Israel extends evacuation warnings in Lebanon, signaling a broader offensive

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military on Thursday warned people to evacuate communities in southern Lebanon that lie outside a U.N.-declared buffer zone, signaling a ground operation against the militant Hezbollah group that began earlier this week could expand.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces said they struck around 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons depots and observation posts. Strikes continued overnight as a series of massive explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs. It was not immediately clear what the target was or whether there were any casualties.

The fighting has forced almost 1.2 million people from their homes in Lebanon, the country's crisis team said on Thursday.

At least nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start of what it said was a limited ground offensive earlier this week. The fighting comes as the region prepares for Israel's response An Iranian ballistic missile attack.

Attacks kill and injure first responders

The World Health Organization reported that 28 health workers were killed in Lebanon last day and access to medical care is becoming increasingly limited as three dozen health facilities in the south were closed and five hospitals in Beirut were either partially or completely evacuated.

Lebanon's health minister said Israeli attacks that hit nine hospitals and 45 health centers violated international law and treaties.

“The international laws protecting these people – I mean medics – are clear,” said Firas Abiad. “Who gave Israel the right to be judge and executioner at the same time?”

The Lebanese Red Cross said an Israeli attack injured four of its medics and killed a Lebanese army soldier as they evacuated wounded people from the south. It said the convoy near the village of Taybeh, which was accompanied by Lebanese troops, was targeted on Thursday despite coordinating its movements with U.N. peacekeepers. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Another Lebanese soldier was killed by Israeli fire at an army post in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, the Lebanese military said it returned fire. A Lebanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the army post was hit by artillery fire.

An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut late Wednesday killed nine people, including seven civilian first responders who were close to Hezbollah. Israel has been attacking areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck the heart of the capital.

There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment not far from the UN headquarters, the prime minister's office and parliament.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 18 people were killed in an Israeli attack in the West Bank

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 18 people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday. It was the deadliest attack in the occupied territory since the Israel-Hamas war broke out last October.

The Israeli army said the attack killed the Hamas leader in Tulkarem. Hamas condemned the attack but did not confirm whether any of its members were killed.

The military said the attack was carried out in coordination with the internal security service Shin Bet, but gave no details about the target. Tulkarem is a militant stronghold in the northern West Bank. It remained unclear how many people were injured in the explosion.

Violence has erupted in Israeli-occupied territories since the Israeli-Hamas war broke out last October. Tulkarem and other towns in northern Palestine experienced some of the worst violence. Palestinian militant groups are active throughout the northern West Bank, areas where the Palestinian Authority has limited influence.

Fighting is escalating in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said on Thursday that at least 15 Hezbollah fighters had been killed in its attacks in Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. But if the claim is true, it would be the latest in a series of assassinations of senior Hezbollah officials in recent weeks, including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli military also announced Thursday that it had killed a senior Hezbollah fighter, Mohammed Anisi, who was involved in the group's development of precision-guided missiles. Anisi was killed in an airstrike on the group's intelligence division in Beirut, the army said.

Hezbollah said its fighters detonated a roadside bomb as Israeli forces entered the Lebanese border village of Maroun el-Ras, killing and wounding soldiers. It was not possible to independently confirm either side's claims.

So far, ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters has been limited to a narrow strip along the border.

But hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homesas Israel has warned people to evacuate from dozens of villages and towns in the south and urged them to relocate to areas about 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and significantly further north than the Litani River.

According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the months-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, the militants should withdraw north of the Litani and Lebanese forces should patrol the border region along with UN peacekeepers.

Neither the Lebanese army nor peacekeepers have been able to force a deal on Hezbollah, and Israel says it has defied the resolution and built extensive military infrastructure in towns and villages near the border. Lebanon has accused Israel of violating other parts of the resolution.

After nearly a year of rocket attacks that began on October 8 and displaced about 60,000 Israelis from communities in the north, Israel says it has targeted Hezbollah. Israel carried out retaliatory strikes last year that displaced tens of thousands on the Lebanese side.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have resulted in deaths in recent weeks Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, hundreds of additional airstrikes on large parts of Lebanon have killed at least 1,276 people since mid-September. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed and more than 9,000 injured in Lebanon since fighting began nearly a year ago.

The vast majority of recent attacks have taken place in areas where Hezbollah has a large presence.

After the Iranian missile attack, fears of a larger war are increasing

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they fired two drones into Tel Aviv overnight. The military said it identified two drones off the coast of the busy metropolitan area and shot down one while the other crashed in the Mediterranean.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are part of the Iranian-led axis of resistance, which also includes armed groups in Syria and Iraq. They have launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians, retaliating in a cycle that has repeatedly threatened the threat of a major war.

The region appears to be on the brink of such conflict again following Tuesday's Iranian missile strike in response to the assassination of Nasrallah, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general who was with him Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamaswho died in an explosion in Tehran in July that was widely blamed on Israel.

Israel and the United States have said the barrage, which left two people slightly injured and a Palestinian dead in the occupied West Bank, will have serious consequences. Military leaders from both countries have regularly discussed “what a response to Iran should look like,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Thursday.

President Joe Biden said Thursday evening that he believes all-out war can be avoided.

“I think we can avoid it, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he told reporters as he returned to the White House from a visit to areas hit by a recent hurricane. He added: “We will help Israel.”

A spokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations warned against a coordinated military operation with Israel.

“Should a country provide assistance to the attacker, it will be considered both an accomplice and a legitimate target,” the spokesman said in a statement on Thursday.

Israel says it has killed a senior Hamas leader in Gaza

Escalating violence in Lebanon has opened a second front in the war between Israel and Iran-backed militants that began nearly a year ago Hamas surprise attack on October 7th from the Gaza Strip to Israel.

The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed a senior Hamas leader in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip about three months ago. It said Rawhi Mushtaha and two other Hamas commanders were killed in an attack on an underground compound in northern Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Mushtaha was a close confidant of Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader who planned the October 7 attack. Sinwar is believed to be alive and hiding in Gaza.

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Jeffery reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Zeina Karam in London contributed to this report.

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