Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

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Israel warns civilians to evacuate as it strikes wide swaths of southern Lebanon The Israeli military is calling on residents of southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where it claims Hezbollah has stored weapons. Read more.

Recent developments: Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes early Monday on southern Lebanon. Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media of their hometowns that were being struck. The state-run National News Agency also reported airstrikes on different areas. The Israeli military’s Arab-language spokesperson said Israel’s air force was attacking Hezbollah targets in different parts of the country.   The two sides exchanged heavy fire on Sunday, with Hezbollah firing over 100 rockets into a wider and deeper area of northern Israel than it has struck previously in months of low-level conflict.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah   Israel raids and shuts down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank   Weaponizing ordinary devices violates international law, United Nations rights chief says

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Is this war? The Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is hard to define — or predict

Israel is bombing targets across many parts of Lebanon, striking senior militants in Beirut and apparently hiding bombs in pagers and walkie-talkies. Hezbollah is firing rockets and drones deep into northern Israel, setting buildings and cars alight.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-conflict-war-57eb5ef4a77f3bcc0d2b920bc4536706?

Israel and Hezbollah renew fire after the deadliest day in Lebanon since 2006 Israel and Hezbollah traded strikes again Tuesday as the death toll from a massive Israeli bombardment climbed to nearly 560 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Read more.

What to know: The renewed exchange came after Monday’s barrages racked up the highest death toll in any single day in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising war in 2006. Thousands of Lebanese fled the southern part of the country after the Israeli military ordered people to evacuate areas where it accuses Hezbollah of positioning rocket launchers and other weapons.   Nearly a year of cross-border fire had already emptied out communities near the border, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides. Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens can return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will keep up its rocket attacks until there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which appears increasingly remote.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ US is sending more troops to the Middle East as violence rises between Israel and Hezbollah   World leaders meet under shadow of global divisions, 3 wars and possible Mideast conflict   WATCH: Israel’s Iron Dome intercepts missiles fired from Lebanon over Haifa

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Middle East

 

Israel launched an intense barrage of airstrikes across Lebanon on Monday, killing nearly 500 people and wounding 1,600 others. The single-day death toll made it the deadliest 24 hours in Lebanon since 2006. Israel and Hezbollah have been mired in conflict for decades — but the two have ramped up their cross-border attacks on each other since the war in Gaza began. Over the past week, Israel's escalated attacks on Hezbollah have again heightened fears of a wider war in the Middle East. Hezbollah warned it would continue striking Israeli targets as long as the war in Gaza goes on, and Israel has not ruled out the possibility of a ground invasion. Iran, too, has warned Israel of "dangerous consequences" following the latest wave of strikes.

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🇮🇱 Biden's big fear comes true

Data: The Institute for the Study of War with AEI's Critical Threats Project. Map: Axios Visuals President Biden has spent nearly a year plotting and praying he could help prevent the war in Gaza from spreading. The rapidly expanding conflict between Israel and Hezbollah signals his power has reached its limit, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. Why it matters: U.S. officials privately admit the massive fighting that's killed at least 560 people in Lebanon over the past two days looks like another war — even if the Biden administration doesn't officially call it one. 🔍 Zoom in: White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer — at an Axios House event in Manhattan yesterday — told Barak the airstrikes and rocket attacks between Israel and Hezbollah could get much worse. "There is a conflict in Lebanon ... but that could be a much bigger war and what we are extremely concerned about is a much bigger war, a wider war," Finer said. After Hezbollah began launching attacks against Israel on Oct. 8, the U.S. tried to contain the conflict and keep it to skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border. U.S. officials began working on a diplomatic solution in an attempt to stop the fighting, push Hezbollah's forces back from the border and allow tens of thousands of civilians to return to their homes on both sides. But as the war in Gaza continued, the skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah slowly and gradually escalated. 🔎 Behind the scenes: A day after senior Biden adviser Amos Hochstein traveled to Israel last week and warned Netanyahu of the negative consequences of a war in Lebanon, Israel conducted the first in a series of deadly attacks: remotely detonating pagers carried by Hezbollah members. Hochstein was livid — not only because the Israelis kept him in the dark about the attack, but because they completely ignored everything he told them, U.S. officials said. 🔭 Zoom out: While some of Biden's advisers saw the Israeli pager attack as "a reckless march to war," at the end of the day the White House accepted what the Israelis describe as a plan of "de-escalation through escalation," U.S. officials said. Some of Biden's aides agreed with the logic of Israel's leaders. Others concluded U.S. influence on Israel's decision-making is now limited. What we're watching: Now the U.S. objective is to prevent an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, and deter Iran from intervening and supporting Hezbollah, U.S. officials said. Keep reading.

