(LONDON) — Smoke and question marks still hang over the devastated Gaza Strip a year after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack touched off a regional firestorm.
The fighting in Gaza continues, though the epicenter of the broader conflict has now shifted north to the Israel-Lebanon border where Hezbollah is maintaining the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance” second front.
Cease-fire negotiations appear stalled. The majority of Gaza’s population remains displaced. Swaths of its homes and infrastructure are leveled. More than 46,000 are dead, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
In the ruins, sporadic battles continue between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas.
Around 100 of the 250 hostages — kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people — remain in captivity in Gaza. Only half are thought to still be alive.
Israel launched its military response to the massacre without publicly laying out a detailed post-war vision.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as early as November 2023 that Israel requires “overall security responsibility” for the strip “for an indefinite period.”
That would include an expanded “security perimeter” around Gaza’s frontiers and control of the Philadelphi Corridor area along the Egypt-Gaza frontier, Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu has said his envisioned “total victory” is close. Current Israeli deployments in the strip hint at its eventual shape.
“Israel holds two narrow territorial strips — Philadelphi and Netzarim,” Michael Milshtein, a former head of Palestinian affairs for Israeli military intelligence, told ABC News.
The former is around 9 miles long and runs along the entire border with Egypt. The latter runs around 2.5 miles east to west from Israel to the Gaza coast, bisecting the strip.
“The IDF is really in these corridors and around the boundaries of Gaza,” said Orna Mizrahi, who served in the Israeli prime minister’s office as deputy national security adviser for foreign policy.
Units can launch operations deeper into Gaza from these staging points “according to the intelligence that they have,” Mizrahi said.
A year of fighting has already changed the physical and demographic map of Gaza, Milshtein said.
“Eight percent of the people who lived in Gaza before Oct. 7, they do not live in Gaza or exist in Gaza anymore,” he said, with tens of thousands having been killed or fled.
The majority of Gazans have been displaced, some repeatedly. Continued Israeli operations may force more mass movements.
Netanyahu is now considering the so-called “Generals’ Plan,” in which the IDF would evacuate all remaining civilians from the north of the strip and lay siege to the militants — and the civilians — who stay behind.
Retired Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland said the plan would turn the northern strip into “a military zone” in which “every figure is a target and, most importantly, no supplies enter this territory.”
“I’m not sure that it will really defeat Hamas,” Milshtein said of the proposal. “And of course, it won’t bring the release of the hostages.”
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told ABC News in September that Hamas is “almost finished.”
Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran in July. The same month, the IDF claimed to have killed infamous Hamas military leader Mohamed Deif, though the group said he survived the attempt.
Only Yahya Sinwar — Hamas’ leader in Gaza — is still thought to be alive, likely in the sprawling network of tunnels beneath the strip and possibly surrounding himself with hostages.
But Israel’s military planning does not appear to have yet given way to the political.
U.S.-sponsored efforts to build an international coalition to rebuild — and perhaps also oversee — Gaza has thus far proved fruitless.
So, too, have suggestions that the Palestinian Authority — which partially controls the West Bank in cooperation with Israel, is led by President Mahmoud Abbas and is dominated by the Fatah party — take control.
Meanwhile, far-right Israeli settler groups — among them influential members of Netanyahu’s government — are pushing to revive and expand settlements abandoned when Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
“Can you take all the tactical and military achievements, and translate them to the strategic?” Milshtein asked. “This is much more complicated.”
Also complicated is the concept of total victory over Hamas, which remains active despite reportedly massive casualties.
“They have no battalions, but that’s okay, because they rely on cells, platoons and smaller units,” Milshtein said.
“I really don’t see when or if we will see any white flag or announcement about ‘total defeat’ and ‘giving up.’ I’m not sure that it’s going to happen very soon — or at all.”
(BEIRUT) — Nearly one quarter of the Lebanese population has been displaced by Israel’s military campaign there, the country’s caretaker prime minister said.
Najib Mikati said 1.2 million people — out of Lebanon’s total 2022 population of 5.49 million, according to United Nations data — have been forced from their homes by Israel’s air and ground attacks.
“We are trying to cope with these problems, but to tell you the truth, security-wise, the most important thing now is to arrange for them shelter, food and how we can manage these displaced peoples,” Mikati said during an online event Wednesday hosted by the American Task Force on Lebanon, a nongovernmental organization.
Mikati said that the number of displaced people is the largest in the nation’s history, which has been punctuated by civil war and conflict with neighboring nations.
To date, 867 centers have been opened to receive displaced persons in public schools, educational complexes, vocational institutes and universities, Lebanese authorities said, with more than 200,000 Syrians and more than 76,000 Lebanese also crossing the border into Syria.
Israel’s bombardment has been especially intense in the south of the country, where Israeli troops are now engaged in heavy fighting with Hezbollah units per Israel Defense Forces battlefield reports.
The IDF has issued evacuation notices for some 90 villages there, warning residents to evacuate north of the Awali River around 37 miles from the Israeli border.
Anyone using vehicles to cross from the north to the southern side of the Litani River — around 18 miles north of the Israeli border — is endangering their “personal safety,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee said.
Israel is demanding that Hezbollah withdraw its forces north of the Litani, as the militant group agreed to do as part of a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution ending the last major cross-border conflict.
Airstrikes are also still pummeling Beirut, particularly the densely-populated southern suburb of Dahiya — known as a Hezbollah stronghold in the capital and described by author Hanin Ghaddar as “Hezbollahland.”
It was in a bunker under Dahiya that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israeli strikes on Sept. 27. Israel used bunker-busting bombs in the assassination, an Israeli official familiar with the strike told ABC News.
The IDF said it is hitting Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure” and “weapons manufacturing plants” in “precise” strikes in the capital. Meanwhile, Hezbollah units continue firing rockets and drones across the border into Israel.
The IDF has issued multiple evacuation orders for residents of Dahiya. Another series of massive strikes rocked the suburb overnight Thursday.
Many people are living on the street, in parks and sheltering under trees. Others sleep on the city’s beaches to avoid the attacks.
“Another sleepless night in Beirut,” the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis, wrote on X. “Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what’s next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent.”
Lebanese health officials say more than 1,900 people have been killed across the country since Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing into Israel across the shared border.
More than 9,000 others have been wounded, officials said.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Ghazi Balkiz, Nasser Atta and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.
Israeli tanks and APC’s gather by the Israeli – Lebanese border on September 30, 2024. (Erik Marmor/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — After nearly a year of bloodshed and upheaval, the return of some 70,000 displaced Israeli residents from the regions along the country’s border with Lebanon became one of the most politically pressing issues facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, even as they wage a simultaneous war against Hamas in Gaza.
As of Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have launched “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” in the south of the country in pursuit of this goal. Two divisions — the 98th Paratroopers Division and the 36th Division — are currently involved in the operation, supported by a variety of armored, artillery, commando and infantry brigades, as well as the Israeli air force, the IDF said.
This week’s incursions followed a months-long campaign of targeted killings — “eliminations” in Israeli military and intelligence parlance — and airstrikes that Israel said were intended to degrade Hezbollah’s command hierarchy and infrastructure.
Now, Israeli forces — according to an Israeli security official — have three goals: the removal of the threat of cross-border fire, the targeting of senior militant leaders and the return of displaced Israelis to their homes.
The IDF revealed this week that special forces troops have been operating just inside southern Lebanon for almost a year, destroying fortified Hezbollah positions, weapons caches and tunnels — some of which stretched all the way to the Israeli border.
Hezbollah rockets and drones have posed a constant threat to border regions since Oct. 8, when the Iranian-backed terror group began its cross-border attacks on Israel’s northern communities and nearby military positions.
Hezbollah began its operations the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 raid on Israel’s south, which left around 1,200 people dead and 250 taken to Gaza as hostages. Hezbollah said the attacks were in solidarity with Hamas and vowed to continue attacks until Israel agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza.
Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Israeli military action in Lebanon has killed more than 1,900 people since Oct. 8, according to Lebanese authorities. The United Nations said around 630 Palestinians have also been killed by Israeli settlers and security forces in the West Bank over the past year, with 15 Israelis also killed.
Last month, Netanyahu officially included the return of displaced northern residents in the country’s list of wartime goals.
“I’ve already said, we will return residents of the north safely to their homes,” Netanyahu said. “And that is exactly what we will do.”
The return of these residents remains the prime public justification for Israel’s evolving military operations in Lebanon.
Israel’s grievances date back to the last cross-border war in 2006. After around a month of fierce fighting, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1701 in a bid to end the conflict.
That resolution stipulated that Israeli forces would leave Lebanon while all Hezbollah forces would withdraw north of the Litani River, some 18 miles from the Israeli border. The Lebanese military would take over control of the vacated area. Ultimately, though, Hezbollah did not withdraw.
Israel has long been pressing Hezbollah to adhere to Resolution 1701. Leaders in Beirut — where Hezbollah wields major political influence through its parliamentary arm — said they still support enforcing the resolution. But Israeli patience for a diplomatic solution appears to be exhausted.
An Israeli security official said during a Tuesday briefing that the nascent ground operation is occurring “right by the border” with no intention of pushing towards the capital Beirut.
“We’re talking about limited, localized, targeted rates based on precise intelligence in areas near the border,” the official said when asked about the limits of the operation.
Meanwhile, repeated IDF airstrikes on the capital Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon continue. The IDF said it is targeting Hezbollah weapon storage sites, arms manufacturing facilities and leading militants.
Many residents of the southern suburbs have been displaced by bombing and IDF evacuation orders, some spending nights sleeping on the capital’s streets and beaches.
Several security sources told ABC News that the ground operation is expected to last no longer than a few weeks.
A key goal is the seizure of a ridge some 3 miles north of the Israeli border. From there, Hezbollah units have a line of sight into Israel to fire weapons including anti-tank missiles.
Planners also want to destroy any Hezbollah military infrastructure that could be used to infiltrate into Israel or attack northern communities.
IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari claimed on Tuesday that Hezbollah was planning an Oct. 7-style “invasion” of northern communities.
Officials said that infrastructure includes tunnels, fortified positions and weapons caches close to the border, storing arms like rocket-propelled grenades, small arms, bulletproof vests, motorcycles and anti-tank missiles.
Hezbollah tunnels are not the same as Hamas tunnels, officials said. The former are built into the rocky terrain of southern Lebanon, as opposed to the soft clay sand of Gaza. This means they are shorter, not networked and mostly used for rocket batteries, weapons caches and trenches.
Some tanks and D-9 armored bulldozers are expected to be used in Lebanese villages close to the border, suggesting the IDF intends to level homes and buildings. Most of the operation will be conducted by infantry forces, the officials said.
The IDF has ordered the residents of around 50 Lebanese villages to evacuate north of the Awali River, around 37 miles from Israel’s border. The IDF also warned civilians not to use vehicles to travel south of the Litani River, which is 18 miles from the Israeli border.
Israeli leaders have not set out a timeline for the ground incursion, nor specified whether Israel intends to retain control over any Lebanese territory.
Israel sought to deter Iran from coming to the aid of its Lebanese allies.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said in a statement addressed to the Iranian people on Monday.
One day later, Tehran launched a massive ballistic missile barrage towards Israel in its second direct attack since Oct. 7.
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders vowed a punishing response. Iran, the prime minister said, “made a big mistake” and “will pay for it.”
Hezbollah — though ravaged by Israeli assassinations and airstrikes in recent weeks — vowed to resist. The group is still firing rockets toward residential areas in Israel, including Tel Aviv.
