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The Israeli military on Tuesday warned people to evacuate nearly two dozen Lebanese border communities hours after launching what it said was a limited ground incursion against the Hezbollah militant group. Hezbollah denied Israeli troops had entered but said it was ready to battle them. The military advised people to evacuate north of the Awali River, some 60 kilometers (36 miles) from the border and much farther than the Litani River, which marks the northern edge of a U.N.-declared zone that was intended to serve as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah after their 2006 war. “You must immediately head north of the Awali River to save yourselves, and leave your houses immediately,” said the statement posted by the Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, on the platform X. Israel’s warning suggests push deeper into Lebanon The border region has largely emptied out over the past year as the two sides have traded fire. But the scope of the evacuation warning raised questions as to how deep Israel plans to send its forces into Lebanon as it presses ahead with a rapidly escalating campaign against Hezbollah. Israeli troops were so far within walking distance of the border, focused on villages hundreds of meters (yards) from Israel, an Israeli military official said earlier, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations. The official said there had been no clashes yet with Hezbollah fighters. Israel begins ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon Hezbollah denied that Israeli troops had entered Lebanon but said its fighters are ready if they do. In its first statement since Israel announced the start of ground operations, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif dismissed what he said were “false claims” of an Israeli incursion. He said Hezbollah is ready for “direct confrontation with enemy forces that dare to or try to enter Lebanon.” Israel strikes more targets and Hezbollah fires rockets Israeli artillery units pounded targets in southern Lebanon through the night and the sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut. The official said Hezbollah had launched rockets at central Israel, setting off air raid sirens and wounding a man in his 50s. Hezbollah said it fired salvos of a new kind of medium-range missile, called the Fadi 4, at the headquarters of two Israeli intelligence agencies near Tel Aviv. Afif, the Hezbollah spokesman, said the missile attack “is only the beginning.” The Israeli military official said Hezbollah had also launched projectiles at Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without wounding anyone. Israel says it launched ‘localized raids’ Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military’s top spokesperson, said troops were conducting “localized ground raids” on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon to ensure that Israeli citizens could return to their homes in the north. Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes and the conflict has steadily escalated. In recent weeks Israel has unleashed a punishing wave of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders, as well as many civilians. Hagari said the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006 had not been enforced and that southern Lebanon was “swarming with Hezbollah terrorists and weapons.” That resolution had called for Hezbollah to withdraw from the area between the border and the Litani River and for the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers to patrol the region. Israel says those and other provisions were never enforced. Lebanon has long accused Israel of violating other terms of the resolution. There was no immediate confirmation from the Lebanese army nor the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, that Israeli forces had crossed the border. UNIFIL said the military had notified it the day before of its “intention to undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon” and described it as a “dangerous development.” It noted that any such incursion would also violate the U.N. resolution and urged both sides to de-escalate. Israeli official says no plans to march on Beirut Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Monday that his country is willing to deploy the army in support of the resolution if there is a cease-fire. Lebanon’s armed forces would not be able to impose an agreement on the far more powerful Hezbollah. The military statements indicated that Israel might focus its ground operation on the narrow strip along the border, rather than launching a larger invasion aimed at destroying Hezbollah, as it has done in Gaza against the Palestinian Hamas. The military official said marching to Beirut, as Israeli forces did during their 1982 invasion of Lebanon, is “not on the table.” Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies backed by Iran, and each escalation over the past year has raised fears of a wider war in the Middle East that could draw in Iran and the United States, which has rushed military assets to the region in support of Israel. The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah — including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader Nasrallah — and seeks to step up the pressure on the group. The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong war in 2006. There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the army said soldiers had been training and preparing for the mission in recent months. A ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of fighting. It also threatens to unleash further devastation on Lebanon. Over 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli strikes over the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate, and both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown. Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah indicate that Israel has infiltrated deep inside the group’s upper echelons. Hezbollah vowed Monday to keep fighting even after its recent losses. The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement Monday that Hezbollah would be ready for a ground operation. He said commanders killed in recent weeks have already been replaced. European countries have begun pulling their diplomats and citizens out of Lebanon. A British government-chartered flight is due to leave Beirut on Wednesday to evacuate U.K. nationals. The U.K. has also sent 700 troops to a base in th nearby island nation of Cyprus to prepare for a potential evacuation of the estimated 5,000 British citizens 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. The incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by Israel against Hezbollah — including an airstrike that killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah — and seeks to step up the pressure on the group, which began firing rockets into northern Israel after the start of the war in Gaza. The last time Israel and Hezbollah engaged in ground combat was a monthlong war in 2006. The Israeli military said in a brief statement that it began “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. “These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” it said. There was no word on how long the operation would last, but the army said soldiers had been training and preparing for the mission in recent months. Israel has said it will continue to strike the group until it is safe for displaced Israelis from border communities to return to their homes. Ahead of the Israeli announcement, United States officials said Israel launched small ground raids inside Lebanon, and Israel declared three