U.S., France, Other Allies Call For Immediate Three-Week Truce Between Israel and Hezbollah
Countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates backed the joint statement negotiated yesterday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that calls the recent fighting “intolerable” and appeals for a cease-fire across the Lebanon-Israel border to allow for negotiations, including on the possibility of a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip (AP)
In a statement issued while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to New York, he said he had not yet responded to the proposal on the table; Israel’s foreign minister posted on social media that “there will be no cease-fire in the north” while Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he hoped one could be reached soon (Reuters)
Yesterday, Israel’s army leader in a public comment told troops near the border with Lebanon to be prepared to cross into the country (CNN)
As cross-border tensions spiral, Israeli and Lebanese residents of border areas continue to flee, with thousands from Lebanon flocking into Syria. Netanyahu is due to address the General Assembly tomorrow (AP)
UN Security Council Holds Emergency Session on Lebanon
Today, the council will weigh the escalating violence in Israel and northern Lebanon that has killed hundreds and prompted tens of thousands to flee their homes this week (France 24)
Meanwhile, Israel said that its forces shot down a Hezbollah missile fired at Tel Aviv for the first time in the current conflict (NYT)
Strikes Between Israel and Hezbollah Escalate
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel continued to strike each other today after yesterday’s Israeli bombardment killed nearly five hundred people in Lebanon, adding to the country’s worst violence in decades (FT)
An Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut reportedly killed a senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Qubaisi along with six others (Reuters)
Israel Calls for Evacuations in Lebanon, Launches New Wave of Strikes
After continued cross-border fire yesterday between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, residents of southern Lebanon and some parts of Beirut received messages today telling them to evacuate areas near where Hezbollah had weapons; Lebanon’s health ministry said strikes across the country today killed at least one hundred people, while Lebanese citizens reported jammed roads and communications lines as they fled the country’s south (NYT)
The United States and other countries have urged a deescalation on the border, with U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby saying yesterday that there are “better ways” to ensure Israeli citizens can safely return to the border area “than a war, than an escalation, than opening up a second front” (FT)
Hezbollah reported firing missiles and other projectiles into the deepest targets yet inside Israel since the current round of hostilities began this weekend (CNN)
Today, Israeli warplanes struck at least three hundred sites across Lebanon and Hezbollah shot rockets across the border; an Israeli military spokesperson also gave a warning that Israel planned to sprawl its attacks into eastern Lebanon (Guardian)
The UN coordinator in Lebanon cautioned that the region was at the tipping point of “imminent catastrophe” (BBC)
UN Security Council Holds Emergency Meeting on Israel-Hezbollah Escalation
The UN Security Council will discuss a week of the most intense hostilities in Lebanon and northern Israel in almost a year of war; they have included a barrage of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, rocket attacks, air strikes, and pledges of continued military action both by Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah (Reuters)
Yesterday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged a “severe reckoning” for attacks on electronic devices earlier in the week, and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel had entered a “new phase of the war” on its northern border (WaPo)
Israel said that it struck around one hundred rocket launch sites set to be fired at Israel from southern Lebanon last night and today, as Hezbollah sent off at least 140 rockets into northern Israel (NYT)
Countries including the United States, France, and the United Kingdom have called for restraint; the White House said a diplomatic solution was achievable and urgent (Reuters)
Meanwhile, investigators in multiple countries are still trying to track how explosions occurred in electronic devices shipped to Lebanon; the incident has raised new concerns about the safety of global electronics supply chains (WaPo)
‘New Era’ of War: Hezbollah Hit By Exploding Walkie-Talkies a Day After Pager Attacks
At least twenty people were killed and more than 450 injured in Lebanon after another wave of devices exploded yesterday, Lebanon’s health ministry said; it was the second day of attacks targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah (CNN)
Israel declined to comment directly on the two attacks or claim responsibility, but Israel’s defense minister said that the country was entering a “new era” of its war (NPR)
Hezbollah Vows Retaliation After Pager Explosions Across Lebanon