“The resistance fighters are ready for a direct confrontation with the enemy forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanese territory and inflict the greatest losses on them,” the group said in a statement.
Eight IDF troops were killed in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, marking the first known Israeli losses of the war on Lebanese territory.
(LONDON) — Russia and Ukraine each launched more than 100 attack drones, most of which were intercepted, overnight into Thursday, military officials said.
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down at least 78 of the 105 Russian Shahed drones launched overnight at several regions, including Kyiv, the country’s air force said in an update. Fifteen regions were targeted, Ukraine said.
“The air attack was repulsed by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement early Thursday.
It was unclear if there were injuries in Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s administration, said on the messaging app Telegram.
Russia’s air-defense systems shot down some 113 Ukrainian drones in four regions, including the Kursk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense said. The Ukrainian attack had been “thwarted” the military said.
At least 73 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region, which borders Kharkiv, Ukraine, Moscow said.
Ukrainian officials also said missiles had been fired late Wednesday toward residential areas in Kharkiv, where they struck at least one apartment building.
At least eight people were wounded in that strike, officials said. A 3-year-old child was among the injured, Ihor Terekhov, Kharkiv’s mayor, said on Telegram.
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike near the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mahmoudiye on September 24, 2024. (RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Israel continued its intense airstrike campaign across Lebanon, which included several strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs and one in the center of the city.
Israel’s Lebanon operation continues as leaders consider their response to Iran’s Tuesday long-range attack, in which hundreds of missiles fired into the country, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Iran said the unprecedented attack was retaliation for a wave of assassinations carried out by Israel over the last several weeks targeting Hezbollah, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Sirens sounded across Israel and some citizens were urged to seek shelter in protected areas. Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
The U.S. fired missiles to help Israel defend itself against the missile attack, according to the Pentagon’s Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Here’s how the news is developing:
‘Sleepless night’ in Beirut as Israel continues strikes
More than a dozen Israeli airstrikes shook Beirut over the last 24 hours, with the United Nations’ special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis reporting “another sleepless night” in the capital.
One strike occurred around midnight local time in the heart of central Beirut, close to the Lebanese parliament building. It is rare for Israel to bomb the center of the capital, with most recent attacks occurring in the southern suburbs.
Israel called the bombing a “precise strike.” Lebanese health officials said seven people were killed and another seven injured.
Israeli warplanes also continued their bombardment of Beirut’s densely-populated southern Dahiya suburb into Thursday morning, with at least 17 strikes there over the past 24 hours.
46 killed in strikes across Lebanon in past 24 hours: Ministry of Health
Forty-six people were killed and another 85 injured in Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
The Israel Defense Forces said earlier it had conducted a series of strikes in southern Lebanon targeting “terrorist infrastructures,” including munitions production sites.
The IDF said it also conducted a “precise strike” on Beirut late Wednesday local time.
German air force plane evacuates 130 people from Lebanon
The German air force said it evacuated 130 German citizens out of Lebanon on Wednesday.
“These are mainly embassy employees, their family members and others who have asked for help,” the German air force said in a release.
The four-hour flight arrived in Berlin safely at 9 p.m. local time, the German air force said.
State Department charters first flight for Americans out of Beirut
The United States arranged a charter to carry 100 American citizens and their family members out of Lebanon on Wednesday, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The flight marked the first U.S. government-organized charter from the country since Hezbollah and Israel began trading rocket fire almost a year ago.
The flight, which had capacity for 300 people, departed Beirut for Istanbul, Turkey, several hours ago, Miller said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“We do hope to organize additional flights in the coming days, depending on demand,” Miller said.
There are 7,000 people in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, according to Miller. Not all are asking for assistance, but “some of those, I presume, will eventually look to depart Lebanon,” Miller said.
Middle East Airlines is the only commercial carrier currently flying out of Lebanon.
G7 leaders to sanction Iran over attack on Israel: Biden
President Joe Biden said he and other G7 leaders will sanction Iran in response to its attack on Israel.
“We’re making it clear that there are things that have to be done,” he told reporters after departing Joint Base Andrews Wednesday afternoon.
Biden said he called the G7 meeting. He spoke with other G7 leaders earlier Wednesday to coordinate a response to the attack, the White House said.
Asked whether he’d support an attack on Iranian nuclear strikes, Biden said no, and that he and the other G7 leaders agree that Israel has a “right to respond, but they should respond in proportion.”
Biden said that he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “relatively soon.”
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Biden’s influence with Israel ‘diminished’: CFR
With President Joe Biden entering the last few months of his presidency, his personal influence with Israel has “diminished” and its leaders are less likely to take his advice, according to experts at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the think tank and former deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, said during a briefing Wednesday that Israel thought Biden’s advice to “take the win” after defeating Iran’s April attack was “bad advice.”
“They’ve reached the conclusion — and this is not just [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, I think it’s Israel — that this is bad advice, that they’re in an existential conflict and they need to show victory,” Abrams said.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at CFR, said the Israelis are determined to “change the rules of the game.”
“They would not return to a situation in which they had to live under the threat of Hamas and now, obviously, also Hezbollah,” Cook said.
Abrams said he thinks “nothing” is off the list for Israel’s possible targets in Iran as it vows a response to Tuesday’s missile attack.
For the past year, Biden has been warning against a wider war and escalation.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
European Commission warns flights not to operate in Iranian airspace through October
The European Commission and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a bulletin Wednesday warning flight operators not to fly in Iran’s airspace through Oct. 31.
The agency said there is “high risk” in the airspace due to the Iranian attack against Israel and Israel’s plans to retaliate.
Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization has canceled all flights across Iran through 5 a.m. local time Thursday, a spokesperson said Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Clara McMichael and Hami Hamedi
Biden spoke with G7 to coordinate response to Iran’s attack: White House
President Joe Biden spoke with other G7 leaders on Wednesday to coordinate a response to Iran’s attack on Israel, according to a White House readout of the meeting.
The response discussed includes “new sanctions,” the readout added.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Iran launched approximately 200 missiles at Israel: IDF
Iran launched approximately 200 missiles at Israel in its attack on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Wednesday.
The damage was “relatively minor,” Halevi said while visiting the Tel Nof Airbase in Israel.
Halevi said Israel will respond.
“We have the capabilities to reach and strike any point in the Middle East. And those of our enemies who have not yet understood this will soon understand,” he said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
IDF confirms 8 soldiers killed in southern Lebanon
Eight Israeli troops were killed during fighting in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Hezbollah said their fighters surprised a group of Israeli soldiers near the town of Yaroun in southern Lebanon and detonated a “special explosive device.”
Several other Israeli soldiers were injured, the IDF said earlier.
“All of the fighters went to the hospitals for medical treatment, their families were informed,” the IDF said.
Israel response to Iran missile attack will ‘come fast,’ official says
An Israeli official told ABC News on Wednesday that “Israel’s response to Iran’s attack will be significant and come fast.”
Iran launched a large barrage of cruise missiles — either 220, according to a U.S. official, or 180, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — on Tuesday evening.
“This evening, Iran made a big mistake — and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said shortly after the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
IDF confirms 7 soldiers killed in south Lebanon
Seven Israeli troops were killed during fighting in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted to social media.
The IDF did not say how the troops died. Another seven soldiers were injured, the force added.
“All of the fighters went to the hospitals for medical treatment, their families were informed,” the IDF wrote.
Iranian leader blames US, Europe for Middle East turmoil
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday morning that “the basis of the region’s problems is the presence of the United States and some European countries who falsely claim peace and tranquility.”
Iran launched 220 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, according to a U.S. official. The attack was in protest of Israel’s recent operations against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, including the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran fired 180 missiles in its second direct attack on Israel since Oct. 7.
“This evening, Iran made a big mistake — and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said Tuesday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that 90% of the missiles launched hit their targets.
Israel deploys more troops into Lebanon with air, artillery support
The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that more troops “are joining the limited, localized, targeted raids on Hezbollah terror targets and terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon that began on Monday.”
The IDF said its 36th Division — including soldiers of the Golani Brigade, 188th Armored Brigade, 6th Infantry Brigade and additional forces — would join the ground incursion.
The units will be accompanied by air and artillery units, the IDF added.
IDF says it hit ‘munitions production sites’ in Beirut
Recent airstrikes in southern Beirut targeted “munitions production sites and other terrorist infrastructures,” according to an Israel Defense Forces statement published on Wednesday morning.
“Fighter jets of the air force, under the precise intelligence guidance of the intelligence division, carried out a series of targeted attacks in recent days throughout Beirut,” the IDF wrote.
Beirut — and particularly its southern suburb of Dahiya — has faced intense airstrikes in recent days as Israeli warplanes target what the IDF says are a variety of Hezbollah-associated targets.
The southern suburbs were also the site of the airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.
‘Israel is coming,’ opposition leader says after Iran attacks
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Iran will “pay a significant and heavy price” for Tuesday’s ballistic missile attack.
“With our military capabilities, our defense industries, the support of our allies and in particular the strength of our incredible people — we know that even when the cost is high, we will win,” Lapid wrote on X.
“Tehran knows that Israel is coming,” he added. “The response needs to be tough and it should send an unequivocal message to the terror axis in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and in Iran itself.”
“Alongside that response, we need to develop a coherent regional strategy which translates military successes into a strategic victory, into change in the region. And we must not forget, not even for a moment, the urgent need to bring our hostages home,” he said.
Defense Sec. Austin says Iran should ‘halt any further attacks’
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has called on Iran to “halt any further attacks” following its missile strike on Israel.
“U.S. forces in the Middle East intercepted multiple missiles launched by Iran toward Israel, as we fulfilled our commitment to partner with Israel in its defense. We condemn this outrageous act of aggression by Iran, and we call on Iran to halt any further attacks, including from its proxy terrorist groups,” Austin said in his statement. “We will never hesitate to protect our forces and interests in the Middle East, and to support the defense of Israel and our partners in the region.”
Austin said he is “deeply proud” of the U.S. troops involved in helping save lives by intercepting missiles launched at Israel.
“Our forces remain postured to protect U.S. troops and partners in the Middle East, and the Department maintains significant capability to defend our people, provide further support for Israel’s self-defense, and deter further escalation,” Austin added. “I will continue to monitor the situation closely and to consult with our allies and partners.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
IDF issues more evacuation orders south of Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces just issued more evacuation orders for communities south of Beirut early Wednesday local time.
The orders come after the IDF said it was conducting strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
Israel striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said it is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
The update comes about an hour after the IDF issued an evacuation order for parts of southern Beirut suburbs.
Iran’s missile attack largest ever on Israel, Israeli official says
The Iranian barrage marked the largest missile attack ever on Israel, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“Tonight, Iran carried out the largest and most violent missile attack against the State of Israel to date,” Danon said in a statement through his spokesperson earlier Tuesday. “We are ready and prepared defensively and offensively.”
Iran fired 220 total missiles over two waves in 30 minutes, according to a U.S. official.
US Embassy in Jerusalem lifts shelter-in-place order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has lifted a shelter-in-place order for U.S. government employees and their family members, stating in an updated security alert, “The threat of missile barrages has diminished.”
Previous travel restrictions to areas outside the greater Tel Aviv region, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva remain in place until further notice, it said.
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing earlier Tuesday.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
A Navy official told ABC News they believe the two destroyers shot down multiple Iranian missiles.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran fired 220 missiles in 2 waves: US official
Iran fired 220 missiles in two waves over 30 minutes, with a brief pause between the waves, according to a U.S. official.
