Israel Hezbollah War Highlights: Iran preparing to launch missile attack, says US as Israel strikes Beirut

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had not detected an incoming aerial strike from Iran "for now", after a US official said there were indications of an imminent missile attack.

"For now, we have not detected any aerial threat launched from Iran," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, adding that the Israeli army was "prepared to defend and attack" Iran in the event of a strike launched from the Islamic republic.

Lebanon's Iran-aligned Hezbollah movement said on Tuesday it had launched missiles towards Sde Dov airbase on the outskirts of the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Iran is preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel, the United States said on Tuesday, warning that any such assault would have "severe" consequences for Tehran.

The warning came as Israel said it had launched a ground offensive in Lebanon to target the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, whose leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike last week.

"The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel," a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack."

The United States and other western allies stepped in to help defend Israel against a combined Iranian missile and drone attack in April, which Tehran launched in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The US official added: "A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran."

However, Israel army says not detected 'aerial threat' from Iran 'for now'.

Israel carried out two attacks on Beirut on Tuesday afternoon, striking the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital and the city's southern entrance, two security sources said.
A high-rise building was hit in the city's Jnah area, the sources said.

The Israeli military said it was targeting the Lebanese capital and had carried out a "precise strike."

The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, a senior White House official said on Tuesday.

The United States is actively supporting preparations to defend Israel against this and a direct military attack on Israel by Iran would carry severe consequences for Iran, the official said.

The Israeli army mobilised four additional brigades to be deployed in missions along the northern border, the military said on Tuesday, after launching ground operations targeting Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon overnight.

"This will enable the continuation of operational activity against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and the achievement of operational goals, including the safe return of the residents of northern Israel to their homes," the army said in a statement.

Israel announced that it is now targeting Lebanon's capital Beirut. Meanwhile, Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu tell Israeli's to heed safety instructions from home front command.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned Israel's ground operation into Lebanon and urged the United Nations and other international organisations especially to stop Israel without "wasting any more time".

"Whatever it does, Israel will be stopped sooner or later," Erdogan told the Turkish parliament at the opening of the legislative year

Dutch national carrier KLM on Tuesday extended a suspension of flights to Israel until the end of the year, citing the deteriorating situation in the region.

"Given the situation in the region we've decided to extend a suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of the year," KLM spokeswoman Elvira van der Vis said.

Lebanon's official news agency said an Israeli strike early Tuesday killed six people including three children and the son of a militant in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp.

A Palestinian camp official had told AFP earlier that an Israeli strike targeted the house of the son of a top Palestinian militant in the Ain al-Helweh camp on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.

"The Israeli raid targeted the house of the son of Mounir Maqdah" in the Ain al-Helweh camp, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

It was unclear if Maqdah -- who Israel has accused of heading the Lebanese branch of Fatah's armed wing -- was at the property.

The official National News Agency said his son Hassan Maqdah, his wife and four other people -- a woman and three children -- had been killed.

The Israeli military in August said it had killed Mounir Maqdah's brother, Khalil Maqdah, described by Fatah as "one of the leaders" of its armed wing in Lebanon.

Israel had accused him of "directing attacks and smuggling weapons" to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Fatah is based, and of collaborating with Iranian forces.

The strike overnight is the latest targeting Palestinian armed group leaders or members in Lebanon.

"So for the last eleven months, Hezbollah has been firing rockets at Israel indiscriminately. We have been calling for diplomatic action to no avail. We have been waiting and focusing our attention on the south until we had right now the attention span to hit Hezbollah back. For the last about two weeks, we have been targeting Hezbollah high-ranked officials. As I'm sure that you're aware, we can say that in the last 24 hours, we have begun a ground operation to try to eliminate more terrorists on the ground..."

Israel has struck at least three anti-aircraft radar stations in southern Syria, including one stationed in a military airfield, two Syrian military sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The drone strikes hit two radar stations west of the city of Sweida, including one stationed in an airbase in the area.

Another hit a radar station in the adjoining Daraa province. They are part of the Syrian army’s air defences in the southern region, one of the sources added.

Israel said commando and paratroop units launched raids into Lebanon on Tuesday as part of a "limited" ground incursion, while Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had fired a barrage of missiles into Israel, including at its spy agency near Tel Aviv.