At least twelve people were killed and nearly three thousand wounded after electronic pagers that had been distributed to Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon yesterday; Hezbollah blamed Israel and promised a “difficult reckoning” for the group’s “criminal enemy” in response, while Israel did not comment on the attack (WaPo)
The unprecedented incident has more seriously heightened fears of all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group (CNN)
The attack overwhelmed Lebanese hospitals, with the country’s health minister saying that more than four hundred surgeries were performed after the attack, and a young boy and girl were among those killed (Reuters;NYT)
The European Union’s foreign policy leader Josep Borrell said that though the attacks “seem to have been targeted, they had heavy, indiscriminate collateral damages” (AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Egypt for cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas, said Washington did not know about and was not involved in the attacks, stressing the “importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza” (NYT)
Israel Says Stopping Hezbollah Attacks in Its North Is Now an Official War Goal
The announcement today by Israel’s security cabinet comes after months of cross-border bouts of fire between Israeli forces and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon; Israeli residents displaced by those clashes should be able to return to their homes, the cabinet added (AP). Israel’s defense minister told senior White House official Amos Hochstein yesterday that “military action” was “the only way” to allow such a return for residents of northern Israel, underscoring the challenges ahead as U.S. and other international envoys continue efforts to prevent a more intense Israel-Hezbollah conflict from spilling out (NYT)
While Hochstein is pushing for a diplomatic solution to the tensions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to Egypt today in continued pursuit of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip; it is Blinken’s tenth trip to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel nearly a year ago, kicking off the current war (WSJ)
Judge Issues Arrest Order for Former Head of Lebanon’s Central Bank in Embezzlement Probe
Riad Salameh, who led the bank for three decades, was detained last week; he has denied the accusations (AFP)
Israel, Hezbollah Say They Seek to Contain Escalation After Major Cross-Border Fire
Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carried out some of the largest cross-border attacks in the ten months of war over the weekend (NYT)
Hezbollah reported launching hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, while Israel said it sent around one hundred jets to strike Hezbollah from the air; Hezbollah said it was issuing its initial response to the targeted killing of one of its commanders last month (AP)
Still, both sides looked to contain further intensification of the conflict yesterday, with Israel’s defense minister mentioning “the importance of avoiding regional escalation” and Hezbollah’s leader saying “people can take a breath and relax” (NYT).
Israel Preemptively Strikes Hezbollah, Hezbollah Launches Hundreds of Rockets
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed its preemptive strike on forty targets in southern Lebanon prevented a major rocket launch attack; Hezbollah responded by firing hundreds of rockets aimed at northern Israel (Reuters)
In a signal that both sides sought to de-escalate, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said the Iran-backed militant group’s operation had “finished for the day,” while Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III about “the importance of avoiding regional escalation” (NYT)
Israel-Hezbollah Hostilities Intensify as Negotiators Continue Push for Gaza Deal
Israel bombed ten areas of Lebanon overnight in response to rocket strikes yesterday from Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah; the Israeli military said today that its strikes targeted military infrastructure (FT)
A separate Israeli drone strike killed an official in a militant group affiliated with the Palestinian faction Fatah who had been living in Lebanon; Fatah controls the West Bank, where tensions and violence have soared since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel(Al-Monitor)
Israel Recovers Bodies of Six Hostages From Gaza, Kills Hezbollah Commander in Lebanon
Both Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said that an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed Hezbollah commander Hussein Ali Hussein Suleiman(Al-Monitor)
Diplomats Aim to Control Mideast Escalation as Many Evacuate Lebanon
Several countries, including the United States, France, and the United Kingdom (UK), have encouraged their citizens to depart Lebanon amid fears of an expanded conflict; tensions are high in the region after Hamas and Hezbollah leaders were both assassinated in separate strikes last week (CNN)
Iran has accused Israel of being behind the Hamas leader’s death and vowed revenge; many see Hezbollah possibly joining forces in such a retaliation (WaPo)
Lebanon Sees Some Flight Suspensions, Evacuation Warnings as Regional Tensions Rise