Some of the missiles did impact Israel, but not in major areas, the official said. There was no direct impact near Tel Aviv, although some shrapnel fell in the area, the official said.
Many missiles were intercepted over Jordan, the official said.
Among the casualties from the attack, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho, and there are reports of a Bedouin killed in the Negev, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
IDF issues evacuation warning for southern Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces have issued an evacuation warning for residents in southern Lebanon.
The “urgent warning” was issued to residents of southern Beirut suburbs Tuesday night local time.
A similar warning was also sent on Monday.
Netanyahu: ‘Iran made a big mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s attack “failed” while vowing to respond.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it,” he said in a statement. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”
“We will stand by the rule we established: Whoever attacks us — we will attack him,” he added.
Biden: ‘Make no mistake, the US is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel’
In his first on-camera remarks since Iran’s missile attack, President Joe Biden reiterated the United States’ full support of Israel.
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” he said.
He said that at his direction, the U.S. military “actively supported the defense of Israel” and while they are still assessing the impact, the attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective.”
Biden said there was “intensive planning” between the U.S. and Israel to “anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected.”
Asked how he would like Israel to respond, Biden said it was an “active discussion.”
“We’re gonna get all the data straight,” he said. “We’ve been in constant contact with the Israeli government and our counterparts, and that remains to be seen.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Discussions with Israel on response ongoing: State Department
Talks between the United States and Israel on what a response to Iran’s attack should look like are “already underway,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday.
Those conversations were happening across the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon, he said.
Miller declined to say whether Israel had presented possible targets to the U.S. or if Iran’s nuclear facilities might be a legitimate target.
“This is not to say that I’m ruling anything out and that I’m ruling anything in,” he said.
On whether Iran’s attack on Israel was over, Miller repeated the U.S. assessment that the current wave has ended, but that he could not definitively say whether there would be additional waves.
“Certainly, it would be incredibly reckless and would continue to be escalatory for Iran to launch further attacks on Israel and we’ll be monitoring in the hours ahead,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Emily Chang
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
He didn’t confirm whether they hit their targets, saying the assessment is ongoing.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran ‘stands firmly against any threat’: President Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that the attack on Israel was “based on legitimate rights and with the aim of peace and security for Iran and the region.”
Pezeshkian also addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly in his post: “Let Netanyahu know that Iran is not belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat.”
“This is only a tiny part of our power. Do not step into a conflict with Iran,” Pezeshkian added.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Israel appears to have ‘defeated’ Iran’s attack: US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel appears to have “effectively defeated” Iran’s attack.
“A few hours ago, Iran — for the second time in the space of five months — launched a direct attack on Israel, including some 200 ballistic missiles. This is totally unacceptable and the entire world should condemn it,” he said during a previously scheduled meeting with India’s external affairs minister.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters during a White House briefing that Iran’s attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective” based on the United States’ early assessment.
Sullivan said the U.S. military worked closely with the IDF to defend Israel and was proud to do so, including in shooting down incoming missiles from U.S. naval destroyers positioned in the area, and that President Joe Biden will be involved in constant conversations with the Israelis about what should come next. He declined to provide any details about what level of response Biden will encourage.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Cheyenne Haslett
Iran says it targeted 3 military bases around Tel Aviv
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted three Israeli military bases around Tel Aviv in its attack on Israel.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations told ABC News that “no notice was given to the U.S. prior” to the attack, though a “serious warning was issued afterward.”
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi
IDF says 180 missiles fired from Iran
The Israel Defense Forces said it identified approximately 180 missiles fired toward Israel from Iran.
The Iranian missile attack began at 7:31 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the IDF said.
Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
UN Security Council expected to convene Wednesday
The United Nations Security Council is expected to convene on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s attack on Israel, according to Israel’s ambassador to the U.N.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
DHS warns of potential cyberattack threat against US following killing of Nasrallah
The Iranian regime is unlikely to take direct military action against the U.S. homeland following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, though his death could prompt Iran or its proxies to take alternative actions like cyberattacks, according to a new Department of Homeland Security alert.
Nasrallah’s death is also unlikely to galvanize people within the U.S to take action, though the “expansion of the regional conflict and potential for increased circulation of graphic images highlighting civilian deaths could contribute to [extremist] radicalization to violence,” according to the Sept. 30 document obtained by ABC News and distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country.
“We also assess that it is unlikely that Iran or its proxies will target the homeland during any potential physical response to the airstrike,” the alert stated. “We are concerned that the incident may prompt Iranian government or other malicious cyber actors supportive of Tehran’s interests to conduct cyber attacks against poorly secured US critical infrastructure entities, among other targets.”
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin
Israel will have a ‘significant response,’ Israeli official says
Israel will have a “significant response” to Iran’s attack, an Israeli official told ABC News.
“What Iran has suffered so far is only a promo,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No additional threats from Iran at this time, no casualties reported: IDF
The Israeli military does not see any additional threats at this time from Iran, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Hagari said they have carried out a “large number of interceptions.” There were a “few hits” in the south and officials are assessing the damage, though there are no reported casualties, he added.
“We are on high alert both defensively and offensively,” he said. “We will defend the citizens of the State of Israel. This attack will have consequences.”
US says it has intercepted Iranian missiles
The U.S. has intercepted some of the Iranian missiles launched against Israel, but how many is unclear, an official told ABC News.
“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, U.S. forces in the region are currently defending against Iranian-launched missiles targeting Israel,” the official said. “Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region.”
-ABC News’ Matthew Seyler
Biden says US prepared to help Israel defend against Iranian attack
President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. is prepared to help Israel defend against the Iranian missile attack.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are monitoring the Iranian attack from the White House Situation Room and receiving regular updates from their national security team. Biden directed the U.S. military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles.
Before the attack began, he posted on X that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had convened their national security team.
This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel.
We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.
Lindsey Graham calls Iran’s missile attack ‘breaking point’
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel, calling it a “breaking point” on Tuesday and urging President Joe Biden’s administration to respond.
“This missile attack against Israel should be the breaking point and I would urge the Biden Administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran’s ability to refine oil,” Graham said in a statement.
Graham called for oil refineries to be “hit and hit hard” and said his prayers are “with the people of Israel.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Iran confirms responsibility, says launches retaliation for assassinations
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said moments ago the missile attack was a retaliation for different assassinations carried out by Israel, Mehr News Agency reported.
The IRGC said the operation will continue if Israel does not stop, Mehr News Agency reported.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a key ally of Iran, was killed in a strike in Beirut last week, while a top member of the IRGC was also killed.
IDF warns some citizens to enter ‘protected space’
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari issued remarks Tuesday evening, announcing that missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel.
He said messages have been sent to cellphones, warning Israeli citizens in certain areas to enter “protected space” and to seek shelter if they hear sirens.
Hagari added that if citizens hear explosions, they may be the result of interceptions or impacts.
“We are strong and can handle this event as well,” Hagari said. “The IDF is doing and will continue to do everything necessary to protect the civilians of Israel. The IDF is fully prepared for both defense and offense at peak readiness.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Flights diverting near Iran
Several flights near Iran are diverting ahead of expected missile launches at targets in Israel.
Several Lufthansa flights and one Swiss Air flight were diverted back to Frankfurt, Germany, and Turkey as they approached Iranian air space.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
IDF says missiles launched from Iran toward Israel
Israel said missiles have been launched from Iran toward Israel.
Sirens are sounding across the country.
Israel expecting 240-250 missiles from Iran: Sources
Iran is expected to launch 240 to 250 missiles in two waves at four targets in Israel, including Mossad headquarters and three air bases, according to an Israeli source and a senior U.S. administration official.
Israel is not expected to launch a preemptive strike, according to the U.S. administration official. It should take the missiles less than 15 minutes to reach targets once launched.
The U.S. and Israel have all defenses activated, and Israel will “absolutely “ retaliate after it happens,” the official said.
The total number of ballistic missiles is about double the number launched by Iran in April — 99% of which were intercepted.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Israeli forces issue warning for residents to stay near shelter in greater Tel Aviv
The Israel Defense Forces issued a warning for residents of the “Dan area,” referring to the greater Tel Aviv area, to stay “near a shelter until further notice.”
Sirens sounded in central Israel, the IDF said in a second statement, after issuing the warning to stay in shelters. The sirens sounding in central Israel were due to launches from Lebanon, the IDF told ABC News.
“From this moment, Israelis living in central Israel are advised to stay by their safe rooms. Enter them during sirens and stay there until further notice,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in Hebrew.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir, Anna Burd and Jordana Miller
US Embassy in Jerusalem issues ‘shelter in place’ order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a statement directing all government employees and their family members “to shelter in place until further notice,” following reports of an imminent Iranian missile attack on Israel.
The embassy noted the “continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system,” which it said “often take place without warning.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” it added.
Netanyahu warns Israelis of ‘testing days ahead’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged unity among Israelis in a video statement published Tuesday, as Israel Defense Forces operations in Lebanon expanded and amid fears of an imminent Iranian missile attack.
“We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil,'” the prime minister said. “These are days of great achievements and great challenges.”
The “great achievements,” Netanyahu said, included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut airstrike last week, plus the defeat of an alleged Hezbollah plan to launch an infiltration attack into northern Israel.
The country still faces “big challenges,” he continued.
“What I ask of you is two things: One — to strictly obey the directives of the front-line command, it saves lives. And second — to stand together. We will stand firm together in the testing days ahead.”
“Together we will stand, together we will fight and together we will win.”
–ABC News Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
Iran to launch ballistic missiles at Israel ‘imminently,’ US official says
A senior White House official told ABC News on Tuesday that the U.S. “has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official added.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the official said.
Israeli special ops teams active in Lebanon for almost a year, IDF says
Israel special operations teams have been operating in southern Lebanon since November, an Israeli security source said Tuesday, conducting around 70 missions in groups of 20 to 40 operators.
The troops spent around 200 nights inside Lebanon, making it the most intense series of special operations missions in Israel’s history, the official said.
The units operated between 1 and 2 miles inside Lebanese territory, the official said, blowing up and dismantling hundreds of Hezbollah facilities including tunnels.
Some tunnels doubled as weapons caches and others stretched to the Israeli border. Officials said on Tuesday they believed Hezbollah was planning an imminent “Oct.7-style invasion” of northern Israel.
The security source claimed that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was at times as little as six hours from launching such an attack. ABC News was not immediately able to independently verify the official’s claims.
The Israeli special operations units operating in southern Lebanon encountered almost no resistance, the official said, and did not suffer any casualties.
Though some 2,000 Radwan troops are believed to be present within 3 miles of Israel’s border — and between 6,000 and 8,000 in southern Lebanon in total — they have not been fighting.
“During these operations, the troops also collected valuable intelligence and methodically dismantled the weapons and compounds, including underground infrastructure and advanced weaponry of Iranian origin,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
“Some of the weapons were recovered and taken by the soldiers back into Israeli territory.”
Airstrike hits southern Beirut suburb
The southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya was hit by a fresh airstrike early on Tuesday, as Israeli warplanes continued to bomb targets across Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah members and resources.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the previous 24 hours saw at least 95 people killed and 172 wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s southern regions, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
Hezbollah disputes Israel’s incursion claims
Israeli claims that its soldiers began ground operations inside southern Lebanon “are false,” Hezbollah said in a Tuesday statement.
“No direct ground clashes have yet taken place between the resistance fighters and the occupation forces,” the group said, referring to Israeli troops.
“The resistance fighters are ready for a direct confrontation with the enemy forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanese territory and inflict the greatest losses on them,” the group added.
