Israel strikes Beirut suburbs, northern Lebanon; more strikes in Gaza

By Melanie Lidman and Bassem Mroue

Oct. 5, 2024 Updated 2:08 PM PT

TEL AVIV —

Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon on Saturday, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and hitting a Palestinian refugee camp deep in northern Lebanon for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.

The attack on the Beddawi refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli killed an official with Hamas’ military wing, along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said.

Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. Residents confronted the aftermath: smashed buildings, scattered bricks and stairways to nowhere.

Israel’s military said it killed two senior officials with Hamas’ military wing in Lebanon, where fighting has sharply escalated. Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, in addition to most of the top leadership of Hezbollah.

At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks.

Plumes of smoke dominated the skyline over Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah commanders and military equipment and aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders so displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and Israel’s military have traded fire almost daily.

On Tuesday, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after it killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others in a series of attacks. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.” The minister did not name the countries putting forward initiatives, saying they include regional states and some outside the Middle East.

Araghchi spoke a day after the supreme leader of Iran praised its recent missile strikes on Israel and said it was ready to do it again if necessary.

On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.” On Lebanon, he said ”we are not done yet.”

Fleeing Lebanon on foot

Israel’s military on Saturday said about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Most were intercepted, but several fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were injured.

At least six people in Lebanon were killed in more than a dozen Israeli airstrikes Friday night and Saturday, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency.

The Israeli military said special forces were carrying out targeted ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying missiles, launchpads, watchtowers and weapons storage facilities.

Nearly 375,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria fleeing Israeli strikes in less than two weeks, according to a Lebanese government committee. Associated Press journalists saw thousands of people continuing to cross the Masnaa border crossing on foot even after Israeli airstrikes left huge craters in the road leading up to it.

“We were on the road for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one of many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are now heading back. “The roads were very crowded … it was very difficult. We almost died getting here.”

More strikes and evacuation orders in Gaza

Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the nearly yearlong war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but they indicate that at least half of the dead are women and children. Almost 90% of Gaza’s residents are now displaced, amid widespread destruction.

Palestinian medical officials said Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza on Saturday killed at least nine people. One in the northern town of Beit Hanou killed at least five, including two children, according to the Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service. Another hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least four, Awda hospital said.

The Israeli military did not have any immediate comment on the strikes, but it has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas.

An Israeli airstrike killed two children in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood, according to the civil defense first responders’ group that operates under the Hamas-run government.

The Israeli military warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, which was at the heart of obstacles to a cease-fire deal this summer. The military told people in parts of the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps to evacuate to Muwasi, an area along Gaza’s shore that the military has designated a humanitarian zone.

It’s unclear how many Palestinians are living in the areas ordered evacuated, parts of which were evacuated previously.

Lidman and Mroue write for the Associated Press.