Several airlines, including Air France and Lufthansa, temporarily suspended certain flights in and out of Beirut yesterday as tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated over the weekend (Reuters)
The stalled flights come as other countries including the United States, France, and the United Kingdom (UK) issued travel advisories for their nationals to avoid or leave Lebanon (Anadolu)
Israel Strikes Targets Deep Inside Lebanon After Attack on Golan Heights
The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight after a rocket strike from Lebanon killed twelve people in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights the day before (WaPo)
The strike on the Golan Heights hit a soccer field where children were playing in what was the deadliest single attack on Israel since Hamas’s on October 7 (CNN)
Both the United States and Israel said Hezbollah was responsible for the Saturday strike on the soccer field, while Hezbollah denied responsibility (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price” for the Golan Heights attack, but an unnamed Israeli diplomatic source told Reuters that Israel believed its response “will not lead to an all-out war,” saying that was not in the country’s interest; unnamed security sources told Reuters that the latest strike in southern Lebanon killed two Hezbollah fighters (Reuters)
The Golan Heights attack prompted a diplomatic push to prevent further escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of limiting escalation in a call today with Israeli President Isaac Herzog (State)
Hezbollah Launches Rockets Into Golan Heights Following Apparent Israeli strike in Syria
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli drone attack killed two Hezbollah members, further fueling concerns that the region is on the brink of full-scale war (NYT)
Top U.S., Israeli Officials Talk Lebanon Border Tensions
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the importance of avoiding further escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border in a Washington meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the State Department said (Times of Israel)
As cross-border attacks mount between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Canada warned its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country “while they can” (Times of Israel/AFP)
Israeli Defense Minister to Discuss ‘Future of the War’ in Washington
Yoav Gallant arrived in Washington yesterday to discuss Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip as well as escalating hostilities on its northern border with Lebanon during multiday talks that he called “critical for the future of the war” (Times of Israel)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview that aired yesterday that Israel will soon shift to a less intense phase of combat against Hamas and move some personnel to northern Israel amid rising tensions with Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah (AP)
While Netanyahu suggested Israel will refocus its forces on Hezbollah, he said he aimed to continue fighting in the Gaza Strip but is prepared to make a partial deal with Hamas to free some hostages (WaPo)
Hezbollah Launches Dozens of Rockets Toward Northern Israel
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group claimed the rockets were in response to an Israeli strike that killed a Hezbollah field commander (Times of Israel)
Senior U.S. and Israeli officials discussed efforts to contain escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah in Washington (Times of Israel)
U.S. Special Envoy Visits Lebanon in Bid to Prevent Further Escalation Between Israel and Hezbollah
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned in an X post that Israel is “very close” to a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, following hints from Hezbollah that they may attack Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city (Reuters)
IDF Spokesperson Warns of “Wider Escalation” of Conflict With Hezbollah
White House envoy Amos Hochstein is visiting Israel today in an effort to contain those tensions (Haaretz)
Hezbollah Fires New Barrage of Rockets Into Northern Israel
Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said the strikes were a tit-for-tat response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon (Haaretz)
After French President Emmanuel Macron proposed a trilateral group with France, Israel, and the United States to defuse tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said today that Israel would not join (Reuters,Times of Israel)
Lebanon’s Top General Visits Washington Amid Efforts to Prevent War Escalation
Lebanese General Joseph Aoun met with senior U.S. officials and lawmakers this week in his first visit to Washington since February 2023; the United States wants to prevent a war between Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel as hostile exchanges between the two are mounting, with one U.S. strategy looking into supporting Lebanon’s military to contain Hezbollah (Al-Monitor)
Hezbollah Retaliates Against Israel’s Killing of Top Commander With Barrage of Missiles
Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into northern Israel today in response to the killing of one of the group’s top commanders (AP)