Beirut not a target of Israeli ground incursion, official says
The Israel Defense Forces’ operation in southern Lebanon is occurring “right by the border” with no intention of pushing towards the capital Beirut, an Israeli security official said during a Tuesday briefing.
The IDF has three goals, the official said.
The first is to remove the threat of cross-border fire at Israeli citizens, they said. The second is to target senior militant leaders planning such attacks, the official added.
The third goal is to create a situation in which tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return to their homes in the north of the country.
“We’re talking about limited, localized, targeted rates based on precise intelligence in areas near the border,” the official said when asked about the scope of the operation.
Beirut, they added, is not on the table, though airstrikes are expected to continue across the country and in the capital.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah embedding itself in the Lebanese villages, right by the border,” they said.
“We’re operating at the moment according to the mission we received from the political echelon. We’re acting in a limited area that is focusing on the villages right by the border,” they explained.
IDF claims Hezbollah was planning ‘invasion’ of Israel
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops were engaged in “limited and targeted raids” in southern Lebanon as of Tuesday morning, alleging that Hezbollah was planning “an Oct. 7-style invasion” into Israeli homes.
“Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases,” Hagari said. “Hezbollah planned to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children.”
“I want to make it clear: our war is with Hezbollah, not with the people of Lebanon,” Hagari continued. “We do not want to harm Lebanese civilians, and we’re taking measures to prevent that.”
More than 700 people were killed by an intensified Israeli airstrike campaign across Lebanon last week. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 95 people killed and 172 people by strikes on Monday. Israeli bombing continued overnight into Tuesday morning, including in the capital Beirut.
UK charters flight for citizens in Lebanon, urges Britons to ‘leave now’
The British government announced Monday that it chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon for citizens wishing to leave the country.
British nationals, their spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 are eligible, a Foreign Office press release said. “Vulnerable” citizens will be prioritized, it added.
The flight is scheduled to depart Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the situation in the country “is volatile and has potential to deteriorate quickly.”
“The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our utmost priority,” he added.
“That’s why the U.K. government is chartering a flight to help those wanting to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed,” he said.
IDF reports ‘heavy fighting’ in Lebanon border areas
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee — the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesperson for Arab media — warned residents of southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning that “heavy fighting” is now underway in the region.
“Hezbollah elements,” he said, are “using the civilian environment and the population as human shields to launch attacks.”
Adraee told residents not to move vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. Israel previously demanded that all Hezbollah forces withdraw north of the waterway in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the 2006 border war.
“This warning is in effect until further notice,” Adraee said.
The IDF said Monday that its ground offensive into Lebanon was underway, following a week of punishing airstrikes and targeted killings across the country.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
A senior U.S. official told ABC News that the incursion is expected to be significant but not “major.” Lebanese leaders, meanwhile, are calling for an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of the 2006 U.N. resolution that would see Hezbollah forces leave southern Lebanon.
10 projectiles fired back at Israel from Lebanon amid ground incursion: IDF
After Israeli forces began the ground incursion into southern Lebanon, at least 10 projectiles crossed over into northern Israel, according to the IDF.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Meron in northern Israel, approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon,” the IDF said in a statement Monday.
“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and a number of projectiles fell in open areas,” the IDF said.
IDF begins ground incursion into Lebanon
Israeli forces have begun a ground incursion into southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
“The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes,” the statement said.
95 killed, 172 injured in Lebanon from attacks Monday
The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks rose to 95 on Monday with 172 people injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
Ground operations in Lebanon will be significant but not ‘major’: US official
The Israel Defense Forces’ ground movement into Lebanon will be significant but not “major,” a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
The operations will be limited to small unit commando teams, the official said, adding that the teams will have air power backup against Hezbollah fighters.
IDF issues ‘urgent warning’ to residents of southern suburbs of Beirut
The Israeli Defense Forces issued an “urgent warning” Monday to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In a post on X, the IDF urged people in three neighborhoods — Lilac, Haret Hreik and Burj Al-Barajneh — to evacuate.
“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah, and therefore the IDF will act against them forcefully,” the IDF wrote. “For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate the buildings immediately, starting at a distance of no less than 500 meters.”
UNRWA chief denies knowing suspended staffer was Hamas leader in Lebanon
On Monday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini denied having being aware that staffer Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin had been the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch.
Abu el-Amin and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for Hamas said Monday.
In his press briefing in Geneva on Monday, Lazzarini said Abu el-Amin had been suspended from his UNRWA position in March after allegations arose that he was involved in Hamas.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
5 killed, 57 injured in Israeli air strikes on Yemen: Houthi spokesperson
Five people were killed and 57 were injured after Sunday’s Israeli air strikes in Al-Hodeidah, Yemen, the Houthi spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
“This crime will be responded to with escalating military operations against the criminal enemy during the coming period,” the Houthi spokesperson added in his statement.
-ABC News’ Ahmed Baider
12 killed, 20 wounded in Lebanon from attacks Monday
Twelve people have been killed and at least 20 were injured in attacks in Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
The number of casualties from strikes in Lebanon on Sunday rose to 118 killed and 376 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade attacks on Monday.
Hezbollah issued 10 statements taking responsibility for various attacks on Monday.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they destroyed a “surface-to-air missile launcher storage facility approximately 1.5 kilometers” from Beirut’s international airport in a release Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israeli forces conducting ‘training’ near northern border, IDF says
Israeli forces have been “conducting training near the northern border,” the IDF said in a release Monday.
“As part of increasing readiness for combat, IDF soldiers from the 188th Brigade have been conducting training near the northern border and at the command’s headquarters,” the IDF said in the release.
Sinwar goes radio silent in Gaza cease-fire negotiations
Senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, has gone radio silent, according to an official familiar with negotiations to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal.
Sinwar’s absence has created another hurdle for U.S. officials who are still trying to complete an overdue “final” proposal for a deal.
It has also sparked speculation that Sinwar is dead, but the official said there is no indication that’s the case.
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller spoke about Hamas’ role in delaying a cease-fire proposal during a briefing Monday, but did not weigh in on Sinwar’s status specifically.
“When it comes to Sinwar, I don’t have any update on his condition at all, one way or the other,” he said, before asserting that Hamas has been unwilling to “engage at all” with Egyptian or Qatari mediators “over the past several weeks.”
“So the reason you have not seen us put forward this proposal is we can’t get a clear answer from Hamas of what they’re willing to entertain and what they’re not willing to entertain,” he said. “We’re going to continue to try to work it.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
More officials say invasion possibly imminent, US fighter jets heading to region for air defense
Israel’s limited ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, two more U.S. officials have told ABC News.
One of the officials said Israel notified the U.S. of its intentions.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh would not confirm as much when repeatedly asked Monday, but did give new details on the additional forces being sent to the region to potentially defend Israel and its own forces.
“These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F 22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said.
The fighter aircraft are to be used for air defense, such as intercepting missiles if needed, according to Singh. There are “an additional few thousand” troops in the region as part of the augmented force, according to Singh.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Matt Seyler
Israel imminently planning limited ground operation in Lebanon: Senior US official
The U.S. expects Israel to imminently begin a limited ground operation into Lebanon that would be targeted, in order to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure near Israeli border communities and then pull their forces back, according to a senior U.S. official.
This could start “immediately,” according to the senior official.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Biden tells Israel to stop when asked about possible Lebanon invasion
Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, President Joe Biden addressed Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon and reports that they are preparing for a limited ground operation.
The comment, which followed Biden’s remarks on Hurricane Helene, came after a reporter asked if he was aware of and “comfortable” with the possibility of Israel invading Lebanon.
“I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now,” Biden replied.
Middle East ‘safer’ without ‘brutal’ Nasrallah, Blinken says
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was “a brutal terrorist, whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria and many others as well.”
During a ministerial meeting on defeating ISIS in Washington, D.C., Blinken said Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s leadership “terrorized people across the region and prevented Lebanon from fully moving forward as a country.”
“Lebanon, the region, the world, are safer without him,” Blinken added.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut on Friday, marking the most significant blow yet to Hezbollah over almost a year of cross-border conflict with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes are continuing across Lebanon and in the capital. A U.S. official told ABC News on Sunday that small-scale cross-border Israeli ground operations may have already begun, as a prelude to a wider offensive into southern Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah targets.
Blinken said the U.S. and its partners would continue to work toward a diplomatic solution “that provides real security to Israel, to Lebanon, and allows citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
“Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East,” he said. “The United States remains committed to urgently driving these efforts forward.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
‘Nowhere’ Israel cannot reach, Netanyahu warns Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to anti-government sentiment in Iran on Monday, telling the Iranian people: “With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss.”
“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza,” the prime minister said in a video statement posted to social media.
“Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war. Every day, their puppets are eliminated.”
“Ask Mohammed Deif. Ask [Hassan] Nasrallah,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Hamas military commander — whose death the group has not confirmed — and the former Hezbollah leader. Israel claims Deif was killed in Gaza in July, while Nasrallah was killed in Beirut on Friday.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said.
“Iran’s tyrants don’t care about your future,” Netanyahu continued. “When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think — everything will be different.”
“Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace,” Netanyahu said. “The people of Iran should know — Israel stands with you.”
Tehran has not yet responded to Netanyahu’s statement. But on Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said his country would not deploy volunteer troops to Lebanon in response to Israel’s expanding campaign there against Hezbollah.
“We believe that the governments and nations of the region have the necessary ability and authority to defend themselves,” he said. “We have not had any request from anyone, and we know that they do not need deployment of human forces from our side.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Somayeh Malekian
Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in airstrike, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it killed Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch, in an overnight airstrike.
“Sharif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives,” the IDF said in a statement.
“He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Deadly strike hits central Beirut for first time in 18 years
An overnight precision strike on an apartment building in the Cola neighborhood was the first such strike in central Beirut for 18 years.
Four people were killed, including three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group.
Israel did not immediately claim the strike but is widely assumed to have carried it out.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah deputy gives first statement since Nasrallah assassination
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, addressed followers Monday in the first leadership statement since Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.
“The mujahadeen will continue,” Qassem said of the militant group’s fighters, their work informed by “what [Nasrallah] designed.”
Qassem did not announce a replacement for Nasrallah, but said Hezbollah’s next leader will be chosen “sooner rather than later.”
Details of Nasrallah’s funeral are still unconfirmed. A three-day mourning period in Lebanon began on Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF confirms new attacks on Hezbollah targets
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an operation against more Hezbollah targets early Monday morning local time.
The Israeli Air Force attacked targets in the Bekaa region of Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement.
Targets included launchers and buildings where the IDF said weapons were held.
The Israeli Air Force also attacked what it said were military buildings in southern Lebanon.
-ABC News Will Gretsky
At least 105 people killed Sunday in Lebanon: Ministry of Health
The death toll in Lebanon as a result of Israeli airstrikes Sunday rose to 105, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Nearly 360 individuals were wounded in the strikes, the ministry reported.
The strikes occurred in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel and the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahieh), according to the ministry.
Netanyahu announces former rival Gideon Sa’ar joined Israeli cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed opposition lawmaker Gideon Sa’ar to rejoin his cabinet, the politicians announced in a joint statement Sunday.
Sa’ar will serve in the Security Cabinet, according to Netanyahu.
“I appreciate the fact that Gideon Sa’ar responded to my request and agreed today to return to the government,” Netanyahu said, noting how the leaders have put aside their disagreements.
“We will work together, and I intend to use him in the forums that influence the conduct of the war,” Netanyahu added.