small border communities to be a “closed military zone,” restricting access only to army personnel. There were no reports of direct clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants. But throughout the evening, Israeli artillery units pounded targets in southern Lebanon and the sounds of airstrikes were heard throughout Beirut. Smoke rose from the capital’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, shortly after Israel ordered residents of three buildings to evacuate. Israel launches risky phase of fighting 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. Hezbollah is a well-trained militia, believed to have tens of thousands of fighters and an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles. The last round of fighting in 2006 ended in a stalemate. Both sides have spent the past two decades preparing for their next showdown. While Hezbollah has built up a formidable arsenal, Israel has invested great sums into training and intelligence gathering. Recent airstrikes wiping out most of Hezbollah’s top leadership and the explosions of hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah indicate that Israel has infiltrated deep inside the group's upper echelons. Hezbollah vowed Monday to keep fighting even after its recent losses. The group’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, said in a televised statement that Hezbollah would be ready for a ground operation. He said commanders killed in recent weeks have already been replaced. The man widely expected to take over the top post from Kassem is Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs. Israel shifts attention from Gaza to Lebanon Israeli strikes in recent weeks 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 in the past two weeks, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry. Early Monday, an airstrike hit a residential building in central Beirut, killing three Palestinian militants, as Israel appeared to send a message that no part of Lebanon is out of bounds. Israel declared war against the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since then, coming close to a full-fledged war on several occasions but stepping back from the brink. In recent weeks, Israel’s war against against Hamas has scaled back and it turned its focus northward toward Lebanon, stepping up the attacks on Hezbollah. Israeli leaders say they want Hezbollah to implement the U.S. resolution that ended the 2006 war, which required the group to withdraw some 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the Israeli border. Key setbacks for Hezbollah Hezbollah has suffered key setbacks in recent weeks. Before Nasrallah’s assassination, a series of mysterious explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies blamed on Israel killed or wounded hundreds of people, many of them Hezbollah members. And Israeli airstrikes have killed most of the group’s senior commanders. But Hezbollah continued to launch rockets and missiles into Israel and is still believed to have thousands of fighters near the Israeli border. Israeli leaders for years have accused Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters inside homes and other civilian structures in border villages. Tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled southern Lebanon in recent weeks fearing an Israeli military onslaught. Hezbollah has few air defenses, giving the Israeli air force freedom of action over Lebanon’s skies. But a ground operation will be much more challenging, with Hezbollah forces embedded and hiding in local communities and familiar with the local terrain. Still, Hezbollah’s capabilities are unclear. It’s possible Hezbollah is holding back to save resources for a bigger battle. But the militant group might also be in disarray after Israeli intelligence apparently penetrated its highest levels. Some European countries began pulling their diplomats and citizens out of Lebanon on Monday. Germany sent a military plane to evacuate diplomats’ relatives and others. Bulgaria sent a government jet to get the first group of its citizens out. Israel has a long and bloody history in Lebanon. It briefly invaded in 1978 in a strike against Palestinian militants. It invaded again in 1982 in an operation that turned into an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon. The stepped-up action against Hezbollah also could raise the risk of a broader region-wide war as Israel confronts a series of foes backed by archenemy Iran. Israel carried out an airstrike in Yemen against the Houthi militia in response to a series of missile strikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also threatened Iran, warning the Tehran government that Israel is capable of striking anywhere in the Middle East. The United States and its allies — including France, which has close ties to Lebanon — have called for a cease-fire, hoping to avoid further escalation that could draw in Iran and set off a wider war. But Netanyahu has shown little interest, as his country racks up military achievements against a longtime foe. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, visiting Beirut on Monday, urged Israel to refrain from a ground offensive. He also called on Hezbollah to stop firing on Israel, saying the group “bears heavy responsibility in the current situation, given its choice to enter the conflict.” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, speaking after meeting with Barrot, 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.

In just over a week, intensified Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed seven high-ranking commanders and officials from the powerful Hezbollah militant group, including the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah. The move left Lebanon and much of the Mideast in shock as Israeli officials celebrated major military and intelligence breakthroughs. Hezbollah had opened a front to support its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip a day after the Palestinian group's surprise attack into southern Israel. The recent strikes in Lebanon and the assassination of Nasrallah are a significant escalation in the war in the Middle East, this time between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanon's most powerful military and political force now finds itself trying to recuperate from severe blows, having lost key members who have been part of Hezbollah since its establishment in the early 1980s. Chief among them was Nasrallah, who was killed in a series of airstrikes that leveled several buildings in southern Beirut. Others were lesser-known in the outside world, but still key to Hezbollah’s operations. Hassan Nasrallah Since 1992, Nasrallah had led the group through several wars with Israel, and oversaw the party's transformation into a powerful player in Lebanon. Hezbollah entered Lebanon's political arena while also taking part in regional conflicts that made it the most powerful paramilitary force. After Syria's uprising 2011 spiraled into civil war, Hezbollah played a pivotal role in keeping Syrian President Bashar Assad in power. Under Nasrallah, Hezbollah also helped develop the capabilities of fellow Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Yemen. Nasrallah is a divisive figure in Lebanon, with his supporters hailing him for ending Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, and his opponents decrying him for the group's weapons stockpile and making unilateral decisions that they say serves an agenda for Tehran and allies. Nabil Kaouk Kaouk, who was killed in an airstrike Saturday, was the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council. He joined the militant group in its early