Israeli forces have been carrying out raids into southern Lebanon for months, uncovering Hezbollah tunnels and weapon caches under homes and uncovering invasion plans by the group, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday.

Hagari said the details were being declassified, hours after Israel announced a ground operation against the Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.

Dozens of such operations had uncovered detailed plans by Hezbollah to enter Israel and carry out an attack similar to the one led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year.

The findings and evidence discovered under homes in villages in southern Lebanon during the raids will be presented to the international community, Hagari said. He presented videos from soldiers' body-cameras and maps

Israel Bonds, the country's borrowing vehicle for diaspora bonds, is on track for a fresh fundraising record in 2024, surpassing the $2.7 billion it raised last year, its president told Reuters.

The US-based group is also considering launching in two new European countries in 2025 in addition to its operations in Britain, France and Germany.

"These are really record-breaking numbers," Israel Bonds President Dani Naveh said.

While in a typical year the group raises an average of $1 billion, its current 2024 totals have already surpassed $2.1 billion, he said.

It recently launched a "107" campaign urging investors to buy $107 of bonds to commemorate the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

"We had the surge of investments around different kinds of conflicts and adversaries that Israel has faced in the past, but nothing compared to what we have witnessed since Oct. 7."

China said on Tuesday it was "highly concerned" after Israel said it launched a ground offensive into neighbouring Lebanon, escalating the conflict after a week of air strikes that killed hundreds.

"China is highly concerned about the current situation between Lebanon and Israel and is deeply concerned about the further escalation of regional tensions due to related military actions," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli military extended home front safety restrictions on Tuesday to many towns and cities across the country, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The military limited gatherings and said people must be near bomb shelters.

Russia urged Israel to "immediately" pull its troops out of southern Lebanon on Tuesday, after the Israeli military began what it called "limited" raids against Hezbollah militants in the area.

"Russia strongly condemns the attack on Lebanon and calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately cease hostilities, withdraw their troops from Lebanese territory and engage in a real search for peaceful ways to resolve the Middle East conflict," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli military warned several southern Lebanese communities near the border to leave their homes Tuesday, shortly after starting what it called a limited operation against Hezbollah targets.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning Monday to Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas. “There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach," Netanyahu said, just days after an airstrike south of Beirut killed the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is backed by Tehran.

Hezbollah’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, promised the group will fight on following the death Friday of its long-time chief Hassan Nasrallah. Israel has also assassinated several of the group’s top commanders in recent days. Kassem said the group’s fighters are ready and the slain commanders have already been replaced.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after Hamas sent fighters into Israel and sparked the war in Gaza. It's been almost a year since some 250 people were abducted from Israel, and friends and family are worried about their loved ones as attention turns away from hostages and north toward Lebanon.

British foreign secretary David Lammy said nobody wanted a return to the past with Israel fighting in southern Lebanon over a long period, adding the price of a regional Middle Eastern war would be "huge".

"None of us want to return to the years in which Israel found itself bogged down in a quagmire in southern Lebanon," Lammy said.

"None of us want to see a regional war. The price would be huge for the Middle East and it would have a significant effect on the global economy."

The Kremlin said on Tuesday it was deeply concerned about Israel's military activity in Lebanon and a reported strike on the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Israel said on Tuesday that intense fighting had erupted with the Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon after its paratroops and commandos launched raids there, at the start of a ground incursion that followed airstrikes against Hezbollah's leadership.

Separately, Syrian state media said on Tuesday morning that three civilians had been killed and nine others injured in an Israeli airstrike on Damascus.

"We are witnessing together that the geography of hostilities is expanding, which is further destabilising the region and increasing tensions. These tensions are destructive to the region and the surrounding areas. We remain deeply concerned," Peskov said.

He added that Moscow was in constant contact with Damascus.

"We see no immediate risks at the moment, but of course we condemn such strikes against a sovereign state," said Peskov

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Tuesday that no Israeli troops had crossed over into Lebanon after Israel said it was carrying out limited raids there.

"All the Zionist claims that (Israeli) occupation forces have entered Lebanon are false claims," a Hezbollah spokesman told the Al-Jazeera broadcaster in a statement then published on Hezbollah channels, adding there had "not yet been any direct ground clash between (Hezbollah) resistance fighters and (Israeli) occupation forces".

