Two Israeli air attacks hit Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre on Tuesday, known as Sour in Arabic. This came shortly after the Israeli army issued a statement threatening attacks on Tyre and Sidon, known as Saida, urging residents to “evacuate immediately and move at least 300 metres [about 1,000ft] away”.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified since the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes last week. Since then, the opposing forces have clashed in eastern Lebanon, while Israel has carried out attacks across Lebanon, including the capital, Beirut.

“There is a battle for control over south Lebanon, with the Israeli military increasing its presence along the border and within Lebanese territory,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Zahrani in Lebanon.

Israeli media are reporting that “Israel wants to expand its presence in southern Lebanon, expand that buffer zone,” she said, but “Hezbollah says it has so far repelled advances on a number of axes.”

On Tuesday, Israel also launched an air raid on the southern Lebanese town of Qabrikha, while Israeli jets attacked the towns of Deir Siryan and Taybeh, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The Israeli military said it had launched air attacks near Ansariyeh, claiming that the air strikes targeted a Hezbollah headquarters in an area where it said rockets had been launched towards Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, NNA reported that Israeli warplanes launched attacks overnight on the towns of Almajadel, Chaqra, Srifa and in the Bekaa Valley.

Attacks were also reported near the town of Ansariya as well as on the outskirts of Bint Jbeil and Ainatha. NNA said four people were killed in the Bint Jbeil district.

The strikes came as Lebanese media reported that a Maronite Catholic priest, Father Pierre al-Rahi, was killed by Israeli tank fire in the village of Qlayaa in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour reported that al-Rahi was killed after an Israeli tank fired on the home of a local couple a second time after several people had rushed there to try to help.

“We narrowly escaped a massacre, because there were many of us there,” said Hanna Daher, the head of council in the village of Qlayaa, according to L’Orient-Le Jour.

“Despite this, several people were injured, including the priest, Pierre el-Rahi, who succumbed to his wounds.”

A day before he was killed, al-Rahi had spoken to the France24 television channel from the steps of his church in Qlayaa, telling them he would stay to defend the village, peacefully.

“We are forced to stay despite the danger, when we defend our land, and we do so peacefully,” al-Rahi told France24.

“None of us carries weapons. All of us carry peace and goodness and love,” he added.

Separately , the Israeli army announced that in the past week, it had hit 30 sites belonging to the Al-Qard al-Hasan association in Lebanon, “which is affiliated with Hezbollah”.

NNA reported that the nonprofit was also bombed by Israeli forces in October 2024. At the time, Amnesty International said the attacks should be investigated as a war crime, as branches of financial institutions are civilian objects unless they are used for military purposes.

As Israeli attacks continue, Hezbollah has also increased its counterattacks.

At least 16 people were injured in a Hezbollah missile attack on central Israel, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency medical service.

Hezbollah also said it launched a missile attack on the Givaa drone control base, east of the Israeli city of Safad, and fired rockets at the Yiftah barracks near the border.

Hezbollah’s fighters launched several attacks on Israeli troops in the southern parts of Lebanon. It said its fighters ambushed Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of the city of Khiam and hit three Merkava tanks. The three vehicles were seen burning, it said.

Stop Lebanon ‘sliding into chaos’

On Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged both Hezbollah and Israel to stop their actions, calling for a return to the November 2024 ceasefire to stop the country “sliding into chaos”.

In a statement after crisis talks with Middle East leaders, including Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Kallas called on Hezbollah to “cease all actions against Israel,” asserting the country’s “right to self-defence”.

She also called out Israel for “heavy-handed” retaliation that was “causing mass displacement” and “further destabilising a fragile situation”.

“Israel should cease its operations in Lebanon,” she said, warning that it “risks drawing Lebanon and its people into a war that is not theirs, with severe humanitarian consequences”.

Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of working towards the “collapse” of the state, expressing Beirut’s readiness for “direct negotiations” with Israel.

At least 486 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday last week, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

In addition, Israeli attacks on Lebanon have displaced 100,000 people in one day, bringing the total number displaced above 667,000, Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR’s representative in Lebanon, told reporters in Geneva from Beirut.

She added that the figure represented “a faster pace of displacement” compared to 2024 during the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The regular rumble of air strikes echoes over the shattered remains of Shia villages, destroyed during Israel’s last ground war there in 2024.

A senior military official said on Thursday that Israeli ground forces were taking additional hilltops inside Lebanon – a defensive operation, he said, to better protect Israel’s northern communities.

But there has been a significant military build-up here. On Friday morning we passed dozens of tanks and armoured bulldozers, newly-positioned right by the border, fuelling growing speculation that a full-scale ground invasion is planned.

Israel has issued a massive evacuation order for southern Lebanon, reaching roughly 27km (16 miles) inside the country.

The Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has said the objective in Lebanon is disarming Hezbollah and that he will not let up until that is done.