days in the 1980s. Kaouk also served as Hezbollah’s military commander in south Lebanon from 1995 until 2010. He made several media appearances and gave speeches to supporters, including in funerals for killed Hezbollah militants. He had been seen as a potential successor to Nasrallah. Ibrahim Akil Akil was a top commander and led Hezbollah's elite Radwan Forces, which Israel has been trying to push further away from its border with Lebanon. He was also a member of its highest military body, the Jihad Council, and for years had been on the United States' wanted list. The U.S. State Department says Akil was part of the group that carried out the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and orchestrated the taking of German and American hostages. Ahmad Wehbe Wehbe was a commander of the Radwan Forces and played a crucial role in developing the group since its formation almost two decades ago. He was killed alongside Akil in an airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs that struck and leveled a building. Ali Karaki Karaki led Hezbollah's southern front, playing a key role in the ongoing conflict. The U.S. described him as a significant figure in the militant group's leadership. Little is known about Karaki, who was killed alongside Nasrallah. Mohammad Surour Surour was the head of Hezbollah's drone unit, which was used for the first time in this current conflict with Israel. Under his leadership, Hezbollah launched exploding and reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, penetrating its defense systems which had mostly focused on the group's rockets and missiles. Ibrahim Kobeissi Kobeissi led Hezbollah's missile unit. The Israeli military says Kobeissi planned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli soldiers at the northern border in 2000, whose bodies were returned in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah four years later. Other senior commanders killed in action Even in the months before the recent escalation of the war with Hezbollah, Israel's military had targeted top commanders, most notably Fuad Shukur in late July, hours before an explosion in Iran widely blamed on Israel killed the leader of the Palestinian Hamas militant group Ismail Haniyeh. The U.S. accuses Fuad Shukur of orchestrating the 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen. Leaders of key units in the south, Jawad Tawil, Taleb Abdullah, and Mohammad Nasser, who over several decades became instrumental members of Hezbollah’s military activity were all assassinated. Who is left? Nasrallah’s second-in-command Naim Kassem is the most senior member of the organization. Kassem has been Hezbollah’s deputy leader since 1991, and is among its founding members. On several occasions, local news networks were quick to assume that an Israeli strike in southern Beirut may have targeted Kassem. Kassem is only top official of the militant group who has conducted interviews with local and international media in the ongoing conflict. The deputy leader appears to be involved in various aspects of the militant group, both in top political and security matters, but also in matters related to Hezbollah’s theocratic and charity initiatives to the Shia Muslim community in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Hashim Safieddine who heads Hezbollah’s central council, is tipped to be Nasrallah’s successor. Safieddine is a cousin of the late Hezbollah leader, and his son is married to the daughter of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was slain in a U.S. drone strike in 2020. Like Nasrallah, Safieddine joined Hezbollah early on and similarly wears a black turban. Talal Hamieh and Abu Ali Reda are the two remaining top commanders from Hezbollah who are alive and apparently on the Israeli military’s crosshairs.

A prominent general in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard died in an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, Iranian media reported Saturday. The killing of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan marks the latest casualty suffered by Iran as the nearly yearlong Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip teeters on the edge of becoming a regional conflict. His death further ratchets up pressure on Iran to respond, even as Tehran has signaled in recent months that it wants to negotiate with the West over sanctions crushing its economy. Nilforushan, 58, was killed Friday in the strike in Lebanon in which Nasrallah died, the state-owned newspaper Tehran Times reported. Ahmad Reza Pour Khaghan, the deputy head of Iran’s judiciary, also confirmed Nilforushan's death, describing him as a “guest to the people of Lebanon," the state-run IRNA news agency said. Khaghan also reportedly said that Iran had the right to retaliate under international law. Nilforushan served as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard, a role overseeing its ground forces. What he was doing in Lebanon on Friday wasn't immediately clear. The Guard's expeditionary Quds Force for decades has armed, trained and relied on Hezbollah as part of its strategy to rely on regional militias as a counterbalance to Israel and the United States. Nilforushan, like other members of the Guard that view Israel as Iran's main enemy, long mocked and criticized the country. “The Zionist regime has many ethnic, cultural, social and military rifts. It is in vulnerable and in doom status more than before,” Nilforushan said in 2022, according to an IRNA report. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Nilforushan in 2022 and said he had led an organization “directly in charge of protest suppression.” Those sanctions came amid the monthslong protests in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly not wearing her headscarf, or hijab, to the liking of police. At the time, Nilforushan accused Iran's enemies abroad of stoking the demonstrations led by Iranian women that challenged both the mandatory hijab and the country's theocracy. Nilforushan also served in Syria, backing President Bashar Assad in his country’s decades-long war that grew out of the 2011 Arab Spring. Like many of his colleagues, he began his military career in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. In 2020, Iranian state television called him a “comrade” of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of its expeditionary Quds Force who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Baghdad that year. Nilforushan's death comes as Iran in recent months has been signaling it wants to change its tack with the West after years of tensions stemming from then-President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal of America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. In July, Iranian voters elected reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian following a helicopter crash that killed President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protege to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. While critical of Israel, Pezeshkian has maintained that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear program, which now enriches uranium to near weapons-grade levels. While Iran has been able to sell oil abroad despite sanctions, it likely was at a steep discount and energy prices have fallen further in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Iran still threatens to retaliate for Soleimani's killing and the suspected Israeli assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in July. Iran hasn't explained why it hasn't struck yet, though an unprecedented direct attack it launched in April on Israel failed to seriously damage any major target.

The Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah was a “measure of justice" for victims of a four-decade “reign of terror,” President Joe Biden said Saturday. The comments came after Lebanon’s Hezbollah group confirmed earlier Saturday that Nasrallah, one of the group’s founders, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day. Biden noted that the operation to take out Nasrallah took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas’ massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. “Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a ‘northern front’ against Israel,” Biden said in a statement. He also noted that Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s watch has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese. Hezbollah attacks against U.S. interests include the truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy and multinational force barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the kidnapping of the Central Intelligence Agency chief of station in Beirut, who died while held captive. The U.S. said Hezbollah leaders armed and trained militias that carried out attacks on American forces during the war in Iraq. The White House sees the death of Nasrallah as a huge blow to the group. At the same time, the administration has sought to tread carefully as it has tried to contain Israel 's war with Hamas, which, like Hezbollah, is backed by Iran, from exploding into an all-out regional conflict. The White House and Pentagon were quick on Friday, shortly after the strike, to say publicly that Israel offered it no forewarning of the operation. “President Biden and I do not want to see conflict in the Middle East escalate into a broader regional war,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement Saturday that echoed Biden's description of a “measure of justice.” She added, “Diplomacy remains the best path forward to protect civilians and achieve lasting stability in the region.” The confirmation of Nasrallah's death comes during a week that began with Biden’s top national security aides working on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to build support for a 21-day Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire that they hoped might also breathe new life into stalled efforts to secure a truce in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a defiant speech Friday to the United Nations, vowing to keep up operations against Hezbollah until tens of thousands of Israeli citizens displaced by rocket attacks can return home. Shortly after, Israel carried out the strike killing Nasrallah. Biden reiterated on Saturday that he wants to see cease-fires both in Gaza and between Israel and Hezbollah. “It is time for these deals to close, for the threats to Israel to be removed, and for the broader Middle East region to gain greater stability,” Biden said. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused the United States of supporting the killing that took out Nasrallah and dozens of others. “The world community will not forget that the order of the terrorist strike was issued from New York and the Americans cannot absolve themselves from complicity with the Zionists,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying in a statement read on Iranian state television. The State Department on Saturday ordered the departure of the families of U.S. diplomats who are not employed by the embassy in Beirut and authorized the departure of those who are, as well as nonessential employees because of “the volatile and unpredictable security situation” in Lebanon’s capital. The U.S. embassy in Beirut also posted a link to an online form that Americans in Lebanon can complete if they are interested in possible assistance leaving the country. The embassy stressed that it was not organizing evacuations and that there are still commercial means to leave, but the request for information appeared to suggest that such plans may be in the works. The State Department has previously advised American citizens to consider leaving Lebanon and reiterated its warning against all travel to the country. “Due to the increased volatility following airstrikes within Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the department said in a statement Saturday. The State Department routinely orders or authorizes the departure of nonessential embassy staffers and the families of diplomats when security conditions deteriorate in the country where they are posted. An ordered departure is not technically an evacuation but does require those affected to leave. An authorized departure allows those affected to leave the country voluntarily at government expense. Biden, who was spending the weekend at his vacation home in Delaware, and Harris, who was campaigning in California, held a call with national security aides on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Middle East. In a brief exchange with reporters as he left church on Saturday, Biden did not directly respond to questions about the conflict potentially escalating further. “It’s time for a cease-fire,” he said. The president on Friday directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary the U.S. force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection and support the full range of U.S. objectives. He called for the assessment after the Pentagon earlier in the week announced it was sending an unspecified number of additional U.S. troops to the region because of rising tensions.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who transformed the Lebanese militant group into a potent paramilitary and political force in the Middle East, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, the group said. He was 64. Nasrallah, who spearheaded Hezbollah's war against Israel in 2006 and got the group heavily involved in neighboring Syria’s brutal conflict, was killed in a massive Israeli airstrike on the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik Friday evening that knocked down several multistory apartment buildings. “His eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary-general, had joined his fellow great martyrs whom he had led for 30 years from one victory to another,” Hezbollah said in a statement. It added that Nasrallah “fell as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem.” Fears of a regional warNasrallah's death comes amid a dizzying escalation in the nearly yearlong conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, since the war in Gaza started, and more than three decades after he took leadership of the Iranian-backed militant group following the killing of his predecessor by an Israeli missile in 1992. Five years later, the United States designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and Hamas, an allied Iran-backed militant group. Israel has responded with increasingly heavy airstrikes and the targeted killing of Hezbollah commanders while threatening a wider operation. This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising 2006 monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah. First, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used mainly by Hezbollah members exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny responsibility. Nasrallah had promised to retaliate. Then, Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 700 people in five days, including at least 150 women and children, according to Lebanese authorities. Nasrallah had said the barrages would continue — and Israelis wouldn't be able to return to their homes in the north — until Israel’s campaign in Gaza ended. Seen by his supporters as a charismatic and shrewd strategist, Nasrallah had reshaped Hezbollah into an archenemy of Israel, cementing alliances with the ayatollahs in Tehran and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas. Idolized by his Lebanese Shiite followers and respected by millions of others across the Arab and Islamic world, Nasrallah held the title of sayyid, an honorific meant to signify the Shiite cleric's lineage dating back