Beirut Archives

Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah start a ceasefire after nearly 14 months of fighting

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting linked to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes meanwhile carried out the most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs since the start of the conflict and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people were killed in strikes across the country, according to local authorities, as Israel signaled it aims to keep pummeling Hezbollah before the ceasefire is set to take hold at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. President Joe Biden, speaking in Washington, called the agreement “good news” and said his administration would make a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza.… Continue Reading

A rare Israeli strike on central Beirut kills Hezbollah’s spokesman, official says

BEIRUT (AP) — A rare Israeli airstrike on central Beirut has killed Hezbollah’s chief spokesman. An official with the militant group confirmed that Mohammed Afif was killed on Sunday. The latest in targeted killings of senior Hezbollah officials came as Lebanese officials consider a United States-led cease-fire proposal. Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered. In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people. And two flares fired overnight at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence have been blamed on domestic critics as frustrations over the war in Gaza remain high.… Continue Reading

The US is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel’s attack plans

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. Three U.S. officials told The Associated Press an investigation is ongoing, and it is still known if the documents were leaked or hacked. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear to be legitimate. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the leak of the two documents that first appeared online Friday on the messaging app Telegram. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.… Continue Reading

Hezbollah confirms that an Israeli strike killed a top official, the 7th such death in recent days

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says it has killed another high-ranking Hezbollah official in an airstrike. The announcement came as the Lebanese militant group is reeling from a string of devastating blows and the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The military said Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council, was killed on Saturday. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, and it was not known where the strike took place. If confirmed, he would be the seventh senior Hezbollah leader slain in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. The Israeli military said it carried out another targeted strike on Beirut later on Sunday, with details to follow.… Continue Reading

Netanyahu vows to use ‘full force’ against Hezbollah and dims hopes for a cease-fire

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli prime minister appears to be downplaying hopes of an imminent truce with Hezbollah after the United States and its allies called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to “provide space for diplomacy.” In a statement released as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was headed to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, his office said there was only a proposal on the table and that he had not yet responded to it. The statement also denied that there had been any directive to ease up on fighting on the northern border with Lebanon. The comments raised questions about a new international initiative to halt increasingly heavy exchanges of fire that have killed hundreds of people in Lebanon and threatened to trigger an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.… Continue Reading

Israel says it killed a Hezbollah commander as the two sides exchange more strikes

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military says it has killed a top commander with Hezbollah’s missile and rocket unit in a strike in Beirut. Military officials made the announcement Tuesday about Ibrahim Kobeisi. They said he was responsible for launches towards Israel. The military also said “other key commanders” were with Kobeisi at the time of the strike, but officials did not say whether any of the others were killed or wounded.… Continue Reading

Rare Israeli airstrike in Beirut kills Hezbollah commander and more than a dozen others

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel has launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated southern Beirut neighborhood. It was the deadliest such strike on Lebanon’s capital in decades, with Lebanese authorities reporting at least 14 people killed and dozens more wounded in the attack. The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiya district killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, as well as 10 other Hezbollah operatives. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described the Israeli strike that targeted Akil as part of “a new phase of war.” Several hours later, Hezbollah confirmed Akil’s death.… Continue Reading

Hezbollah attacks Israel with drones as fears of a widening war mount

BEIRUT (AP) — A new Hezbollah volley into northern Israel signals the group is keeping up its drumbeat of exchanges with the Israeli military. Lebanon was still reeling from this week’s unprecedented mass bombings via electronic devices, widely believed to be an attack by Israel. Over two days hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies largely used by Hezbollah detonated, killing at least 32 people, including two children, and wounding 3,000 others. The latest Hezbollah volley, which wounded eight in Israel, was a signal it would continue the fire after the attack and even as Israeli has warned of a possible escalated military operation in Lebanon.… Continue Reading

Hezbollah hit by a wave of exploding pagers in Lebanon and Syria. At least 9 dead, hundreds injured

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a young girl. Officials in Lebanon say more than 2,700 were wounded on Tuesday, 200 critically. Hezbollah officials tell The Associated Press that the explosions affected a new brand of pagers used by the militant group. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel. AP has reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.… Continue Reading