Lebanon Archives - Page 2 of 3

Israel begins ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli ground forces moved into southern Lebanon, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah and opening a new front in a yearlong war against its Iranian-backed adversaries. The Israeli military said Tuesday it has begun a “limited” ground operation against Hezbollah targets it said posed an “immediate threat” to northern Israeli communities. The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah — including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah – and seeks to step up the pressure on the Lebanese militant group. The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong war in 2006.… 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

Israel strikes Hezbollah in a huge blast targeting the militant group’s leader

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military says it struck the headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, causing massive explosions that leveled multiple buildings. Two sources told The Associated Press that the strikes Friday targeted the leader of the militant group, Hassan Nasrallah. At least six people were killed and 91 were wounded in the most powerful blasts in the Lebanese capital in the past year. To a degree unseen in past conflicts, Israel this past week has aimed to eliminate Hezbollah’s senior leadership. Israel’s air forces followed with a new set of strikes early Saturday shortly after an Israeli military spokesman warned residents of several buildings to evacuate, saying they were being used by the militant Hezbollah group.… Continue Reading

Netanyahu, at UN, vows that Israel will keep ‘degrading Hezbollah’ until its objectives are met

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told world leaders at the United Nations that his nation will “continue degrading Hezbollah” until its objectives are met along the Lebanon border. He says his government will would no longer tolerate daily rocket fire from the area. He used a comparison with the United States, asking what Washington would do if attacks turned El Paso and San Diego into ghost towns. He said “enough is enough.” Netanyahu was armed with visual aids as he has been in the past. He defended his nation’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas on Israel that triggered an Israeli military operation that has devastated the Gaza Strip.… Continue Reading

At least 11 killed in Israeli strike that hit a school in northern Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Gaza’s Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike hit a school sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza. At least 11 people were killed on Thursday and 22 others wounded including women and children. The Israeli military says it hit the school in the Jabalia refugee camp and was targeting Hamas militants inside who were planning attacks on Israeli troops. The claim couldn’t be independently confirmed. Israeli forces have repeatedly struck schools. They say Hamas fighters use them as “command centers.” The military says it uses precision weapons to avoid civilian casualties. But the strikes have brought heavy tolls.… 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 tells its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israeli army chief says the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon. He made the statement Wednesday as Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group’s deepest strike yet. Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the latest Israeli airstrikes were designed to ”prepare the ground for your possible entry.” Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed 72 people. That raised the death toll from the past three days to 636, with more than 2,000 people wounded. The U.S., France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire.… 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

Israeli strikes kill 492 in Lebanon’s deadliest day of conflict since 2006

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli strikes on Monday killed more than 490 Lebanese, including more than 90 women and children, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah. Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006. The health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 people — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.… Continue Reading

Hezbollah hits back with rockets as it declares an ‘open-ended battle’ with Israel

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah has launched more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel and Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem said Sunday that his group is now in an open-ended battle with Israel. The rocket barrage overnight was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that have killed dozens, including a veteran Hezbollah commander, and an unprecedented attack targeting the group’s communications devices. Air raid sirens echoed across northern Israel, sending hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into shelters. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was actively engaged “quiet, assertive diplomacy” in hopes of preventing an all-out war.… Continue Reading