to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam. Nasrallah’s image appears on billboards in the group’s strongholds across Lebanon — especially in southern Beirut, Hezbollah's headquarters — and on trinkets in souvenir shops not only in Lebanon but also in countries such as Syria and Iraq. Despite the power he wielded, Nasrallah lived largely in hiding in the last years of his life for fear of an Israeli assassination, giving speeches to followers via a satellite link. A fiery orator viewed as an extremist in the U.S. and much of the West, as well as in some oil-rich Gulf Arab countries, he was also considered a pragmatist compared with the firebrand militants who dominated Hezbollah after its founding in 1982, during Lebanon's civil war. War after war in the Middle EastUnder Nasrallah, Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate during the 34-day war in 2006 and was credited with leading the war of attrition that led to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in 2000, after an 18-year occupation. Nasrallah's eldest son, Hadi, was killed in 1997, while fighting against Israeli forces. When Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011, Hezbollah fighters rushed in, siding with Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces — even though Hezbollah's popularity took a dive as the Arab world ostracized Assad. Along with Damascus' key allies Russia and Iran, Hezbollah played a major role in helping Assad stay in power and eventually retake territory lost in the early years of the conflict. Hezbollah saw its popularity among Arabs surge again when it came to the defense of Hamas, opening a front with Israeli forces along the Israel-Lebanese border barely a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 hostage, triggering one of the most destructive military campaigns in modern history. Israel's subsequent aerial bombardment and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. In June 2024, Nasrallah warned Israel that Hezbollah had new weapons and capabilities. Nasrallah also claimed that Hezbollah now has a far higher number of fighters than the 100,000 figure he gave three years earlier. The early yearsNasrallah, the eldest of nine siblings, was born into a poor family in Beirut’s impoverished northern suburb of Sharshabouk. In 1975, the Lebanese civil war forced the family to flee south, to their ancestral home in Bazzouriyeh, a village near the ancient Phoenician port city of Tyre. There, Nasrallah joined the Amal movement, a political and paramilitary organization representing the once-marginalized Shiites in Lebanon, and soon began his rise as a revolutionary. At the age of 16, he went to Iraq's holy Shiite city of Najaf where the leader of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, lived in exile at the time and taught theology. Later, Nasrallah studied in the city of Qom, the seat of Iran’s religious hierarchy. Nasrallah was among Hezbollah’s founders when the party was formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who came to Lebanon in the summer of 1982 to fight invading Israeli forces. He built a power base as Hezbollah over time became part of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the Axis of Resistance. It was also the first group that Iran backed and used as a way to export its brand of political Islam. Two days after its leader, 39-year-old Sayyed Abbas Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter gunship raid in south Lebanon, Hezbollah chose Nasrallah as its secretary-general in February 1992. Like Musawi, Nasrallah was committed to the struggle against Israel and Khomeini’s anti-Western teachings, and famously declared: “America will remain the dreadful enemy and Israel a cancerous growth that should be uprooted.” A black-turbaned cleric or a militant leader?Wearing spectacles and sporting a bushy gray beard like many religious Shiite men, Nasrallah's image was far from that of a militant who commanded thousands of heavily armed, well-trained and battle-hardened followers. He often paused in his speeches to make jokes or break into local dialect and once, responding to a reporter asking about his monthly salary during a television interview, Nasrallah said it was about $1,300. Following the end of Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war, Nasrallah gradually turned the organization into a “state within a state,” with an elaborate social welfare network that provided schools, clinics, and housing in the impoverished and predominantly Shiite parts of Lebanon. After Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Nasrallah rose to iconic status both within Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. His messages were beamed on Hezbollah's own radio and satellite TV station. In a famous speech marking the Israeli withdrawal, he said: “It (Israel) has a nuclear weapon and the strongest air force in the region, but in truth, it is weaker than a spider’s web.” As Israel, and later Syria, pulled their armies out of Lebanon, Nasrallah began to steer Hezbollah increasingly into the realm of politics. In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the first after Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon, Hezbollah made substantial gains and joined the Cabinet for the first time, holding two seats. Politics and warIn July 2006, after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack, Israel launched a monthlong massive air, sea and ground campaign against Lebanon. Nasrallah’s home and offices and much of the group’s infrastructure were destroyed, as well as much of south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs. Hezbollah fired around 4,000 rockets into Israel and after 34 days of fighting, a truce took effect and Nasrallah declared a “divine victory” over Israel. While he was cheered for standing up to the Israeli army, Nasrallah was criticized by many for providing the spark for that war during which more than 1,200 people died in Lebanon — most of them civilians — and 159 in Israel. Nasrallah later expressed regret — an unprecedented move for him — and said during a televised interview that Hezbollah had not expected “even one percent” that the capture of the Israeli soldiers “would lead to a war of this magnitude.” “You ask me, if I had known ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not,” he said. In May 2008, Hezbollah’s reputation suffered a setback when its fighters briefly seized much of west Beirut, turning their guns on local Lebanese foes after the government took measures against the group's private telecommunications network. In the years that followed, a U.N.-backed tribunal in the Netherlands sentenced three Hezbollah members in absentia to five concurrent life sentences over the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah ignored the tribunal and repeatedly denied its members were involved in the massive suicide bombing along the Beirut corniche that killed Hariri and 21 others, an attack that deeply divided Lebanon. During the Arab Spring uprisings against autocratic governments, Hezbollah's close alliance with Syria and Iran opened the group to accusations that it was merely a well-armed tool of Damascus and Tehran. Hezbollah was also pulled into the regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia and in 2016, the Saudi-led, six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization. But Hezbollah's anti-Israel campaign remained at its forefront as the group continued to build up its arsenal of tens of thousands of missiles, including precision-guided missiles, as well as drones. After 2006, the Lebanon-Israel border remained mostly calm until Hamas' October 2023 deadly incursion into Israel. The next day, Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military posts and drawing Israeli fire in what became near-daily exchanges. Nasrallah said the aim was to ease the tension from the Gaza Strip. Nasrallah is survived by his wife, Fatima Yassin. He also has three sons Jawad, Mohammed-Mahdi and Mohammed Ali, and a daughter Zeinab, as well as several grandchildren.

