Israel bombards Beirut and Gaza after rockets hit northern Israel – FBC News

(Source: Reuters)

Israel has attacked Hezbollah’s weapons facilities in southern Beirut after the Lebanese armed group fired rockets into northern Israel and a spokesman said a drone was launched at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s holiday home.

Netanyahu was not there at the time and it was not immediately clear whether the building was hit. But he described it as an assassination attempt by “Iran’s proxy Hezbollah” and called it a “serious mistake” as Israel prepares to retaliate for an Iranian rocket fire earlier this month.

The attacks came as medics and Hamas media in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting to eradicate the Palestinian militant group for more than a year, said Israeli bombings had killed more than 100 people in the coastal enclave and that a siege around three hospitals siege had tightened. .

Promises by Israel and its enemies Hamas and Hezbollah to keep fighting have dashed hopes that the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Wednesday could lead to ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon and prevent further escalation in the Middle East .

Officials, diplomats and other sources say that with the US elections looming, Israel is seeking to use intensified military operations to protect its borders and ensure that its rivals cannot regroup.

On Saturday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza with an image of Sinwar and the message: “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza.”

Israeli attacks later on Saturday on a multi-storey building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya killed at least 73 people and injured dozens, medics and Hamas media said.

The Israeli military is verifying reports of casualties from an airstrike in northern Gaza, an Israeli official said, adding that a preliminary investigation found the numbers were exaggerated and did not match information it had received.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, Israel carried out heavy attacks in several locations, causing thick plumes of smoke to hang over the city into the evening.

The attacks targeted “a number of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center,” the Israeli military said.

Israel had issued evacuation orders for four separate suburban neighborhoods and urged residents to keep a distance of 500 meters, but also carried out strikes in other areas, witnesses said.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the southern suburbs – once a densely populated area that was also home to Hezbollah offices and underground installations – since Israel began regular attacks there about three weeks ago.

An Israeli airstrike on September 27 killed Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and attacks nearby killed other top figures of the Iran-backed group.

The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its attacks in and around Beirut, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.