Israel’s offensive in Lebanon has displaced 1.2 million, prime minister says
(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.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire, killing at least five in Lebanon and injuring two in Israel
Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets and drones toward northern Israel on Tuesday morning and afternoon, injuring at least two people, after an earlier Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in southern Lebanon, according to authorities on both sides.
The Lebanese militant group said in separate statements that Tuesday’s attacks against Israel — at least four so far — were carried out both in support of the Palestinian people in the war-torn Gaza Strip and in response to recent Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
One of those drones was intercepted by Israeli air defense and the falling shrapnel injured “several civilians” south of Nahariya, the northernmost coastal city of Israel, according to the IDF.
Israel’s Magen David Adam rescue service said its first responders were deployed to the scene and treated a 30-year-old man in serious condition and a 30-year-old woman in mild-to-moderate condition with shrapnel injuries to the lower limbs. Both patients were transported to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.
“We saw the male unconscious in the car with a severe head injury from shrapnel. A female who was fully conscious with shrapnel injuries to her lower limbs was in a parking lot nearby,” paramedic Roi Vishna and senior EMT Noam Levi said in a joint statement released by MDA.” We treated the male including ventilating him and providing medications, and evacuated him by MICU in very serious condition to hospital. The female casualty was evacuated in mild to moderate condition.”
Hezbollah launched the counterattacks after an Israeli airstrike on the town of Mifdoun in southern Lebanon killed at least five people on Tuesday morning, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the casualties.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months amid the ongoing war in Gaza. But regional tensions have soared following last week’s assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Lebanon’s capital.
Israel kills another Hezbollah commander
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Monday they had killed another Hezbollah commander in a strike on Lebanon. Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, was killed in the strike.
The death was also confirmed by Hezbollah.
“His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization to promote and carry out terror activities from southern Lebanon against northern Israel,” the IDF said.
Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah official in Beirut, Fuad Shukr, and a Hamas official in Iran, Ismail Haniyeh, has pushed the Middle East to the brink of further war.
Remains of about 80 deceased Palestinians returned after being taken by IDF
The deceased remains of an estimated 80 Palestinians — which Israeli forces took from Gazan cemeteries to identify whether hostages had been buried there — were returned by the Israel Defense Forces.
The bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, with Gazan officials saying between three and four bodies were in each bag. They will be reburied in a mass grave in Khan Younis.
A Gazan civil defense official on the ground said there is no data as to who these individuals were.
“I wished I could find him, to be at peace,” Suwa Abu Rajilah, a mother who traveled to the site to see if her son, killed in the war, was there. “To say I buried him, but I couldn’t find him.”
-ABC News’ Dia Ostaz
9 UN employees fired after investigation into ties to Oct. 7 attack
The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.
The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated 19 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as part of the probe.
For nine of the staffers, evidence was found that they “may have been involved in the armed attacks,” the U.N. said.
“The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency,” the organization said in a statement.
There was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the other investigated staffers had been involved, they added.
At least 7 Hezbollah attacks Monday
In another active day on the northern Israeli border, Hezbollah launched at least seven attacks on Monday.
The IDF said they “successfully intercepted” the projectiles, and no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a statement they had launched them “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance.”
The IDF also said Monday that they had “identified a terrorist cell operating a drone in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon.”
“Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorists,” they said.
Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.
The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.
Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.
“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.
Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “
Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”
Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.
“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”
(NEW YORK) — A 21-day cease-fire proposal aimed at pausing the conflict in Lebanon has become the latest flashpoint in the strained relationship between the Biden administration and Israel after the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, roundly rejected the terms of the proposal on Thursday.
As the prime minister flew to New York ahead of his Friday address to the annual high-level gathering of the United Nations, his office issued a statement saying he “did not even respond” to the proposal put forth by the U.S. and France, and that he had instructed the Israeli military to continue fighting against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah “with full force.”
Netanyahu’s rejection came just hours after White House officials lauded a joint statement issued by the U.S., the European Union and six other countries endorsing the plan for a 21-day truce, a step heralded as an “important breakthrough.”
Washington said Israel had been consulted before the joint statement was released, but struggled to explain the apparent disconnect.
“We wouldn’t have worked on that statement the way we did. We wouldn’t have issued it when and how we did if it wasn’t supported by the conversations that we were having with top Israeli officials yesterday,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Thursday.
But behind the scenes, several U.S. officials familiar with the negotiations told ABC News they have consistently seen getting Israel to sign off on a truce as an uphill battle.
Israel views a pause as beneficial to Hezbollah because it could allow it to regroup and strike back at Israel following attacks on the militant group’s communication system last week widely attributed to Israel, according to the officials.
They say that the Israeli government also views a truce of any length as running counter to its main aim of allowing people displaced from areas near its northern border to return to their homes as soon as possible.