European, Arab and Islamic nations have launched an initiative to strengthen support for a Palestinian state and its institutions, and prepare for a future after the war in Gaza and escalating conflict in Lebanon, Norway’s foreign minister said Friday. Espen Barth Eide told The Associated Press that “there is a growing consensus in the international community from Western countries, from Arab countries, from the Global South, that we need to establish a Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian government, a Palestinian state — and the Palestinian state has to be recognized.” Eide said many issues need to be addressed, including the security interests of Israel and the Palestinians, recognition and normalization of relations after decades of conflict and the demobilization of Hamas as a military group. “These are pieces of a bigger puzzle,” Norway’s chief diplomat said. “And you can’t just come in there with one of these pieces, because it only works if all the pieces are laid in place.” But even if the puzzle is completed, it's unlikely to gain traction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Still, Eide believes that after decades of failed or stalled negotiations, “we need to take a new approach” to achieving an independent Palestinian state. To accelerate work on these issues, Eide said almost 90 countries attended a meeting Thursday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s current gathering of world leaders. He and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister co-chaired the session to launch “The Global Alliance for the Implementation of a Palestinian State and a Two-State Solution.” “We have to see how we can come out of this deadlock and try to use this deep crisis also as an opportunity to move forward,” Eide told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Gaza later Friday. Norway is the guarantor of the 1993 Oslo Accords, hailed as a breakthrough in the decades-long conflict between Arabs and Jews, which created the Palestinian Authority and set up self-rule areas in the Palestinian Authority. Eide said more than 30 years later, Israel’s “occupation” is continuing, and there there are no negotiations leading to a final settlement and an independent Palestinian state — which led to Norway’s decision in May to recognize a Palestinian state. Now, 149 of the U.N.’s 193 member nations have recognized a Palestinian state. Eide urged all countries “to contribute to universal recognition” and strengthen Palestinian institutions so they live up to the expectations of people in the West Bank and are prepared to return to Gaza: “We want one Palestine, not different Palestines,” he said. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that his country, the joint Islamic-Arab ministerial committee, Norway and the European Union launched the alliance “because we feel responsible to act to change the reality of the conflict without delay.” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged all countries to take practical measures “to bring about the free Palestine next to a secure Israel.” Borrell said on X that the first meetings of the alliance would be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Brussels. Borrell asked rhetorically of anyone who opposes a two-state solution: What is the solution, and can it be implemented? He stressed that work on this initiative will move ahead quickly. Eide said this new effort is built on the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, “but updated to today’s reality.” The 2002 initiative, endorsed by the Arab League and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, offered Israel normalized relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from territories captured in 1967. He said efforts started long ago to build the institutions of a Palestinian state. “It’s difficult,” Eide said. “Their hands are tied in many ways. We’re seeing an increasing amount of illegal settlements and settle violence.” “But still, there is an embryonic institution there that we have to strengthen,” he said. Eide said he chaired a meeting Thursday of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for the Building of Palestinian Institutions, with the United States, Canada, the EU and many Mideast and European countries contributing. “None of these tools will solve the problem on their own, and we never pretended that, but we’re trying to build a body of instruments that will take us forward to a peaceful settlement,” Eide said. “And I am convinced it will happen here.”

The Israeli military said Friday it struck the headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, where a series of massive explosions leveled multiple buildings and sent clouds of orange and black smoke into the sky in the biggest blasts to hit the Lebanese capital in the past year. At least two people were killed and dozens were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Three major Israeli TV channels said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The unsourced reports could not immediately be confirmed by The Associated Press, and the army declined comment. But given the size and timing of the blasts, there were strong indications that a senior leader may have been inside the buildings struck. In a possible further sign of the strikes’ significance, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the United States and was returning home instead of waiting until the end of Sabbath on Saturday evening, his office said. Israeli politicians do not normally travel on the Sabbath except for matters of great import. Hours earlier, Netanyahu addressed the U.N., vowing that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah would continue — further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire. News of the blasts then came as Netanyahu was briefing reporters traveling with him. A military aide whispered into his ear, and Netanyahu quickly ended the briefing. To a degree unseen in past conflicts, Israel this past week has aimed to eliminate Hezbollah’s senior leadership. Israeli army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the strikes targeted the main Hezbollah headquarters, located beneath residential buildings. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s office said he was huddling with the head of Israel’s air force and other top commanders at military headquarters, following updates. The series of gigantic blasts at around nightfall reduced six buildings to rubble in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburbs, according to Lebanon’s national news agency. The shock wave rattled windows and shook houses some 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut. TV footage showed several craters — one with a car toppled into it — amid collapsed buildings in the densely populated, predominantly Shiite neighborhood. First responders were still searching under the rubble hours later as others struggled to put out fires. The full scope of casualties was not immediately clear, the health ministry said, adding that 15 of the 76 wounded had been hospitalized. Many people who live in the vicinity were seen gathering belongings and fleeing along a main road out of the district. Nasrallah has been in hiding for years, very rarely appearing in public. He regularly gives speeches – but always by video from unknown locations. The site hit Friday evening had not been publicly known as Hezbollah’s main headquarters, though it is located in the group’s “security quarters,” a heavily guarded part of Haret Hreik where it has offices and runs several nearby hospitals. The Pentagon said the U.S. had no advance warning of the strikes. Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is determined to put an end to more than 11 months of Hezbollah fire into its territory. The scope of Israel’s operation remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the militant group away from the border is a possibility. Israel has moved thousands of troops toward the border in preparation. Israel’s strikes this week have killed more than 720 people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics. A predawn strike Friday in the mainly Sunni border town of Chebaa hit a home, killing nine members of the same family, the state news agency said. A resident identified the dead as Hussein Zahra, his wife Ratiba, their five children and two of their grandchildren. At the U.N., Netanyahu vowed to “continue degrading Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals. His comments dampened hopes for a U.S.-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal. Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians. Since then, it and the Israeli military have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border. An Israeli security official said he expects a possible war against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in Gaza, because the Israeli military’s goals are much narrower. In Gaza, Israel aims to dismantle Hamas’ military and political regime, but the goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from the border with Israel -- “not a high bar like Gaza” in terms of operational objectives, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to military briefing guidelines. The Israeli military said it carried out dozens of strikes around the south Friday, targeting targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and infrastructure. It said Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Tiberias. In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, civil defense workers pulled the bodies of two women – 35-year-old Hiba Ataya and her mother Sabah Olyan – from the rubble of a building brought down by a strike. “That’s Sabah, these are her clothes, my love,” one man cried out as her body emerged. Israel says its accelerated strikes this week have already inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s weapons capabilities and its fighters. But the group boasted a large arsenal of rockets and missiles and its remaining capacities remain unknown. Hezbollah officials and their supporters remain defiant. Not long before the explosions Friday evening, thousands were massed in another part of Beirut’s suburbs for the funeral of three Hezbollah members killed in earlier strikes, including the head of the group’s drone unit, Mohammed Surour. Men and women in the giant crowd waved their fists in the air and chanted, “We will never accept humiliation” as they marched marched behind the three coffins, wrapped in the group’s yellow flag. Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah’s top official in Beirut, said in a speech that no matter how many commanders Israel kills, the group has endless numbers of experienced fighters who are deployed all over the front lines. Fadlallah vowed that Hezbollah will keep fighting until Israel stops its offensive in Gaza. “We will not abandon the support of Palestine, Jerusalem and oppressed Gaza,” Fadlallah said. “There is no place for neutrality in this battle.”