Hezbollah has denied that Israeli troops have entered Lebanon but says its fighters are ready for a “direct confrontation” if they cross the border.

In its first statement since Israel announced the start of ground operations, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afifi said reports that Israeli forces had entered Lebanon were “false claims.”

He said Hezbollah fighters are ready “to have direct confrontation with enemy forces that dare to or try to enter Lebanon to inflict casualties among them.”

He also said Hezbollah's firing of medium-range missiles toward central Israel earlier on Tuesday “is only the beginning.”

rael should cease conducting ground raids in southern Lebanon to avoid an escalation of the conflict enveloping the region, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters on Tuesday.

Since February 2022, Spain has commanded the United Nations' Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and deployed 650 troops along the southern Lebanese border with Israel.

The head of Hezbollah's media office, Mohammad Afif, said on Tuesday that no Israeli troops have entered Lebanese territory, and warned that the group's strikes on Tel Aviv hours earlier were "only the beginning".

In a written statement to Reuters, Afif said Hezbollah had not engaged in "direct ground clashes" with Israeli troops, but that it would be ready to do so

A Houthi spokesman claimed responsibility for drones launched from Yemen that targeted the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Eilat on Tuesday morning. The Israel defence forces confirmed intercepting a UAV several kilometres off the coast of Tel Aviv but have not commented on any incidents in the area of Eilat.

ebanese militant group Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had targeted the Israeli military intelligence base of Glilot near Tel Aviv.

The Iran-backed group "launched salvoes of Fadi 4 rockets at the Glilot base of the military intelligence's unit 8200 and the Mossad headquarters located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv," it said in a statement.

After an Israeli strike killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah in the Beirut suburbs on Friday, the group said it had dubbed the operation "at your service Nasrallah".

Nasrallah in late August said his group had launched a large-scale attack on Israel, targeting "the Glilot base -- the main Israeli military intelligence base".

The Israeli army said Hezbollah had failed to strike the installation at the time.

Consul General of Israel to South India, Orli Weitzman, addressed the escalating tensions in middle east, emphasizing Israel's commitment to finding a peaceful resolution.

Weitzman, has reaffirmed Israel's commitment to achieving peace and emphasized that Israel's primary objective is to resolve conflicts through diplomatic means, but stressed that the country will take necessary measures to defend itself if diplomacy fails.

Speaking to news agency ANI, "Our country has been dealing with terrorists from Gaza and the attack we suffered on 7th October," Weitzman said.

"Now the situation is such that after a year, we have to return the citizens who have been displaced from their homes in northern Israel," she added.

Further, Weitzman cited Hezbollah's refusal to implement UN Resolution 1701 as a major obstacle to peace.

"Hezbollah was not willing to implement UN Resolution 1701. It would have allowed Israelis living in the northern borders to live peacefully," she said.

Israel and the United States agree on the importance of dismantling Hezbollah's "attack infrastructure" along the Israel-Lebanon border, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said on X on Tuesday after speaking to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overnight.

The UN peacekeeping force said on Tuesday the Israeli army had notified it of its intention to undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon.
UNIFIL said in a statement that despite the developments in Lebanon, peacekeepers remained in position. It urged all actors to step back from escalatory acts.

"Any crossing into Lebanon is in violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a violation of (UN Security Council) resolution 1701," UNIFIL said.

UNSC 1701 ended the month-long 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel and called for a full Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and that the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers be the only armed force south of the Litani River.

The Israeli military urged residents of more than 20 towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X.

Turkey on Tuesday condemned Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon as an "unlawful invasion attempt" and called for the withdrawal of its troops.

"This attack must end as soon as possible and Israeli soldiers must withdraw from Lebanese territory," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli army said its troops were locked in fierce clashes in Lebanon after launching a ground offensive Tuesday, escalating the conflict after a week of air strikes that killed hundreds.

The ground assault came as Israel targeted south Beirut, Damascus and Gaza, despite international calls for restraint to avoid a regional conflagration.

"Israel's violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country by launching a ground attack on Lebanon is an unlawful invasion attempt," the foreign ministry said.