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Israel intercepts Hezbollah’s farthest strike yet in 11 months of exchanges Hezbollah launched a missile at Tel Aviv early Wednesday in its deepest strike yet into Israel, marking a further escalation after Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed hundreds of people. Read more.

Recent developments: The Israeli military said it was the first time a projectile fired from Lebanon had reached central Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have targeted an intelligence base near Tel Aviv last month in an aerial attack, but there was no confirmation.   The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Wednesday at the request of France. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 564 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday, including 50 children and 94 women, and that more than 1,800 have been wounded. The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon said one of its staffers and her young son were among those killed Monday in the Bekaa region.   An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Tuesday killed Ibrahim Kobeisi, who Israel described as a top Hezbollah commander with the group’s rocket and missile unit. Hezbollah later confirmed his death.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ What is Hezbollah, the group battling Israel in Lebanon?   US Navy replenishment ship damaged after refueling warships in the Middle East   WATCH: Turkey’s president accuses Israel of carrying out ‘a clear genocide’

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Israel tells its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon Israel is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, its army chief said Wednesday as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets across the border and a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group’s deepest strike yet. Read more.

Recent developments: Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israel’s punishing airstrikes this week were designed to ”prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”   The United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire in the conflict that has killed more than 600 people to “provide space for diplomacy.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that the ceasefire put forward from the U.S. and France was only a proposal and that he has not yet responded.   Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have steadily escalated since war broke out 11 months ago between Israel and Hamas, another Iran-backed militant group. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah   Iran’s president tells the UN that his country wants to play a ‘constructive role’ in world affairs   Thousands are pouring into Syria, fleeing worsening conflict in Lebanon

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Israel-Hamas war latest: Israel carries out attacks in Beirut on Hezbollah targets

The Israeli military says it struck the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut. The series of explosions Friday evening is the most powerful yet seen in the Lebanese capital the past year.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-hezbollah-hamas-latest-mideast-27-september-2024-4dc3676b10be0fe7b41ab6d9cd897014?

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Israel targets Hezbollah leaders

Smoke rises above Beirut's southern suburbs during an Israeli strike today. Photo: AFP via Getty Images Israeli bombs leveled several buildings today in Beirut, in an attempt to kill Hezbollah's leadership. It was the largest Israeli strike in Beirut since 2006. An Israeli source told Axios' Barak Ravid the primary target was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It's not yet clear whether he was killed. IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the attack was aimed at "the central HQ of Hezbollah, which was intentionally built under residential buildings in Beirut in order to use them as human shields." Zoom out: The strike came just two days after the U.S. called on Israel to avoid any further escalation that could spark all-out war. But today's attack was a clear escalation from Israel and suggests Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has little interest in a ceasefire. More than 700 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past 11 days of intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

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

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on Friday in a series of massive explosions that targeted the leader of the militant group and leveled multiple high-rise apartment buildings.

https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-airstrikes-suburb-617575d9c5d7c711bc02e7b81d2ba4ad?