When she first heard about the evacuation warnings Israel was sending to residents of Lebanon, Aline Naser’s thoughts immediately turned to Gaza. For the past year, the 26-year-old Beirut resident has been following with horror the reports about besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip ordered to move from one place to the other, fleeing to “humanitarian zones” only to be bombed and ordered to leave again. The Israeli calls for Lebanese citizens to evacuate ahead of a widening air campaign, delivered via mobile phone alerts, calls and leaflets this week, seemed chillingly familiar. “It’s definitely something on the back of my mind, and we don’t really know where exactly is safe,” she said. Almost a year after the start of its war in Gaza, Israel has turned its focus on Lebanon, significantly ratcheting up its campaign against its archenemy Hezbollah. Among many in Lebanon, there is fear that Israel’s military operations in Lebanon would follow the same Gaza playbook: Evacuation orders, mass displacement and overwhelming airstrikes. Israel says its strikes target Hezbollah weapons sites and militants. There are key differences between Gaza and Lebanon and how Israel has so far conducted its operations, which it says aim to push back Hezbollah from the border so that tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah's rocket attacks can return to their homes. Although it has said it is preparing for a possible ground operation, Israel has so far not sent troops into Lebanon. Still, there are fears that Israel’s actions in Gaza, including the use of overwhelming and what rights groups and the United Nations have described as disproportionate force, would be repeated in Lebanon. Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues. On Monday, Israel struck 1,600 targets across Lebanon, killing 492 people and wounding 1,645, and causing a massive wave of displacement as thousands fled from south Lebanon north. It was a staggering one-day toll that shocked a nation used to war. It was by far the deadliest barrage since the monthlong 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, when an estimated 1,000 people in Lebanon were killed. Throughout the day, the Israeli military sent warnings to residents to immediately evacuate in anticipation of the strikes and to stay away from places where Hezbollah stores weapons — something most would have no way of knowing. “Please get out of harm’s way now,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a recorded message. “Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.” Israel’s evacuation orders have been a central part of its military campaign in Gaza for the past year. In the first week after launching war, Israel ordered 1.1 million civilians in the Gaza Strip to relocate from the north to the south, sowing confusion and fear in the overcrowded enclave. Since then, the Israeli military has issued dozens of evacuation orders calling on Palestinians to evacuate to Israeli-designated "humanitarian zones.” Israeli officials say they are targeting Hamas militants who have embedded themselves among the population. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza. The Health Ministry, part of the territory’s Hamas government, does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says that just over half the dead have been women and children.” With Gaza's borders sealed, residents of the crammed territory are trapped with nowhere to go, whereas in Lebanon, those fleeing Israeli strikes have been able to move to safer areas. Thousands have fled to neighboring Syria, while others have left through the country’s airport. A second front for IsraelHezbollah started firing rockets on Israel in support of Gaza on Oct. 8, a day after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 250. Since then, the two sides have been engaged in cross border strikes that have gradually escalated and displaced tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border. Many Lebanese have been following the growing hostilities with a mixture of nonchalance and dread, hoping they would remain contained. Lebanon has been in the throes of an economic meltdown since 2019 and can ill afford another devastating war with Israel. Hostilities escalated dramatically last week when thousands of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, killing dozens of people and leaving thousands, including many civilians, with severe injuries to the eyes, face and limbs. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack. Israel has also killed several top Hezbollah commanders in Beirut. Meanwhile, intensifying Hezbollah barrages have wounded several people in Israel. As the region appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, Jana Bsat, 25, who works for a media analysis company in Beirut, said she now has a bag packed, ready for immediate evacuation. She feels it’s only a matter of time. “It feels surreal, to be honest. We heard about what was happening in Gaza and now we’re experiencing it for ourselves,” she said. “I am in disgust of all this fear-mongering and psychological torture,” she said, adding: “But then you remember, it’s all part of a warfare strategy and it’s not going to stop anytime soon.” Lebanon is not GazaWhile Israel’s actions in Lebanon may have echoes of Gaza, the conflicts are different. In Gaza, Israel’s goal is the complete destruction of Hamas, whereas Israel’s stated goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from its border. Whereas Hamas rules Gaza, Hezbollah is a powerful militia with enormous influence inside Lebanon, and has representatives in the country's parliament and government. In 2006, Israel flattened entire Beirut neighborhoods and bombed Lebanon's only international airport as well as key infrastructure, including bridges and power stations. By contrast, its current campaign seems to be, for the large part, targeting Hezbollah, although many civilians have also been killed. Unlike Gaza, Lebanon is also a mixed tapestry of political and religious groups, including Christian and Sunni-majority areas where there is significant opposition to the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah. Ali Safa, a 30-year-old interior designer who fled to Beirut from south Lebanon with his family this week, said he isn’t worried about the Gaza scenario being repeated in Lebanon. “Gaza is an open prison, it is besieged. Lebanon is much larger, it is not encircled. And it has Hezbollah, which is a much bigger force, much better-equipped than Hamas,” he said. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, speaking at the United Nations Wednesday, said the world “cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.” Frayed nervesWhether the current hostilities will expand into an all-out war or whether Israel will launch a ground invasion remains to be seen. Israel’s army chief said Wednesday that preparations were underway for a possible ground operation. Many in Lebanon say they are haunted by the nonstop churn of horrifying images from Gaza over the past year, fearing the same scenario in Lebanon. For several months, low-flying Israeli fighter jets have launched sonic booms over Lebanon, rattling windows and terrifying residents. More recently, the buzzing sound of Israeli military drones in Lebanese skies have added to the anxiety. Some have gotten used to it. At a funeral for a Hezbollah commander recently where a few hundred people gathered, hardly anyone flinched when low-flying Israeli planes caused a thundering boom that shook the ground. Bsat said at some point she, too, got used to hearing sonic booms that made the windows in her house shake. "The drones I also got used to and now, unfortunately, the bombing,” she said via Whatsapp. “I’ve come to terms with reality, but my hands still can’t stop shaking as I’m writing this,” she said. “I’m still dreading what is going to happen here.”