Sa’ar was once a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party but defected after an unsuccessful bid for party leadership. He formed his own party in 2020 called New Hope.
“I am joining the government at this stage without a coalition agreement – but with an orderly worldview and with a strong patriotic attitude for our people,” Sa’ar said in the joint statement.
Police vehicle is seen near the site of a shooting by gunmen at a light rail station on October 1, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Hamas has taken responsibility for the fatal shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv that unfolded on Tuesday just as Iran was launching a ballistic missile barrage on Israel.
Seven people were killed in the attack, and 16 people were injured, the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit and Shin Bet said in a joint statement Wednesday. The two alleged attackers were also killed, police said.
In a statement Wednesday, Hamas’ military wing claimed responsibility for the attack.
Police said the two suspects began the attack on the city’s light rail system before continuing on foot on Tel Aviv’s Yerushalayim Street.
They were killed after being apprehended by the Municipal Security Patrol and armed citizens, police said.
Following the attack, a large police presence patrolled the area and searched for additional threats.
The shooting occurred right before Iran launched a large missile into Israel. About 180 missiles were fired at multiple targets in Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” according to an Israeli security official said.
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike near the southern Lebanese village of Al-Mahmoudiye on September 24, 2024. (RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Iran launched the largest missile attack on Israel to date on Tuesday, with hundreds of missiles fired into the country, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Iran said the unprecedented attack was retaliation for a wave of assassinations carried out by Israel over the last several weeks targeting Hezbollah, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Sirens sounded across Israel and some citizens were urged to seek shelter in protected areas. Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
The U.S. fired missiles to help Israel defend itself against the missile attack, according to the Pentagon’s Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israel response to Iran missile attack will ‘come fast,’ official says
An Israeli official told ABC News on Wednesday that “Israel’s response to Iran’s attack will be significant and come fast.”
Iran launched a large barrage of cruise missiles — either 220, according to a U.S. official, or 180, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — on Tuesday evening.
“This evening, Iran made a big mistake — and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said shortly after the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
IDF confirms 7 soldiers killed in south Lebanon
Seven Israeli troops were killed during fighting in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement posted to social media.
The IDF did not say how the troops died. Another seven soldiers were injured, the force added.
“All of the fighters went to the hospitals for medical treatment, their families were informed,” the IDF wrote.
Iranian leader blames US, Europe for Middle East turmoil
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday morning that “the basis of the region’s problems is the presence of the United States and some European countries who falsely claim peace and tranquility.”
Iran launched 220 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night, according to a U.S. official. The attack was in protest of Israel’s recent operations against the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, including the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran fired 180 missiles in its second direct attack on Israel since Oct. 7.
“This evening, Iran made a big mistake — and it will pay for it,” Netanyahu said Tuesday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed that 90% of the missiles launched hit their targets.
Israel deploys more troops into Lebanon with air, artillery support
The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that more troops “are joining the limited, localized, targeted raids on Hezbollah terror targets and terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon that began on Monday.”
The IDF said its 36th Division — including soldiers of the Golani Brigade, 188th Armored Brigade, 6th Infantry Brigade and additional forces — would join the ground incursion.
The units will be accompanied by air and artillery units, the IDF added.
IDF says it hit ‘munitions production sites’ in Beirut
Recent airstrikes in southern Beirut targeted “munitions production sites and other terrorist infrastructures,” according to an Israel Defense Forces statement published on Wednesday morning.
“Fighter jets of the air force, under the precise intelligence guidance of the intelligence division, carried out a series of targeted attacks in recent days throughout Beirut,” the IDF wrote.
Beirut — and particularly its southern suburb of Dahiya — has faced intense airstrikes in recent days as Israeli warplanes target what the IDF says are a variety of Hezbollah-associated targets.
The southern suburbs were also the site of the airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.
‘Israel is coming,’ opposition leader says after Iran attacks
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Iran will “pay a significant and heavy price” for Tuesday’s ballistic missile attack.
“With our military capabilities, our defense industries, the support of our allies and in particular the strength of our incredible people — we know that even when the cost is high, we will win,” Lapid wrote on X.
“Tehran knows that Israel is coming,” he added. “The response needs to be tough and it should send an unequivocal message to the terror axis in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and in Iran itself.”
“Alongside that response, we need to develop a coherent regional strategy which translates military successes into a strategic victory, into change in the region. And we must not forget, not even for a moment, the urgent need to bring our hostages home,” he said.
Defense Sec. Austin says Iran should ‘halt any further attacks’
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has called on Iran to “halt any further attacks” following its missile strike on Israel.
“U.S. forces in the Middle East intercepted multiple missiles launched by Iran toward Israel, as we fulfilled our commitment to partner with Israel in its defense. We condemn this outrageous act of aggression by Iran, and we call on Iran to halt any further attacks, including from its proxy terrorist groups,” Austin said in his statement. “We will never hesitate to protect our forces and interests in the Middle East, and to support the defense of Israel and our partners in the region.”
Austin said he is “deeply proud” of the U.S. troops involved in helping save lives by intercepting missiles launched at Israel.
“Our forces remain postured to protect U.S. troops and partners in the Middle East, and the Department maintains significant capability to defend our people, provide further support for Israel’s self-defense, and deter further escalation,” Austin added. “I will continue to monitor the situation closely and to consult with our allies and partners.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
IDF issues more evacuation orders south of Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces just issued more evacuation orders for communities south of Beirut early Wednesday local time.
The orders come after the IDF said it was conducting strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
Israel striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut: IDF
The Israel Defense Forces said it is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
The update comes about an hour after the IDF issued an evacuation order for parts of southern Beirut suburbs.
Iran’s missile attack largest ever on Israel, Israeli official says
The Iranian barrage marked the largest missile attack ever on Israel, according to Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“Tonight, Iran carried out the largest and most violent missile attack against the State of Israel to date,” Danon said in a statement through his spokesperson earlier Tuesday. “We are ready and prepared defensively and offensively.”
Iran fired 220 total missiles over two waves in 30 minutes, according to a U.S. official.
US Embassy in Jerusalem lifts shelter-in-place order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem has lifted a shelter-in-place order for U.S. government employees and their family members, stating in an updated security alert, “The threat of missile barrages has diminished.”
Previous travel restrictions to areas outside the greater Tel Aviv region, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva remain in place until further notice, it said.
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing earlier Tuesday.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
A Navy official told ABC News they believe the two destroyers shot down multiple Iranian missiles.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran fired 220 missiles in 2 waves: US official
Iran fired 220 missiles in two waves over 30 minutes, with a brief pause between the waves, according to a U.S. official.
Some of the missiles did impact Israel, but not in major areas, the official said. There was no direct impact near Tel Aviv, although some shrapnel fell in the area, the official said.
Many missiles were intercepted over Jordan, the official said.
Among the casualties from the attack, a Palestinian was killed in Jericho, and there are reports of a Bedouin killed in the Negev, according to the official.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
IDF issues evacuation warning for southern Beirut suburbs
The Israel Defense Forces have issued an evacuation warning for residents in southern Lebanon.
The “urgent warning” was issued to residents of southern Beirut suburbs Tuesday night local time.
A similar warning was also sent on Monday.
Netanyahu: ‘Iran made a big mistake’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran’s attack “failed” while vowing to respond.
“Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it,” he said in a statement. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”
“We will stand by the rule we established: Whoever attacks us — we will attack him,” he added.
Biden: ‘Make no mistake, the US is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel’
In his first on-camera remarks since Iran’s missile attack, President Joe Biden reiterated the United States’ full support of Israel.
“Make no mistake, the United States is fully, fully, fully supportive of Israel,” he said.
He said that at his direction, the U.S. military “actively supported the defense of Israel” and while they are still assessing the impact, the attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective.”
Biden said there was “intensive planning” between the U.S. and Israel to “anticipate and defend against the brazen attack we expected.”
Asked how he would like Israel to respond, Biden said it was an “active discussion.”
“We’re gonna get all the data straight,” he said. “We’ve been in constant contact with the Israeli government and our counterparts, and that remains to be seen.”
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Discussions with Israel on response ongoing: State Department
Talks between the United States and Israel on what a response to Iran’s attack should look like are “already underway,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday.
Those conversations were happening across the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon, he said.
Miller declined to say whether Israel had presented possible targets to the U.S. or if Iran’s nuclear facilities might be a legitimate target.
“This is not to say that I’m ruling anything out and that I’m ruling anything in,” he said.
On whether Iran’s attack on Israel was over, Miller repeated the U.S. assessment that the current wave has ended, but that he could not definitively say whether there would be additional waves.
“Certainly, it would be incredibly reckless and would continue to be escalatory for Iran to launch further attacks on Israel and we’ll be monitoring in the hours ahead,” he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Emily Chang
2 US Navy destroyers fired missile interceptors: Pentagon
Two U.S. Navy destroyers fired “approximately a dozen” missile interceptors at the incoming ballistic missile barrage aimed at Israel, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said during a briefing.
Ryder said the two destroyers that launched missile interceptors were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.
He didn’t confirm whether they hit their targets, saying the assessment is ongoing.
No U.S. personnel were injured during the Iranian missile attack, Ryder said.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Iran ‘stands firmly against any threat’: President Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X that the attack on Israel was “based on legitimate rights and with the aim of peace and security for Iran and the region.”
Pezeshkian also addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly in his post: “Let Netanyahu know that Iran is not belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat.”
“This is only a tiny part of our power. Do not step into a conflict with Iran,” Pezeshkian added.
-ABC News’ Somayeh Malekian
Israel appears to have ‘defeated’ Iran’s attack: US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel appears to have “effectively defeated” Iran’s attack.
“A few hours ago, Iran — for the second time in the space of five months — launched a direct attack on Israel, including some 200 ballistic missiles. This is totally unacceptable and the entire world should condemn it,” he said during a previously scheduled meeting with India’s external affairs minister.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan also told reporters during a White House briefing that Iran’s attack “appears to have been defeated and ineffective” based on the United States’ early assessment.
Sullivan said the U.S. military worked closely with the IDF to defend Israel and was proud to do so, including in shooting down incoming missiles from U.S. naval destroyers positioned in the area, and that President Joe Biden will be involved in constant conversations with the Israelis about what should come next. He declined to provide any details about what level of response Biden will encourage.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston and Cheyenne Haslett
Iran says it targeted 3 military bases around Tel Aviv
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted three Israeli military bases around Tel Aviv in its attack on Israel.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations told ABC News that “no notice was given to the U.S. prior” to the attack, though a “serious warning was issued afterward.”
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi
IDF says 180 missiles fired from Iran
The Israel Defense Forces said it identified approximately 180 missiles fired toward Israel from Iran.
The Iranian missile attack began at 7:31 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the IDF said.
Most of the missiles were intercepted, but “several hits were identified, and the damage is being assessed,” an Israeli security official said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
UN Security Council expected to convene Wednesday
The United Nations Security Council is expected to convene on Wednesday to discuss Iran’s attack on Israel, according to Israel’s ambassador to the U.N.
-ABC News’ Josh Margolin
DHS warns of potential cyberattack threat against US following killing of Nasrallah
The Iranian regime is unlikely to take direct military action against the U.S. homeland following Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, though his death could prompt Iran or its proxies to take alternative actions like cyberattacks, according to a new Department of Homeland Security alert.
Nasrallah’s death is also unlikely to galvanize people within the U.S to take action, though the “expansion of the regional conflict and potential for increased circulation of graphic images highlighting civilian deaths could contribute to [extremist] radicalization to violence,” according to the Sept. 30 document obtained by ABC News and distributed to law enforcement agencies around the country.