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Israel kills another top Hezbollah official

Damage at the site of the Israeli air strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday. Photo: Ahmad Al-Kerdi/Reuters The Israeli military said today that Nabil Kaouk, a high-ranking Hezbollah official, was killed in another airstrike yesterday. It's the latest in a string of devastating blows to the militant group's leadership. Hezbollah confirmed Kaouk's death and said Ali Karaki, a senior commander, was killed in the same Beirut strike that killed its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah, AP reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of Nasrallah's death: "He wasn't another terrorist. He was the terrorist." ⚡ What we're watching: The Israel-Hezbollah conflict was already spiraling into an all-out war that could pull in Iran. And that was before Israel killed Iran's most powerful ally in the region, Nasrallah, and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general. Israel asked the U.S. to take steps to deter Iran from attacking Israel in response, two Israeli and U.S. officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid. The latest: Iran has been careful to avoid any attack on Israel that could pull it into such a war, but officials in Washington and Jerusalem are worried Friday's strike could push Tehran over the edge. President Biden said he directed the Secretary of Defense to "further enhance the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war." While leaving church on Saturday, Biden responded to a shouted question about whether an Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon was inevitable, saying: "It's time for a ceasefire." Read on. AP images offer a close-up look at the smoldering site of Hezbollah leader's assassination On Sunday, more than two days after a massive Israeli airstrike that killed the leader of the Hezbollah militant group, Associated Press journalists saw smoke still rising over the rubble. People flocked to the site, some to check on what’s left of their homes, others to pay respects and pray. Read more.

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An Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut for the first time in nearly a year of conflict An airstrike leveled an apartment building and killed three Palestinian militants in central Beirut early Monday, as Israel appeared to send a clear message that no part of Lebanon is out of bounds after wiping out much of the Hezbollah militant group’s top command, including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Read more.

Key points: Hezbollah’s deputy leader vowed to continue fighting Israel and said the militant group was prepared for a long war after much of its top command was wiped out. In his first speech since Nasrallah was killed, Naim Kassem said in a televised statement Monday that if Israel decides to launch a ground offensive, Hezbollah fighters are ready to fight and defend Lebanon.   As recently as two weeks ago, such a strike, outside of the main areas where Hezbollah operates and next to a busy transportation hub, would have been seen as an escalation and likely followed by a long-range Hezbollah strike into Israel. But the unspoken rules of the conflict, and Hezbollah’s ability to respond, are no longer clear.   Israel has not claimed Monday’s strike but is widely assumed to have carried it out. Israeli strikes have killed Nasrallah and six of his top commanders in the last 10 days, and have hit what the military says are thousands of militant targets across large parts of Lebanon. Over 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Who were the 7 high-ranking Hezbollah officials killed over the past week?   Israel’s Netanyahu strengthens his hold on office by adding a rival to his Cabinet   Europeans, Arab and Muslim nations launch a new initiative for an independent Palestinian state

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⏱️ Israel plans to invade Lebanon soon

Smoke rises as a building collapses in Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday. AP Photo/Hussein Malla Israel is preparing for an imminent ground invasion of southern Lebanon, which will focus on villages close to the border, two Israeli officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid. Israeli officials say the objective is to "clean up" military positions and infrastructure Hezbollah had established close to the border. 💬 The Biden administration has been urging Israel not to invade Lebanon, and it's privately warned that such an operation will increase support for Hezbollah among ordinary Lebanese people, U.S. officials say. Go deeper.

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Israel begins ground offensive in Lebanon Israeli ground forces crossed into southern Lebanon early Tuesday, marking a significant escalation of an offensive against Hezbollah militants and opening a new front in a yearlong war against its Iranian-backed adversaries. Read more.

