships RFA Mounts Bay and the HMS Duncan were already in the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday, while the Royal Air Force has aircraft and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if needed.

US, France and other allies call for an ‘immediate’ 21-day cease-fire between Israel, Hezbollah

The United States, France and other allies called Wednesday for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.

The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

“We call for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy,” the statement reads. “We call on all parties, including the Governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary cease-fire immediately.”

The signatories include the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

___

This version revises the number of people killed in the Lebanese village of Younine to 19, in line with information from the Health Ministry.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024