“We also assess that it is unlikely that Iran or its proxies will target the homeland during any potential physical response to the airstrike,” the alert stated. “We are concerned that the incident may prompt Iranian government or other malicious cyber actors supportive of Tehran’s interests to conduct cyber attacks against poorly secured US critical infrastructure entities, among other targets.”
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin
Israel will have a ‘significant response,’ Israeli official says
Israel will have a “significant response” to Iran’s attack, an Israeli official told ABC News.
“What Iran has suffered so far is only a promo,” the official said.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
No additional threats from Iran at this time, no casualties reported: IDF
The Israeli military does not see any additional threats at this time from Iran, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.
Hagari said they have carried out a “large number of interceptions.” There were a “few hits” in the south and officials are assessing the damage, though there are no reported casualties, he added.
“We are on high alert both defensively and offensively,” he said. “We will defend the citizens of the State of Israel. This attack will have consequences.”
US says it has intercepted Iranian missiles
The U.S. has intercepted some of the Iranian missiles launched against Israel, but how many is unclear, an official told ABC News.
“In accordance with our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security, U.S. forces in the region are currently defending against Iranian-launched missiles targeting Israel,” the official said. “Our forces remain postured to provide additional defensive support and to protect U.S. forces operating in the region.”
-ABC News’ Matthew Seyler
Biden says US prepared to help Israel defend against Iranian attack
President Joe Biden said Tuesday the U.S. is prepared to help Israel defend against the Iranian missile attack.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are monitoring the Iranian attack from the White House Situation Room and receiving regular updates from their national security team. Biden directed the U.S. military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles.
Before the attack began, he posted on X that he and Vice President Kamala Harris had convened their national security team.
This morning, @VP and I convened our national security team to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel.
We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.
Lindsey Graham calls Iran’s missile attack ‘breaking point’
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel, calling it a “breaking point” on Tuesday and urging President Joe Biden’s administration to respond.
“This missile attack against Israel should be the breaking point and I would urge the Biden Administration to coordinate an overwhelming response with Israel, starting with Iran’s ability to refine oil,” Graham said in a statement.
Graham called for oil refineries to be “hit and hit hard” and said his prayers are “with the people of Israel.”
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Iran confirms responsibility, says launches retaliation for assassinations
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said moments ago the missile attack was a retaliation for different assassinations carried out by Israel, Mehr News Agency reported.
The IRGC said the operation will continue if Israel does not stop, Mehr News Agency reported.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, a key ally of Iran, was killed in a strike in Beirut last week, while a top member of the IRGC was also killed.
IDF warns some citizens to enter ‘protected space’
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari issued remarks Tuesday evening, announcing that missiles had been launched from Iran toward Israel.
He said messages have been sent to cellphones, warning Israeli citizens in certain areas to enter “protected space” and to seek shelter if they hear sirens.
Hagari added that if citizens hear explosions, they may be the result of interceptions or impacts.
“We are strong and can handle this event as well,” Hagari said. “The IDF is doing and will continue to do everything necessary to protect the civilians of Israel. The IDF is fully prepared for both defense and offense at peak readiness.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Flights diverting near Iran
Several flights near Iran are diverting ahead of expected missile launches at targets in Israel.
Several Lufthansa flights and one Swiss Air flight were diverted back to Frankfurt, Germany, and Turkey as they approached Iranian air space.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
IDF says missiles launched from Iran toward Israel
Israel said missiles have been launched from Iran toward Israel.
Sirens are sounding across the country.
Israel expecting 240-250 missiles from Iran: Sources
Iran is expected to launch 240 to 250 missiles in two waves at four targets in Israel, including Mossad headquarters and three air bases, according to an Israeli source and a senior U.S. administration official.
Israel is not expected to launch a preemptive strike, according to the U.S. administration official. It should take the missiles less than 15 minutes to reach targets once launched.
The U.S. and Israel have all defenses activated, and Israel will “absolutely “ retaliate after it happens,” the official said.
The total number of ballistic missiles is about double the number launched by Iran in April — 99% of which were intercepted.
-ABC News’ Martha Raddatz
Israeli forces issue warning for residents to stay near shelter in greater Tel Aviv
The Israel Defense Forces issued a warning for residents of the “Dan area,” referring to the greater Tel Aviv area, to stay “near a shelter until further notice.”
Sirens sounded in central Israel, the IDF said in a second statement, after issuing the warning to stay in shelters. The sirens sounding in central Israel were due to launches from Lebanon, the IDF told ABC News.
“From this moment, Israelis living in central Israel are advised to stay by their safe rooms. Enter them during sirens and stay there until further notice,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in Hebrew.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir, Anna Burd and Jordana Miller
US Embassy in Jerusalem issues ‘shelter in place’ order
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem issued a statement directing all government employees and their family members “to shelter in place until further notice,” following reports of an imminent Iranian missile attack on Israel.
The embassy noted the “continued need for caution and increased personal security awareness as security incidents, including mortar and rocket fire and unmanned aircraft system,” which it said “often take place without warning.”
“The security environment remains complex and can change quickly depending on the political situation and recent events,” it added.
Netanyahu warns Israelis of ‘testing days ahead’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged unity among Israelis in a video statement published Tuesday, as Israel Defense Forces operations in Lebanon expanded and amid fears of an imminent Iranian missile attack.
“We are in the midst of a campaign against Iran’s ‘Axis of Evil,'” the prime minister said. “These are days of great achievements and great challenges.”
The “great achievements,” Netanyahu said, included the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut airstrike last week, plus the defeat of an alleged Hezbollah plan to launch an infiltration attack into northern Israel.
The country still faces “big challenges,” he continued.
“What I ask of you is two things: One — to strictly obey the directives of the front-line command, it saves lives. And second — to stand together. We will stand firm together in the testing days ahead.”
“Together we will stand, together we will fight and together we will win.”
–ABC News Joe Simonetti and Jordana Miller
Iran to launch ballistic missiles at Israel ‘imminently,’ US official says
A senior White House official told ABC News on Tuesday that the U.S. “has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official added.
“A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran,” the official said.
Israeli special ops teams active in Lebanon for almost a year, IDF says
Israel special operations teams have been operating in southern Lebanon since November, an Israeli security source said Tuesday, conducting around 70 missions in groups of 20 to 40 operators.
The troops spent around 200 nights inside Lebanon, making it the most intense series of special operations missions in Israel’s history, the official said.
The units operated between 1 and 2 miles inside Lebanese territory, the official said, blowing up and dismantling hundreds of Hezbollah facilities including tunnels.
Some tunnels doubled as weapons caches and others stretched to the Israeli border. Officials said on Tuesday they believed Hezbollah was planning an imminent “Oct.7-style invasion” of northern Israel.
The security source claimed that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force was at times as little as six hours from launching such an attack. ABC News was not immediately able to independently verify the official’s claims.
The Israeli special operations units operating in southern Lebanon encountered almost no resistance, the official said, and did not suffer any casualties.
Though some 2,000 Radwan troops are believed to be present within 3 miles of Israel’s border — and between 6,000 and 8,000 in southern Lebanon in total — they have not been fighting.
“During these operations, the troops also collected valuable intelligence and methodically dismantled the weapons and compounds, including underground infrastructure and advanced weaponry of Iranian origin,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
“Some of the weapons were recovered and taken by the soldiers back into Israeli territory.”
Airstrike hits southern Beirut suburb
The southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya was hit by a fresh airstrike early on Tuesday, as Israeli warplanes continued to bomb targets across Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah members and resources.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that the previous 24 hours saw at least 95 people killed and 172 wounded by Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s southern regions, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut.
Hezbollah disputes Israel’s incursion claims
Israeli claims that its soldiers began ground operations inside southern Lebanon “are false,” Hezbollah said in a Tuesday statement.
“No direct ground clashes have yet taken place between the resistance fighters and the occupation forces,” the group said, referring to Israeli troops.
“The resistance fighters are ready for a direct confrontation with the enemy forces that dare or attempt to enter Lebanese territory and inflict the greatest losses on them,” the group added.
Beirut not a target of Israeli ground incursion, official says
The Israel Defense Forces’ operation in southern Lebanon is occurring “right by the border” with no intention of pushing towards the capital Beirut, an Israeli security official said during a Tuesday briefing.
The IDF has three goals, the official said.
The first is to remove the threat of cross-border fire at Israeli citizens, they said. The second is to target senior militant leaders planning such attacks, the official added.
The third goal is to create a situation in which tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return to their homes in the north of the country.
“We’re talking about limited, localized, targeted rates based on precise intelligence in areas near the border,” the official said when asked about the scope of the operation.
Beirut, they added, is not on the table, though airstrikes are expected to continue across the country and in the capital.
“We’re talking about Hezbollah embedding itself in the Lebanese villages, right by the border,” they said.
“We’re operating at the moment according to the mission we received from the political echelon. We’re acting in a limited area that is focusing on the villages right by the border,” they explained.
IDF claims Hezbollah was planning ‘invasion’ of Israel
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops were engaged in “limited and targeted raids” in southern Lebanon as of Tuesday morning, alleging that Hezbollah was planning “an Oct. 7-style invasion” into Israeli homes.
“Hezbollah turned Lebanese villages next to Israeli villages into military bases,” Hagari said. “Hezbollah planned to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities and massacre innocent men, women and children.”
“I want to make it clear: our war is with Hezbollah, not with the people of Lebanon,” Hagari continued. “We do not want to harm Lebanese civilians, and we’re taking measures to prevent that.”
More than 700 people were killed by an intensified Israeli airstrike campaign across Lebanon last week. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 95 people killed and 172 people by strikes on Monday. Israeli bombing continued overnight into Tuesday morning, including in the capital Beirut.
UK charters flight for citizens in Lebanon, urges Britons to ‘leave now’
The British government announced Monday that it chartered a commercial flight out of Lebanon for citizens wishing to leave the country.
British nationals, their spouse or partner and children under the age of 18 are eligible, a Foreign Office press release said. “Vulnerable” citizens will be prioritized, it added.
The flight is scheduled to depart Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the situation in the country “is volatile and has potential to deteriorate quickly.”
“The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our utmost priority,” he added.
“That’s why the U.K. government is chartering a flight to help those wanting to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed,” he said.
IDF reports ‘heavy fighting’ in Lebanon border areas
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee — the Israel Defense Forces’ spokesperson for Arab media — warned residents of southern Lebanon on Tuesday morning that “heavy fighting” is now underway in the region.
“Hezbollah elements,” he said, are “using the civilian environment and the population as human shields to launch attacks.”
Adraee told residents not to move vehicles from the north to the south of the Litani River, which is around 18 miles north of the Israeli border. Israel previously demanded that all Hezbollah forces withdraw north of the waterway in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the 2006 border war.
“This warning is in effect until further notice,” Adraee said.
The IDF said Monday that its ground offensive into Lebanon was underway, following a week of punishing airstrikes and targeted killings across the country.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
A senior U.S. official told ABC News that the incursion is expected to be significant but not “major.” Lebanese leaders, meanwhile, are calling for an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of the 2006 U.N. resolution that would see Hezbollah forces leave southern Lebanon.
10 projectiles fired back at Israel from Lebanon amid ground incursion: IDF
After Israeli forces began the ground incursion into southern Lebanon, at least 10 projectiles crossed over into northern Israel, according to the IDF.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Meron in northern Israel, approximately 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon,” the IDF said in a statement Monday.
“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and a number of projectiles fell in open areas,” the IDF said.