Key points: There was no word on how long the operation would last. Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until it is safe for displaced Israelis from border communities to return to their homes.   Israel has been emboldened by its recent battlefield gains against Hezbollah and appears intent on delivering a knockout blow to its archenemy. But a ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of fighting. It also threatens to unleash further devastation on Lebanon, where hundreds have been killed in recent Israeli strikes and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.   Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the country is committed to an immediate cease-fire followed by the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south, in keeping with a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war but was never fully implemented.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Live updates: Israeli military orders the evacuation of nearly two dozen Lebanese communities near the border   How many US troops are in the Middle East?   A former hostage fought for her own life in Gaza. A year on, she fights for her husband’s freedom

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Middle East dominoes

Israeli officials insist their ground invasion of southern Lebanon will be limited in scope and length, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.

• But Israeli officials said that twice before — in 1982 and 2006. Those invasions of their northern neighbor escalated into far wider, deadlier and more protracted conflicts.

Why it matters: That could happen again.

The most dramatic possible consequence of a ground invasion would be convincing Iran to change course and get directly involved to save the militia it has built for decades.

• There's another scenario U.S. officials have been warning about for months: Pro-Iranian militias in Syria, Iraq and Yemen could come to Hezbollah's help, and either send their fighters to Lebanon or open another front through Syria.

🪖 Israeli troops raided southern Lebanon yesterday almost a year after Hezbollah began firing rockets toward Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with Palestinians.

• A senior Israeli official said the ground operation isn't aimed at occupying southern Lebanon — but at destroying Hezbollah outposts, tunnels, launchpads and other military infrastructure.

Map: AP

Israel's stated goal is to get tens of thousands of displaced Israelis back to their homes along the border without the fear of an attack by Hezbollah.

• Israeli officials also say they see this moment to significantly degrade and weaken Hezbollah and its ability to threaten Israel militarily.

🔎 Between the lines: Israel prepared for a confrontation with Hezbollah for 18 years. But many in Israel's defense establishment say they're surprised by how effective their attacks have been so far.

• Israeli officials told Axios that Hezbollah is in disarray with its remaining leadership hiding and its troops with low morale.

👀 Behind the scenes: U.S. officials told Axios the White House and the Pentagon realized their influence on Israeli decision-making regarding the war in Lebanon is limited.

• After telling the Israelis for weeks to avoid a ground invasion, in recent days the White House decided to focus on trying to minimize it as much as possible, officials said.

Reality check: The Biden administration isn't ruling out that the growing military pressure Israel is putting on Hezbollah might yield a diplomatic solution that could include a ceasefire, and weaken Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon and the region.

• "On the one hand, the Israelis really are playing with fire here," a U.S. official told Axios. "But on the other hand, what if it works?"

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Lebanon

 

Israel's military says it has begun a "limited ground operation" in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. It marks the fourth time that Israeli soldiers have publicly entered Lebanese soil in nearly 50 years, and the first since Israel's 34-day war in the country in 2006. There will be "no long-term occupation" of the country, Israeli officials said, but they declined to provide a timeline. Hezbollah said it launched strikes at soldiers in northern Israel following the incursion and vowed to continue fighting Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's blistering escalation defies pressure from the US, a key ally, to reach a ceasefire deal with the Iran-backed militant group.

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After pressing an Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire, the Biden administration shifts its message In carefully calibrated remarks, officials across the Biden administration are defending the surge in attacks by Israel against Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon, while still pressing for peace and vowing retribution after Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday. Read more.

Key points: The full-throated defense of Israel may come with risks. So far, there is little evidence that the Biden administration’s push for a cease-fire and warnings of broadening the conflict have had much impact on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.   Iran said the missiles were partly in response to the recent killing of Hezbollah’s leader and his top commanders. There was little criticism from Biden officials that Israel may have provoked Iran’s assault. “Obviously, this is a significant escalation by Iran,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.   Netanyahu said the missile attack was a failure and that Iran would soon learn a painful lesson. The Israeli military said it intercepted many of the incoming Iranian missiles, though some landed in central and southern Israel and two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel. Several missiles landed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where one of them killed a Palestinian worker from Gaza who had been stranded in the territory since the war broke out.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Follow live: Netanyahu vows to retaliate against Iran’s missile barrage as conflict grows   Palestinians in West Bank risk crossing Israel’s separation barrier to flee failing economy   Republicans are more likely than Democrats to see Israel as a US ally: AP-NORC poll

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Rare Israeli strike in central Beirut kills 7 as troops battle Hezbollah in southern Lebanon An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital. Read more.