Ankara warned that is likely to trigger a new wave of migrants.

The Israeli military urged residents of more than 20 towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X.

A UK government-chartered flight will on Wednesday fly out of Lebanon those British nationals who want to leave following escalating violence in the region. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy's announcement on Monday evening comes amid growing safety concerns following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut at the weekend.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously called on British nationals in Lebanon to "leave immediately" as tensions continue to mount in West Asia.

Lammy, who described the situation in Lebanon as "volatile" and warned it could "deteriorate quickly", said in a statement: "The safety of British nationals in Lebanon continues to be our utmost priority."

"That's why the UK government is chartering a flight to help those wanting to leave. It is vital that you leave now as further evacuation may not be guaranteed," he said.

According to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), British nationals, their spouse or partners and children under the age of 18 are eligible to be accommodated on the charter flight which is due to leave Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport on Wednesday.

The FCDO said it has been working with partners in recent weeks to increase capacity on commercial flights to enable British nationals to leave, with the chartered flight intended to provide additional capacity.

Hezbollah on Tuesday said it had targeted the Israeli military intelligence base of Glilot near Tel Aviv.

The Iran-backed group "launched salvoes of Fadi 4 rockets at the Glilot base of the military intelligence's unit 8200 and the Mossad headquarters located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv," it said in a statement.

Air raid sirens sounded in central Israel Tuesday with the military saying projectiles had been fired from Lebanon.

"Sirens sounded in central Israel following projectile launches that crossed from Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

Police said one projectile hit a road near the central town of Kfar Kassen, wounding a man who was struck by shrapnel and treated by emergency services.

The cross-border fire from Lebanon came as Israel launched what it called limited ground operations in southern Lebanon and also targeted south Beirut, Damascus and Gaza amid a flurry of fighting.

Early Tuesday, Israel's military said its forces, backed by air strikes and artillery, carried out "targeted ground raids" on Hezbollah positions in settlements along the border.

It said the targets posed an "immediate threat" to northern Israeli communities, and warned Lebanese civilians against driving in a southern zone along the border.

Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which triggered Israel's devastating assault on the Gaza Strip.

Syrian state media said three civilians were killed in Israeli air strikes on Damascus early Tuesday and nine others wounded, citing a military source.

"The Israeli enemy launched an air aggression with warplanes and drones from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several points in Damascus," the official news agency SANA said.

"Three civilians were killed and nine others injured," it added.

On Tuesday, Lebanon's prime minister and a UN humanitarian agency announced a joint appeal for over $400 million to tackle the humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel's offensive on Lebanon.

"Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza today launched a $426 million flash appeal to mobilize urgent resources for civilians affected by the escalating conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Lebanon," the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.

Air raid sirens were activated in central Israel Tuesday, AFP reported, with the military saying projectiles had been fired from Lebanon. "Sirens sounded in central Israel following projectile launches that crossed from Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said “Hezbollah had prepared to use those villages — as staging grounds for an October 7-style invasion…into Israeli homes. Hezbollah planned to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities, and massacre innocent men women and children.”

Lebanon's prime minister said Tuesday his country was facing "one of the most dangerous phases of its history", urging the United Nations to provide aid for one million people displaced by Israeli air strikes.

"Around a million of our people have been displaced because of the devastating war that Israel is waging on Lebanon," said Najib Mikati according to the National News Agency. "We urgently call for more aid to reinforce our ongoing efforts to provide basic support to displaced civilians," he said in a meeting with UN representatives.

German airline group Lufthansa said Tuesday it had extended its suspension of flights to Beirut and Tel Aviv, citing "the current situation in the Middle East".

Flights to Beirut will now be suspended up to and including November 30, while those to Tel Aviv will be cancelled until October 31, the group said in a statement.

Flights to Tehran remain cancelled until October 14. "We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers," it added.

Israeli military spokesman says 'Our war is with Hezbollah, not the people of Lebanon'

A vessel reported being hit by an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) 64 nautical miles northwest of Yemen's Hodeidah on Tuesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency.
The vessel reported seeing four splashes close by, and that all crew were safe and it was proceeding to its next port of call, the agency added.

Yemen's Houthi movement targeted Israeli military posts in Tel Aviv and Eilat with drones on Tuesday, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.