IDF begins ground incursion into Lebanon
Israeli forces have begun a ground incursion into southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
“The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes,” the statement said.
95 killed, 172 injured in Lebanon from attacks Monday
The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks rose to 95 on Monday with 172 people injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said in a post on X.
Ground operations in Lebanon will be significant but not ‘major’: US official
The Israel Defense Forces’ ground movement into Lebanon will be significant but not “major,” a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
The operations will be limited to small unit commando teams, the official said, adding that the teams will have air power backup against Hezbollah fighters.
IDF issues ‘urgent warning’ to residents of southern suburbs of Beirut
The Israeli Defense Forces issued an “urgent warning” Monday to residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In a post on X, the IDF urged people in three neighborhoods — Lilac, Haret Hreik and Burj Al-Barajneh — to evacuate.
“You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah, and therefore the IDF will act against them forcefully,” the IDF wrote. “For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate the buildings immediately, starting at a distance of no less than 500 meters.”
UNRWA chief denies knowing suspended staffer was Hamas leader in Lebanon
On Monday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini denied having being aware that staffer Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin had been the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch.
Abu el-Amin and his family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for Hamas said Monday.
In his press briefing in Geneva on Monday, Lazzarini said Abu el-Amin had been suspended from his UNRWA position in March after allegations arose that he was involved in Hamas.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
5 killed, 57 injured in Israeli air strikes on Yemen: Houthi spokesperson
Five people were killed and 57 were injured after Sunday’s Israeli air strikes in Al-Hodeidah, Yemen, the Houthi spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
“This crime will be responded to with escalating military operations against the criminal enemy during the coming period,” the Houthi spokesperson added in his statement.
-ABC News’ Ahmed Baider
12 killed, 20 wounded in Lebanon from attacks Monday
Twelve people have been killed and at least 20 were injured in attacks in Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
The number of casualties from strikes in Lebanon on Sunday rose to 118 killed and 376 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Hezbollah and Israel continued to trade attacks on Monday.
Hezbollah issued 10 statements taking responsibility for various attacks on Monday.
The Israeli Defense Forces said they destroyed a “surface-to-air missile launcher storage facility approximately 1.5 kilometers” from Beirut’s international airport in a release Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Jordana Miller
Israeli forces conducting ‘training’ near northern border, IDF says
Israeli forces have been “conducting training near the northern border,” the IDF said in a release Monday.
“As part of increasing readiness for combat, IDF soldiers from the 188th Brigade have been conducting training near the northern border and at the command’s headquarters,” the IDF said in the release.
Sinwar goes radio silent in Gaza cease-fire negotiations
Senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, has gone radio silent, according to an official familiar with negotiations to reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal.
Sinwar’s absence has created another hurdle for U.S. officials who are still trying to complete an overdue “final” proposal for a deal.
It has also sparked speculation that Sinwar is dead, but the official said there is no indication that’s the case.
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller spoke about Hamas’ role in delaying a cease-fire proposal during a briefing Monday, but did not weigh in on Sinwar’s status specifically.
“When it comes to Sinwar, I don’t have any update on his condition at all, one way or the other,” he said, before asserting that Hamas has been unwilling to “engage at all” with Egyptian or Qatari mediators “over the past several weeks.”
“So the reason you have not seen us put forward this proposal is we can’t get a clear answer from Hamas of what they’re willing to entertain and what they’re not willing to entertain,” he said. “We’re going to continue to try to work it.”
-ABC News’ Shannon Kingston
More officials say invasion possibly imminent, US fighter jets heading to region for air defense
Israel’s limited ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, two more U.S. officials have told ABC News.
One of the officials said Israel notified the U.S. of its intentions.
Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh would not confirm as much when repeatedly asked Monday, but did give new details on the additional forces being sent to the region to potentially defend Israel and its own forces.
“These augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F 22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said.
The fighter aircraft are to be used for air defense, such as intercepting missiles if needed, according to Singh. There are “an additional few thousand” troops in the region as part of the augmented force, according to Singh.
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Matt Seyler
Israel imminently planning limited ground operation in Lebanon: Senior US official
The U.S. expects Israel to imminently begin a limited ground operation into Lebanon that would be targeted, in order to clear out Hezbollah infrastructure near Israeli border communities and then pull their forces back, according to a senior U.S. official.
This could start “immediately,” according to the senior official.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Biden tells Israel to stop when asked about possible Lebanon invasion
Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, President Joe Biden addressed Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon and reports that they are preparing for a limited ground operation.
The comment, which followed Biden’s remarks on Hurricane Helene, came after a reporter asked if he was aware of and “comfortable” with the possibility of Israel invading Lebanon.
“I’m more aware than you might know, and I’m comfortable with them stopping. We should have a cease-fire now,” Biden replied.
Middle East ‘safer’ without ‘brutal’ Nasrallah, Blinken says
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was “a brutal terrorist, whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria and many others as well.”
During a ministerial meeting on defeating ISIS in Washington, D.C., Blinken said Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s leadership “terrorized people across the region and prevented Lebanon from fully moving forward as a country.”
“Lebanon, the region, the world, are safer without him,” Blinken added.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut on Friday, marking the most significant blow yet to Hezbollah over almost a year of cross-border conflict with Israel.
Israeli airstrikes are continuing across Lebanon and in the capital. A U.S. official told ABC News on Sunday that small-scale cross-border Israeli ground operations may have already begun, as a prelude to a wider offensive into southern Lebanon in pursuit of Hezbollah targets.
Blinken said the U.S. and its partners would continue to work toward a diplomatic solution “that provides real security to Israel, to Lebanon, and allows citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes.”
“Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East,” he said. “The United States remains committed to urgently driving these efforts forward.”
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
‘Nowhere’ Israel cannot reach, Netanyahu warns Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to anti-government sentiment in Iran on Monday, telling the Iranian people: “With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss.”
“Every day, you see a regime that subjugates you make fiery speeches about defending Lebanon, defending Gaza,” the prime minister said in a video statement posted to social media.
“Yet every day, that regime plunges our region deeper into darkness and deeper into war. Every day, their puppets are eliminated.”
“Ask Mohammed Deif. Ask [Hassan] Nasrallah,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Hamas military commander — whose death the group has not confirmed — and the former Hezbollah leader. Israel claims Deif was killed in Gaza in July, while Nasrallah was killed in Beirut on Friday.
“There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said.
“Iran’s tyrants don’t care about your future,” Netanyahu continued. “When Iran is finally free — and that moment will come a lot sooner than people think — everything will be different.”
“Our two ancient peoples, the Jewish people and the Persian people, will finally be at peace,” Netanyahu said. “The people of Iran should know — Israel stands with you.”
Tehran has not yet responded to Netanyahu’s statement. But on Monday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said his country would not deploy volunteer troops to Lebanon in response to Israel’s expanding campaign there against Hezbollah.
“We believe that the governments and nations of the region have the necessary ability and authority to defend themselves,” he said. “We have not had any request from anyone, and we know that they do not need deployment of human forces from our side.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Somayeh Malekian
Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in airstrike, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces said Monday it killed Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, the head of Hamas’ Lebanon branch, in an overnight airstrike.
“Sharif was responsible for coordinating Hamas’ terror activities in Lebanon with Hezbollah operatives,” the IDF said in a statement.
“He was also responsible for Hamas’ efforts in Lebanon to recruit operatives and acquire weapons.”
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Deadly strike hits central Beirut for first time in 18 years
An overnight precision strike on an apartment building in the Cola neighborhood was the first such strike in central Beirut for 18 years.
Four people were killed, including three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group.
Israel did not immediately claim the strike but is widely assumed to have carried it out.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Hezbollah deputy gives first statement since Nasrallah assassination
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, addressed followers Monday in the first leadership statement since Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.
“The mujahadeen will continue,” Qassem said of the militant group’s fighters, their work informed by “what [Nasrallah] designed.”
Qassem did not announce a replacement for Nasrallah, but said Hezbollah’s next leader will be chosen “sooner rather than later.”
Details of Nasrallah’s funeral are still unconfirmed. A three-day mourning period in Lebanon began on Monday.
-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz and Joe Simonetti
IDF confirms new attacks on Hezbollah targets
The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out an operation against more Hezbollah targets early Monday morning local time.
The Israeli Air Force attacked targets in the Bekaa region of Lebanon, the IDF said in a statement.
Targets included launchers and buildings where the IDF said weapons were held.
The Israeli Air Force also attacked what it said were military buildings in southern Lebanon.
-ABC News Will Gretsky
At least 105 people killed Sunday in Lebanon: Ministry of Health
The death toll in Lebanon as a result of Israeli airstrikes Sunday rose to 105, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Nearly 360 individuals were wounded in the strikes, the ministry reported.
The strikes occurred in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel and the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahieh), according to the ministry.
Netanyahu announces former rival Gideon Sa’ar joined Israeli cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed opposition lawmaker Gideon Sa’ar to rejoin his cabinet, the politicians announced in a joint statement Sunday.
Sa’ar will serve in the Security Cabinet, according to Netanyahu.
“I appreciate the fact that Gideon Sa’ar responded to my request and agreed today to return to the government,” Netanyahu said, noting how the leaders have put aside their disagreements.
“We will work together, and I intend to use him in the forums that influence the conduct of the war,” Netanyahu added.
Sa’ar was once a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party but defected after an unsuccessful bid for party leadership. He formed his own party in 2020 called New Hope.
“I am joining the government at this stage without a coalition agreement – but with an orderly worldview and with a strong patriotic attitude for our people,” Sa’ar said in the joint statement.
The remains of exploded pagers are seen in Beirut’s southern suburbs Sept 18, 2024, after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on Sept. 17, 2024, killing at least nine people. (AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The unassuming pager took its place in the annals of Israeli covert operations history in September, when thousands of the credit card-sized devices served as tiny Trojan horses for explosive charges as they were held by likely Hezbollah operatives.
The pager detonations in Lebanon and Syria on Sept. 17 were followed by the explosion — around 24 hours later — of walkie-talkies, used by Hezbollah as a communications network after its beepers were compromised.
The attacks, which killed 37 people and wounded 2,931 according to Lebanese authorities, were several years in the making, a source told ABC News.
“The disruption and damage they wrought was unprecedented in the history of the resistance in Lebanon,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah — himself killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Sept. 27 — said.
Sources confirmed to ABC News that Israel was responsible for the pager explosions.
Israel — which rarely confirms or denies responsibility for covert operations or attacks on foreign soil — offered no confirmation of responsibility for the attacks. President Isaac Herzog even told Sky News he “rejects out of hand any connection to this or that source of operation.”
Orna Mizrahi of the Institute for National Security Studies think tank in Israel told ABC News that the communication devices operations stand out due to “the amount of people that were eliminated.”
“We don’t call it assassination; we call it elimination,” said Mizrahi, who previously served in the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Intelligence Research Division and in the prime minister’s office as deputy national security adviser for foreign policy.
The attacks represent a world-first, Mizrahi said.
“It’s a real invention,” she said.
As to the criticism of the mass detonation of the devices, Mizrahi responded: “The terrorists are the only ones that used them. So, it is like a bullet in the hand of your enemy. But it wasn’t a bullet. It was something that was exploding in their hands.”
The operation drew on a long history of audacious — though not always successful or discriminate — covert Israeli targeted killings all over the Middle East. Though Israel generally does not confirm involvement in such operations, top Israeli officials have made clear their position against what they deem to be threats to national security.
