Israel hits south Beirut, kills dozens in Gaza mosque strike

A huge fireball lit up the sky and plumes of smoke rose over south Beirut as Israel unleashed intense airstrikes targeting Hezbollah, nearly a year after the Gaza war erupted.

Lebanon's health ministry said 23 people have been killed and 93 wounded in Israeli strikes across the country on Saturday.

The raids targeted the towns and villages of south Lebanon, Nabatieh, the eastern governorate of Beqaa, Baalbek-Hermel, Mount Lebanon, and the north, the ministry added on their X account.

Casualties figures were not included from more recent bombardment on Beirut's southern suburbs after midnight.

Hezbollah stronghold hit

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the international community to put pressure on Israel for a ceasefire as another strike hit the capital's southern suburbs.

Israeli forces were on high alert ahead of Monday's anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack.

After a devastating year-long conflict in Gaza, Israel has now turned its focus northwards to Hezbollah, Hamas's ally in Lebanon.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold was hit by more than 30 strikes, heard across the city. A petrol station and a medical supplies warehouse were hit.

Israel's military said it struck weapons storage facilities and infrastructure while taking measures "to mitigate the risk of harming civilians."

In the Sabra area, near the southern suburbs, dozens of people, some carrying bags on foot and others on motorbikes, fled one of the most intense bombardments of the Israel-Hezbollah war.

'Terrible crisis'

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli forces with artillery after they tried to infiltrate towards Khallat Shuaib in Blida, in southern Lebanon.

A statement said fighters fired rockets at Israeli troops during the evacuation of "dead and wounded soldiers" in the Menara border area after midnight.

Hezbollah also said it launched assault drones against an Israeli military base.

A senior Hezbollah source said on Saturday the group had lost contact with Hashem Safieddine, widely tipped as its next leader, after air strikes in Beirut.

Across Lebanon, strikes against Hezbollah have killed more than 1,110 people since September 23, according to a tally based on official figures.

UN's refugee agency head Filippo Grandi said Lebanon "faces a terrible crisis" and warned "hundreds of thousands of people are left destitute or displaced by Israeli air strikes."

Israeli bombardment has put at least four hospitals in Lebanon out of service, the facilities said.

The army said it had killed about 440 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon "from the ground and from the air" since Monday, when troops began "targeted" ground operations against the group.

Israel continues to strike Gaza

Meanwhile, Gaza's civil defense agency said an Israeli strike on a mosque-turned-shelter in central Deir al-Balah killed 21 people. Israel said it had targeted Hamas fighters.

Qassam Brigades reported fierce fighting in northern Gaza. Palestinian fighters are waging fierce battles with Israeli forces in northern Gaza, according to a statement on Telegram by Hamas's armed wing.

The army sent tanks and soldiers into the region for the first time in months, ordering residents to go to what it called "safe zones" in the south.

Arwa Damon, of the International Network for Relief and Assistance, says every child in Gaza has been affected by the war.

"This war has been so intense and relentless that every single pillar of existence that is meant to provide stability for a child has been shattered," she said.

Gaza's mounting death toll

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,825 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, and another 97,166 people have been wounded in the attacks, Gaza's Health Ministry says.

Ahead of Monday's grim anniversary, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a televised briefing: "We are prepared with increased forces in anticipation for this day," when there could be "attacks on the home front."

On Sunday, the military said it had encircled the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza after indications Hamas was rebuilding despite nearly a year of fighting.

Gaza's Interior Ministry called on Palestinian civilians living in northern Gaza to ignore Israel's orders to evacuate and move south.

"Israeli claims about the presence of safe zones in southern Gaza are lies as Israel commits crimes and massacres in all areas of the enclave," the ministry said in a statement. "We call on citizens in northern Gaza to ignore Israeli threats."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Iran an "ongoing threat" after Tehran launched around 200 missiles at Israel in revenge for Israeli killings of militant leaders including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Netanyahu criticized

Iran's attack killed a Palestinian in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and damaged an Israeli air base, according to satellite images.

One Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the army "is preparing a response" to Iran's attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted Iran had twice launched "hundreds of missiles" at Israel since April.

"Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and to respond to these attacks and that is what we will do," he said in a statement.

Netanyahu's critics accuse him of obstructing efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and deal to free hostages still held by Hamas.

Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad landed on Kharg island as concerns swirl that Israel could target the country's largest oil terminal there.

"Paknejad arrived this morning in order to visit the oil facilities and meet operational staff located on Kharg island," the oil ministry's news website Shana reported.

The oil terminal has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude, it said.

Iran on alert

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking from Damascus after visiting Beirut, renewed his call for ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon, and threatened Israel with an "even stronger" reaction to any attack on Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron said it was time "that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza" and criticized Israel's decision to send ground troops into Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at France's President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for saying that shipments of arms to Israel used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution.

"Shame on them," Netanyahu said of Macron and other Western leaders who have called for what he described as an arms embargo on Israel.

"Israel will win with or without their support," he said in a pre-recorded video released by his office, adding that calling for an arms embargo was a disgrace.

Ahead of the October 7 anniversary, thousands joined pro-Palestinian rallies in London, Paris, Cape Town and other cities.

Israel's President Herzog said his country's October 7 "wounds still cannot fully heal."

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