What to know: There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central Beirut, not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament.   The strike came after at least eight Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start of what it says is a limited ground incursion earlier this week. The region was meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic missile attack.   Residents reported a sulfur-like smell following the strike in Beirut, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using phosphorous bombs, without providing evidence. Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ What to know about Iran’s missile attack and Israel’s operations in Lebanon and Gaza   Lebanon’s rescuers struggle to respond to Israeli offensive while under fire and using old equipment   Israel’s multilayered air-defense system passes another test in fending off Iranian missile strike

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Live updates: Israel carries out airstrikes in southern Beirut cutting off key border crossing into Syria

An Israeli airstrike has cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria. The airstrike led to the closure of a road near the Masnaa Border Crossing, from where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.

https://apnews.com/live/israel-lebanon-ground-operation-updates?

Middle East

 

The Israeli military vowed to continue striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon after launching fresh airstrikes in the Lebanese capital overnight. Amid escalating tensions, the Middle East is bracing for Israel's response to Iran's ballistic missile attack earlier this week. Analysts say the growing escalations on multiple fronts have put the region on the precipice as the first anniversary of Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel draws nearer. Israeli officials also issued evacuation orders for more villages in southern Lebanon, signaling a broadening of its ground incursion. Roughly 1 million people have been displaced since Israel escalated its war with Hezbollah.

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What to know about Israel’s ground invasion in southern Lebanon

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s ground invasion in Lebanon stretched into its second week, as the Hezbollah militant group fired hundreds of rockets deep into Israel — with no end in sight to the escalating conflict.

https://apnews.com/article/israel-lebanon-what-to-know-hezbollah-incursion-c44358cb4c70db69bdab4b254cb2ed76?

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Israeli evacuation warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians As the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, Lebanese civilians are increasingly paying the price – and this dangerous reality often becomes clear in the middle of the night: That’s when the Israeli military typically warns people to evacuate buildings or neighborhoods to avoid airstrikes. According to the U.N.'s human rights division, one quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders. Read more.

Recent developments: Lebanon's health ministry says at least 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit two areas in central Beirut on Thursday. The air raid on central Beirut — the deadliest in over a year of war — apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods simultaneously, according to an AP photographer at the scene.    The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that its headquarters and positions “have been repeatedly hit" by Israeli forces. Two UNIFIL troops wounded in the attacks and hospitalized are Indonesian, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire at a U.N. base and said it had ordered the peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces.”   Even as attention has shifted to Lebanon, Israel has continued to strike at what it says are Palestinian militant targets across the Gaza Strip. In central Gaza, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people killed at least 27 people, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted Palestinian militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ At least 22 killed in airstrikes in central Beirut   What to know about Israel’s ground invasion in southern Lebanon   UN-backed experts say Israel is destroying Gaza’s health sector and both sides have tortured people

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Israel launches deadly strikes in Lebanon’s Christian heartland On Monday, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in northern Lebanon killed at least 22 people. Israel said it struck a target belonging to Hezbollah, but the United Nations on Tuesday called for an independent investigation. Read more.