As Israel’s outgoing spy chief Yossi Cohen said in 2021 regarding reported targeted killings in Iran: “If the man constitutes a capability that endangers the citizens of Israel, he must stop existing.”
Mizrahi said those conducting such “elimination” operations usually do so based on one or more of three criteria. The target might be a “very important terrorist” with significant influence and capabilities, she said.
The target may be a long-standing one, with plans put in place and those executing them waiting for the right moment to strike, Mizrahi added.
Or, the eventual target may be identified as part of an imminent attack “and you want to intercept it and to stop it,” she added.
“It’s always people that are from what we understand is a terror organization, that are threatening Israel or in the midst of launching some kind of attack against Israel,” Mizrahi said.
“We don’t eliminate people just like that,” she added, noting that Israeli forces will “usually” want to ensure “there is very little collateral damage, not too many civilians.”
Past operations have been abandoned due to the likelihood of civilian casualties, Mizrahi said.
“When you are in a war, you cannot be so cautious,” she added.
A bloody history
Within years of the country’s bloody, but ultimately successful, War of Independence in 1948, Israel’s clandestine services were waging assassination campaigns against the many surrounding forces and states deemed threats to the young nation’s survival.
Its military and intelligence services were staffed by many who participated in the Jewish insurgency against the entity known as Mandatory Palestine, the British-run territory designated by the League of Nations in the aftermath of World War II.
In 1956, for example, parcel bombs were used to kill Egyptian military officials Col. Mustafa Hafez and Lt. Col. Salah Mustafa in Egypt and Jordan, respectively, both of whom organized Palestinian militant raids into Israel.
As Israeli identity and policy were forged in the crucible of war, insurgency and terrorism, the country’s clandestine operations took on greater ingenuity and complexity — though direct methods of killing have remained in regular use through the nation’s 76 years, spanning the technological spectrum from shootings to airstrikes.
September’s explosions in Lebanon will go down as one of the most unusual attacks in Israeli — or wider international covert operations — history, given the delivery method of the explosives, the number of those killed or wounded and the intimate access to Hezbollah it demonstrated.
But it was not the first time Israel sought to turn everyday items into weapons. In 1972, for example, Palestine Liberation Organization cadre Bassam Abu Sharif — a former senior advisor to PLO chief Yasser Arafat — lost four fingers plus the use of one ear and one eye when a book sent to him by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, exploded in his hands in Beirut. Israel never officially took responsibility.
The killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics by the Palestinian Black September militant group set in motion a brutal and sprawling revenge campaign — known as Operation Wrath of God — that would see Mossad operatives turn unassuming items into weapons.
Mossad’s long-established policy of public silence meant it never claimed even the most sophisticated assassinations credited to the agency. But David Kimche, the former deputy head of Mossad, explained of the retaliation campaign: “The aim was not so much revenge but mainly to make them frightened.”
“We wanted to make them look over their shoulders and feel that we are upon them. And therefore, we tried not to do things by just shooting a guy in the street — that’s easy,” he said.
Mahmoud Hamshari — the PLO’s representative in Paris — for example, died of wounds sustained in his Paris apartment in December 1972, when Mossad agents detonated explosives packed into the base of his telephone.
Hussein Al Bashir, a representative of Palestinian group Fatah, was killed the following month in Cyprus by a bomb concealed in his hotel bed.
Death by communication device was a common theme in the years after Hamshari’s killing.
In 1996, for example, internal security agency Shin Bet tricked Yahya Ayyash — an infamous Hamas bombmaker accused of killing dozens of Israelis — into accepting a call using a cellphone given to him by a Palestinian collaborator. The phone detonated as he held it to his head, killing him instantly.
Samih Malabi, a member of Fatah’s Tanzim militant wing, was also killed by an exploding cellphone in 2000.
Another three Palestinians and alleged militants — Osama Fatih al-Jawabra, Iyad Mohammed Hardan and Muhammad Ishteiwi Abayat — were killed by explosions in phone booths in 2001 and 2002.
Among one of the highest profile assassinations was a joint Mossad-CIA operation targeting Imad Mughniyah — Hezbollah’s international operations chief — who was killed in a suburb of Damascus in 2008. Neither Mossad nor the CIA ever took credit publicly.
A bomb concealed in a car’s spare tire exploded as Mughniyah walked past. It was detonated remotely by agents in Tel Aviv, using operatives on the ground in the Syrian capital to guide the plot’s final execution, according to a Washington Post report citing five former U.S. intelligence officials.
In Iran, too, the hand of Israeli intelligence is credited with several high-profile killings. Israel was behind a rash of assassinations of nuclear scientists between 2007 and 2012 — often using magnetic car bombs or via drive-by shootings, according to Iran.
So, too, was it responsible for the killing of the alleged head of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, reportedly assassinated on a highway outside Tehran by a remote-controlled machine gun in 2020.
Israel’s highest-profile recent killing — that of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July — reportedly relied not on an innocuous item but on deep penetration of enemy security networks.
Haniyeh was killed by a bomb planted in a guesthouse he often used when visiting the Iranian capital.
The operation bypassed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ protection of the building, emplacing the device two months before Haniyeh’s visit, according to reporting in the The New York Times citing five anonymous Middle Eastern officials.
Blowback and civilian casualties
For all their ingenuity, Israel’s targeted killings also brought civilian casualties, political embarrassment and diplomatic blowback.
It remains unclear how many civilians were among the thousands injured in the recent device explosions in Lebanon and Syria. At least two children were among the dead. Additional civilians were killed in the subsequent Beirut airstrike that assassinated Hezbollah operations chief Ibrahim Aqil and 14 other members, Lebanese authorities said.
Among the most infamous bungled efforts was Israel’s attempted assassination of Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal in Jordan in 1997. Mossad agents using fake Canadian passports poisoned Mashaal outside of Hamas’ office in the capital Amman by holding a device to his ear.
Several agents were subsequently captured and, as Mashaal’s condition deteriorated, Jordan’s King Hussein — with the backing of then President Bill Clinton — pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into providing the antidote and saving Mashaal’s life.
Israel’s Wrath of God operations from 1972 onwards caused several notable civilian casualties. The commando squads hunting Palestinian militant leaders in Beirut in April 1973 killed two Lebanese police officers and one Italian citizen in their search for targets. Among them was Black September operations leader Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar, whose wife was also killed.
In July 1973, Mossad brought chaos to the small Norwegian town of Lillehammer in their search for Black September operations chief Ali Hassan Salameh.
Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter, was shot dead after agents falsely identified him as Salameh. Five Mossad agents were eventually convicted of the killing, and not returned to Israel until 1975.
A follow-up effort took place at a house in the southern Spanish city of Tarifa. Mossad agents reportedly killed a security guard but did not locate Salameh.
Israel finally killed Salameh in Beirut in 1979, detonating a bomb attached to a parked car as his convoy passed. Salameh died shortly after in hospital.
As well as his four bodyguards, the blast killed four bystanders and injured 16 more. Among the dead were a British student and a German nun.
In this photo released by Israel Aircraft Industries, an Arrow II anti-missile missile is successfully launched December 2, 2005 from an unnamed military base in central Israel. (IAI via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Israel’s layered missile defense system was once again put to the test on Tuesday as Iran launched more than 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.
The Iron Dome air defense system garners most of the attention because it is used to bring down frequent incoming unguided short-range rocket systems fired at Israel by both Hezbollah and Hamas.
But targeting guided ballistic missiles that travel at higher altitudes, longer ranges, and faster speeds requires different intercept systems that are specifically designed to bring down ballistic missiles.
David’s Sling and the Arrow 2 and 3 are Israel’s two other home-grown air defense systems that are capable of bringing down medium-range and long-range ballistic missiles.
Both systems along with the Iron Dome were utilized during Iran’s attack on Israel last April when 99% of the more than 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles launched by Iran were intercepted.
David’s Sling is designed to target medium and long-range missiles and has a range of 25 to 186 miles and produced by Raytheon and Rafael, the same Israel defense contractor that makes the Iron Dome.
The two-stage missile has no warhead, it destroys incoming ballistic missiles with the sheer force of impact, making it what is known as a “hit- to- kill” which has been characterized as hitting a bullet with a bullet given the high velocities involved.
The Arrow 2 and 3 systems are capable of handling much longer-range missiles like Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM’s) that will likely travel at altitudes beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, a capability similar to the U.S. military’s THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) air defense system.
The Arrow 3 system is believed to have a range of 1,500 miles and can reach an altitude of 100 miles.
The Arrow 2 is designed to explode near a missile to bring down an incoming missile, but the Arrow 3 is a hit-to-kill missile.
The Arrow 2 system was used most recently to shoot down long-range missiles fired at Israel by the Houthi militant group in Yemen, supposedly in support of Hamas and Hezbollah in their wars with Israel.
(LONDON) — Iran launched missiles at Israel on Tuesday in an attack it said was retaliation for a wave of assassinations carried out by Israel over the last several weeks targeting Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in Lebanon.
Iran has also said the attacks were for Israel’s extensive attacks on Hezbollah, the destruction in Gaza as well as the assassinations of key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, including Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Hezbollah has clashed with Israel for decades, going back to Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in 1978, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York City-based independent think tank.
Hezbollah and Israel have repeatedly attacked each other, trading fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border for months.
Tuesday’s strike marks the latest development in an intensifying series of attacks in the region.
Here’s a look at the timeline of the recent conflict:
On Oct. 8, 2023, Israel invaded the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip. The invasion was in retaliation for Hamas’ terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, where Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people and around 250 others were taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.
Hezbollah then began renewed attacks on Israel in opposition to the Gaza invasion, and since Oct. 8, the two sides have been trading attacks with increased intensity in recent months.
In Gaza, about 41,638 people have been killed amid Israeli attacks on the region, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Hezbollah has said it will continue its attacks against Israel until the Israel Defense Forces withdraw from Gaza.
Hezbollah controls much of the Shiite-majority areas of Lebanon, including parts of the capital, Beirut. Iran has long been known to provide support, training and weapons to the group.
The IDF said that its special operations teams have been operating in southern Lebanon since November. Hezbollah has denied this and says the IDF has not crossed Lebanon’s border.
Cease-fire negotiations to end Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and return Israeli hostages have stalled after repeated attempts by the U.S. and others to mediate a deal, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined a cease-fire proposal concerning its operations in Lebanon.
The conflict intensified with the detonation of Hezbollah communication devices in Lebanon and Syria. Thousands of people were injured and dozens were killed across Lebanon and Syria by remotely detonated pagers on Sept. 17, according to Lebanese officials. ABC News sources confirmed it was an Israeli covert operation.
The Israeli military also ramped up its airstrikes in Lebanon in recent weeks, including striking thousands of apparent Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and killing more than 1030 people and injuring thousands more,according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Israeli officials said they believe about 30 top Hezbollah leaders have been killed.
On Sept. 26, 2024, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City that Iran “will not remain indifferent in case of a full-scale war in Lebanon.”
Araghchi also warned that Israel’s “crimes will not go unpunished” and said the Middle East region “risks full-scale conflict” if the U.N. Security Council does not “act now to halt Israel’s war and enforce an immediate ceasefire.”
On Sept. 30, the IDF announced it had begun a ground incursion into Lebanon. The IDF described the operations as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”
On Oct. 1, Iran launched missiles into Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the missile attack was retaliation for different assassinations carried out by Israel.
President Joe Biden said on Oct. 1 that the U.S. is prepared to help Israel defend against the Iranian missile attack.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso, Matt Gutman, Nadine El-Bawab, Emily Shapiro, David Brennan, and Julia Reinstein contributed to this report.