Israel’s permanent representative to the U.N., Danny Danon, told reporters on Wednesday that Israel would prefer to end its conflict with Hezbollah via diplomacy, but that “if it fails to return our residents to the homes, then we will use all means at our disposal.”
“We are very honest about it,” Danon said, adding that he believed the mediators “know exactly what we want.”
The latest disconnect between the U.S. and Israel appears poised to add additional strain to what was already expected to be a contentious address to the U.N. by Netanyahu on Friday.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned the body’s Security Council on Wednesday that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon.”
The U.N. Refugee Agency added on Thursday that in just 72 hours, more than 90,000 people had been displaced in Lebanon.
Shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Hezbollah — a U.S.-designated terrorist organization — began firing rockets across the Lebanese border with Israel. The low-level conflict continued for nearly a year, repeatedly threatening to escalate before Israel stepped up its military campaign earlier this month.
(LONDON) — At least nine people are dead and over 2,750 people were injured after pager devices owned by a large number of workers in various Hezbollah units and institutions exploded on Tuesday, according to Lebanese officials and the group.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack and vowed it would respond. The apparent attack comes amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression, which also targeted civilians and led to the deaths of a number of martyrs and the injury of a large number with various wounds,” Hezbollah said in a statement. “This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive his just punishment for this sinful aggression, whether he expects it or not.”
The dead and injured included people who are not members of Hezbollah, such as a 10-year-old girl killed in the eastern village of Saraain, according to Hezbollah-owned Al-Ahed News. Two Hezbollah members were also dead, the outlet reported.
“These explosions, the causes of which are still unknown, led to the martyrdom of a girl and two brothers, and the injury of a large number of people with various injuries,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
About 200 of the injuries are critical, meaning they needed surgery, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. Most of the injuries were to the face, hand or abdomen, officials said.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those who had one of the pagers and was injured due to an explosion Tuesday, according to Iranian state TV.
Amani said in a phone call after the incident that he was “feeling well and fully conscious,” according to Iranian state TV.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said it condemned the alleged Israeli attack and have begun preparing a complaint to the Security Council.
The Lebanese Council of Ministers collectively condemned “this criminal Israeli aggression, which constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards,” adding that “the government immediately began making all necessary contacts with the countries concerned and the United Nations to place it before its responsibilities regarding this continuing crime.”
Hezbollah said it is conducting a “security and scientific investigation to determine the causes that led to these simultaneous explosions.”
There have also been high-level contacts between the U.S. and Israel prompted by Tuesday’s incidents in Lebanon, according to a U.S. official.
The U.S. said it had no role in the apparent attack on Hezbollah and no warning that it would happen, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. He also declined to offer an assessment on who could be behind it, saying only that the administration was “gathering information” on the incident.
Miller wouldn’t say whether the administration had any information to doubt Hezbollah’s claim that Israel was behind the explosions and only said that he didn’t want to offer an assessment “one way or the other.” The Israeli government has declined to comment on the matter.
The White House also said it was not aware the attack was going to happen ahead of time and would not speculate on who was behind it, according to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
This attack comes as U.S. diplomats have been working intensely to avoid escalation at Israel’s northern border and amid fears that a full-blown war between the country and Hezbollah, which sits on a vast trove of missiles, could engulf the entire region. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is, coincidentally, on his way to the region and scheduled to land in Egypt on Tuesday night.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke again on Tuesday after speaking on Monday.
The latest conversation was intended “to touch base regarding ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the threats facing Israel, to include the Houthi missile attack over the weekend,” according to Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.
Ryder said America’s focus was to ensure tensions in the region do not escalate.
“We strongly believe that the way to reduce tension along the Israel-Lebanon border is diplomacy,” he said.
Iran and Hezbollah are likely to retaliate for the attack, but it could take them time to do so while they assess what happened, according to a U.S. official. The official also said 50 or more people were targeted in Syria in this attack.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health has issued a statement Tuesday instructing all hospitals in various regions of Lebanon to be on maximum alert and raise their level of readiness to meet the rapid need for emergency health services.
The ministry noted that preliminary information indicates “the injuries were related to the explosion of wireless devices that were in the possession of the injured.”
The ministry also asked all citizens who own pagers to throw them away immediately.
The Lebanese Red Cross said it has deployed “more than 30 ambulances” to help treat and evacuate “the wounded as a result of multiple explosions in the South, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut,” according to a post on its official X account.
The group also added “50 more ambulances and 300 Emergency Medical Technicians [are] on standby to assist in the evacuation of victims.”
About 100 hospitals took in the wounded, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
Back in February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had urged members to stop using mobile phones, saying, “I call for dispensing with cellphone devices at this stage, which are considered a deadly agent.”
ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Shannon K. Kingston and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report