What to know: In the village of Aito, in Lebanon’s Christian heartland, rescue workers on Tuesday found more bodies and remains in the rubble, including the body of a child. Aito is far from Hezbollah’s main areas of influence in Lebanon’s south and east. The strike was a shock to residents, and it exacerbated fears that Israel would expand its offensive deeper into Lebanon.   The day after the deadly Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon, the militant group’s acting leader said it would aim rockets into more areas of Israel. Naim Kassem said Hezbollah is focused on “hurting the enemy,” and he signaled it would ramp up attacks further south in Israel, mentioning the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, which have already been targets of attacks.   Some 1.2 million people have fled southern and eastern Lebanon, where the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has been concentrated. Several villages in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley saw intensified airstrikes Tuesday.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Israeli strikes kill at least 15 in Qana, a Lebanese town with a dark history of civilian deaths   US warns Israel to boost humanitarian aid into Gaza or risk losing weapons funding   Israel assures US it won’t strike Iranian nuclear or oil sites, US officials say

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Hezbollah drone hits Netanyahu’s house

An explosive drone launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon hit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private home in the coastal town of Caesarea today.

• Why it matters: This is the first time since the beginning of the war that a target affiliated directly with Netanyahu has been hit, Axios' Barak Ravid writes.

Netanyahu's spokesperson confirmed his private residence was targeted on Saturday morning local time, adding: "The prime minister and his wife were not at the residence at the time of the attack and there were no casualties."

• Three drones were launched from Lebanon and crossed into Israeli airspace.
• Israeli officials say two were intercepted by Israeli attack helicopters but the third eluded them.

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Israel targets Hezbollah’s financial arm and begins striking Beirut Israel’s military announced Sunday it is now taking aim at the Lebanon-based Hezbollah’s financial arm and is attacking a “large number of targets” in Beirut and elsewhere. Explosions began in Beirut’s southern suburbs about an hour later. Read more.

Key points: The strikes will target al-Qard al-Hassan “all over Lebanon,” a senior Israeli intelligence official said. Al-Qard al-Hassan is a Hezbollah unit that’s used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help buy arms, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with army regulations. The registered nonprofit, which has been sanctioned by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, also provides financial services used by ordinary Lebanese.    Al-Qard al-Hassan in a statement called the decision to target it a sign of Israel’s “bankruptcy” and assured customers it had taken “measures” to ensure their funds were safe. A stream of people left the areas surrounding its branches in Beirut.   Israel’s announcement came a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high,” and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Israel apologizes for strike that killed 3 Lebanese soldiers   Israel’s wars are expensive. Paying the bill could force tough choices   In Israeli footage of the last minutes of Hamas leader’s life, some see a symbol of defiance

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🇮🇱 Scoop: Israel's Lebanon demands

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. Photo: Hussein Malla/AP Israel gave the U.S. a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon and allow displaced civilians from both sides of the border to return to their homes, two U.S. officials and two Israeli officials told Axios' Barak Ravid. Why it matters: The Israeli Prime Minister's Office gave the paper to the White House ahead of a visit by President Biden's envoy to Beirut today to discuss a diplomatic solution to the conflict, Israeli officials said. Behind the scenes: One Israeli demand is that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) be allowed to engage in "active enforcement" to make sure Hezbollah doesn't rearm and rebuild its military infrastructure in the areas of southern Lebanon that are close to the border, an Israeli official said. The official added that Israel also demands its air force have freedom of operation in Lebanese air space. Last night, the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes across Lebanon against dozens of targets affiliated with Hezbollah's bank, including a building in Beirut, the IDF said. An Israeli intelligence official told reporters the Hezbollah bank received hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran annually.

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Israeli airstrikes

Israel launched more airstrikes on Beirut over the weekend, targeting a financial institution linked to Hezbollah. The Iran-backed militant group uses the institution to pay salaries to its operatives and provide support to civilians, Israeli officials said. Since Israel ramped up strikes against Hezbollah last month, more than 1,800 people have been killed across Lebanon. The UN separately warned that the Israeli military may be destroying the Palestinian population in northern Gaza through "death and displacement," as it urged Israel to follow a top UN court order to prevent genocide. An Israeli strike on northern Gaza over the weekend killed at least 87 people, the enclave's health ministry said, during a renewed Israeli military offensive there.