Israel, Hezbollah exchange fresh fire on border as region braces for war
LONDON — On Sunday, Hezbollah launched a new round of fire into northern Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces, which is continuing its own campaign of cross-border strikes after a week of high-profile – and very deadly – attacks across Lebanon.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones toward Israel on Sunday, some of them within 45 minutes. Hezbollah said the launch was an “initial response” to Israeli pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon last week.
In a statement, the group said it targeted facilities belonging to a military technology company and the Ramat David military base. Asked about the status of the two facilities, an IDF spokesperson declined to comment.
At least four people in northern Israel were treated for shrapnel wounds, and several others for light and moderate injuries sustained as they rushed to shelters, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service.
The Israeli military said it was striking “Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon” in response, after already bombing 400 targets as of Saturday.
IDF international spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said in a briefing Sunday morning that there had been “heavy rocket fire from Hezbollah” on several areas in the north, with several projectiles landing in areas including Kiryat Bialik, Zur Shalom and Moreshet, all close to the northern city of Haifa and about 20 miles from the Lebanese border.
An excavator removes a charred car at the scene of a strike by Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa district of Israel, September 22, 2024. Hezbollah said on September 22 that it had targeted military production facilities and an air base near Haifa in northern Israel, after the Israeli military pounded southern Lebanon and said it had targeted thousands of rocket launcher barrels.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
“This is an intolerable situation and Israel is committed to taking action to change this reality,” Shoshani said.
Cross-border fire has been almost constant since October 8, when Hezbollah began its attacks in protest against the latest Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which followed the Hamas operation on October 7.
Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon and is backed by Iran, has vowed to continue its attacks until Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza.
Tensions continue to rise on the border between Israel and Lebanon as the war drags on and ceasefire negotiations fail.
Israeli leaders have long called on Hezbollah to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River – about 18 miles from the Israeli border – in accordance with a 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution that sought to end the last major clash between the two sides.
Since October 8, tens of thousands of Israelis have fled their homes in the border region under threat of Hezbollah strikes. Their safe return is a key war goal for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.
The simmering conflict entered “a new phase” last week, in the words of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, after a secret Israeli operation to blow up communications devices carried by Hezbollah members.
Two consecutive days of explosions in Beirut and southern Hezbollah have killed at least 37 people and injured 2,931, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad. At least one explosion was also reported in Syria.
Hezbollah suffered another serious security blow on Friday, when an Israeli airstrike in a densely populated Beirut suburb killed operations chief Ibrahim Aqil and 14 other operatives.
An Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, September 22, 2024.
Baz Ratner/AP
The attack devastated part of the Dahiya area, known as a Hezbollah stronghold, and left at least 45 people dead, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The dead included at least three children aged 4, 6 and 10 and seven women, the ministry said. Dozens of others were injured.
Last week, escalating violence has left the region on the brink of an intensified and expanded conflict. Shoshani said Sunday that three air targets approached Israel from the east overnight, including two from Iraq, and were intercepted. Iraqi militant groups allied with Tehran have claimed several attacks on Israel since Oct. 7.
The Israeli military issued new security guidelines for the north of the country on Sunday, banning educational activities, limiting the size of gatherings and closing beaches.
The Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa said in a statement that it would move all ward patients to a “protected underground hospital.”
The State Department, meanwhile, reissued its Level 4 “do not travel” warning for Lebanon to include threats posed by “recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut.”
The Department’s advice to U.S. citizens in the country – to “depart Lebanon while commercial options remain available” – remains unchanged from its last advisory issued in July.
“Currently, commercial flights are available, but at reduced capacity. If the security situation deteriorates, commercial departure options may become unavailable,” the notice said.
The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, warned in a statement published on X on Sunday: “As the region stands on the brink of imminent catastrophe, it cannot be said often enough: there is no military solution that can make either side safer.”
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the outskirts of the village of Zibqin in southern Lebanon, September 22, 2024. The Israeli military said that more than 100 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on September 22 and that in response to incoming fire from Hezbollah, it launched further strikes on the group’s targets in southern Lebanon.
Kawnat Haju/AFP via Getty Images
ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Dana Savir, Shannon Kingston, Ghazi Balkiz and Victoria Beaule contributed to this report.