 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. 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 U.S., 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.” Their joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the fighting was “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.” Other signatories include the European Union, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Israel says it targeted Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers. In an apparent reference to the missile fired at Tel Aviv, Halevi told troops: “Today, Hezbollah expanded its range of fire, and later today, they will receive a very strong response. Prepare yourselves.” It was not clear whether he was referring to a ground operation, airstrikes or some other form of retaliation against Hezbollah, which is Lebanon’s strongest political force and, with backing from Iran, is widely considered the top paramilitary group in the Arab world. The Israeli military has said in recent days it had no immediate plans for a ground invasion, but Halevi’s comments were the strongest yet suggesting troops could move in. Israeli said Wednesday it would activate two reserve brigades for missions in the north — another sign that Israel plans tougher action. 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. Nearly a year of fighting had already displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before the recent escalation. 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, something that appears increasingly remote. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel and Hezbollah to step back, saying all-out war would be disastrous for the region and its people. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the U.N. Security Council to act immediately “to guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis.” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters at the U.N. that Israel welcomes initiatives to broker a cease-fire and is “open to ideas.” But if diplomacy doesn’t stop Hezbollah attacks so residents of northern Israel can return home, he said, his country would “use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims.” Lebanon’s health ministry said 72 people were killed Wednesday in the continuing Israeli strikes, raising the death toll from the past three days to 636, with more than 2,000 wounded. At least a quarter of those killed have been women and children, according to Lebanese health officials. At Dar Al Amal hospital in the eastern city of Baalbek, Soumaya Moussawi lay in bed with her head bandaged and face bruised. She had been sitting outside with relatives when warplanes started striking in the distance, she said. “Then suddenly it hit next to us. We were all thrown in different directions,” she said. Two cousins and her father were killed, and another cousin was badly wounded. This week has been the deadliest in Lebanon since the bruising 2006 monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah said it fired a Qader 1 ballistic missile targeting the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, which it blames for a recent string of targeted killings of its top commanders and for an attack last week in which explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies killed dozens of people and wounded thousands, including many Hezbollah members. Israeli military officials said they intercepted a surface-to-surface missile that set off air-raid sirens in Tel Aviv and across central Israel. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The military said it struck the launch site in southern Lebanon. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the missile fired Wednesday had a “heavy warhead” but declined to elaborate or confirm it was the type described by Hezbollah. He dismissed Hezbollah’s claim of targeting the Mossad headquarters just north of Tel Aviv as “psychological warfare.” 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. Hamas repeatedly targeted Tel Aviv in the opening months of the war in Gaza. The launch ratcheted up hostilities in a region that appeared to be teetering toward another all-out war, even as Israel continues to battle Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel said Wednesday its air force had struck some 280 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon by early afternoon, including launchers used to fire rockets on the northern Israeli cities of Safed and Nahariya. In the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a building at the port was struck by a drone, an attack that injured two people and was claimed by an umbrella group for Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. A second drone was intercepted, the Israeli military said. Fleeing families have flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria. The United Nations said more than 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes. In all, 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel nearly a year ago, drawing Israeli retaliation, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Hezbollah’s latest strikes included dozens of rockets fired Wednesday into northern Israel, the military said. Rocket fire over the past week has disrupted life for more than 1 million people across northern Israel, with schools closed and public gatherings restricted. Many restaurants and other businesses are shut in the coastal city of Haifa, and there are fewer people on the streets. Some who fled from communities near the border are coming under rocket fire again. Israel has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including some capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Cross-border fire began ramping up Sunday after pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah were attacked remotely, killing 39 people and wounded nearly 3,000, many of them civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, which has not confirmed or denied responsibility. The next day, Israel said its warplanes struck 1,600 Hezbollah targets, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons concealed in private homes. The strikes racked up the highest one-day death toll in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bruising monthlong war in 2006.