“We may find ourselves manoeuvring into that area [south of the Litani river] in one capacity or another and we don’t want civilians there,” said the senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We have plans to go as deep as needed, including to the Litani River and further, if instructed,” he said, adding that forces were in place to move immediately if ordered.

Hezbollah joined the war alongside its ally Iran on Monday and has been launching rockets and drones at northern Israel each day, most of which are intercepted by Israel’s air defences.

Residents in one Israeli border community that was hit by a drone on Tuesday told us they had no plans to leave.

“Where would I go?” one neighbour told us, adding: “Jerusalem? Tel Aviv? It’s more dangerous there now.”

Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid told a local television channel that Israel would “have no choice” but to create a “sterile zone” in southern Lebanon, similar to the Yellow Line in Gaza that marks the boundary between territory held temporarily by Israeli forces and that controlled by Hamas.

“An area with no Lebanese villages in it,” he said. “It might be unaesthetic perhaps, or unpleasant, to scrape away two or three Lebanese villages, but they brought it upon themselves. No-one told them they had to become the host state of a terrorist organisation.”

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians have been fleeing Israeli air strikes in Lebanon over the past few days, less than 18 months after a ceasefire ended the last conflict with Israel in November 2024.

During that war, Israel fought its way house to house through many Lebanese border villages.

Their crushed remains still litter the landscape.

But some Hezbollah fighters have reportedly returned to these areas, and Israel is now fighting its way through the area again.

Without those assaults on Hezbollah in 2024, which left a key Iranian proxy severely weakened, Israel would have found it much harder to launch its current war on Iran – or the previous one in June last year – without a much higher cost at home.

Old tank tracks on the Israeli side of the border still mark the places of that last invasion.

But just days into this latest conflict, the mood in Israel – basking in the military partnership with Donald Trump – is already breathlessly looking to a new future, and a new Middle East, prompting one Israeli commentator, Avi Issacharof, to urge his country to “come down to earth for a moment”.

Toppling the ayatollah [Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] might sound “sexy”, he wrote in the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, “but there are no crowds in the streets of Tehran, no widespread public protests, and as yet no minority militias seizing territory”. He added that the end of Khamenei did not mean the end of the Iranian regime.

Hard military might is Israel’s edge – but it has already fought many wars with Iran’s proxy forces, Hezbollah and Hamas, and returned to fight them again.

Israel’s strategy and risk threshold might have changed since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, but without a clear political post-war plan, few here are clear where a new Middle East might be heading.

Overnight, one Israeli operation in a town in the eastern Bekaa Valley – a focal point of the rising hostilities – saw at least 41 people killed and 40 injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Three Lebanese soldiers were among the dead, and locals listed the names of civilians, including children, they said had been killed.

The focus of the operation in Nabi Chit was recovering the remains of an Israeli military airman who went missing in Lebanon 40 years ago.

On Saturday, there was a hole in the ground in the corner of the village cemetery where a grave had been dug up.

“They thought he was there but there was nothing,” one local man said, gesturing at the empty grave.

Elsewhere in the town, bullet holes were scattered across a destroyed car and its seats were stained red with blood.

Around the area, buildings had been reduced to piles of rubble and a huge crater had been blown into the ground, damaging the surrounding houses.

Signs of civilian life, including a children’s colouring book, paintings and cooking utensils, were among the debris.

Hezbollah – which is the main force in the area – allowed journalists into the village to see the scale of the destruction.

The Shia militia and political group is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK, US and others.

The Lebanese military said it had observed four Israeli aircraft appear by Lebanon’s border with Syria late on Friday night, with two of them landing and deploying special forces soldiers onto the ground.

A “large-scale aerial bombardment” began at the same time, it said.

The Lebanese military, which has sought to distance itself from the war between Hezbollah and Israel, said its units then carried out “immediate alert and defence measures”, using flare bombs to detect the landing spot.

In Nabi Chit, clashes then broke out on the streets between the Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters, and civilians defending their homes.

“At midnight, we felt a strange movement on one side of the village. It turned out to be an Israeli commando unit deployed for some mission,” a local official said at the site of one major explosion.

“The resistance then surrounded them and heavy clashes ensued. Then the air force increased their air strikes to allow the extraction of their unit which caused tremendous damage”.

Hezbollah and local residents said Israel had conducted some 40 airstrikes in the area to give cover to the special forces soldiers and allow them to withdraw.

Witnesses said that the Israeli soldiers had arrived disguised in Lebanese military fatigues and used ambulances with signs of Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Organization.

The Lebanese army chief later confirmed this to local media, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not respond requests for comment about this allegation.

The village is covered by sweeping Israeli evacuation orders, and locals say a further call for civilians to leave their homes came shortly before the operation began.

Mohamed Chokr, whose uncle and other relatives were among those killed, said he and his family had felt relatively safe because they knew there was nothing related to Hezbollah inside their homes.

“My uncle is a retired soldier, his son is also a retired soldier and his other son is a school teacher. We are not affiliated with any political party. We are Shia – we like Hezbollah, but we are not members of Hezbollah. We are all in the Lebanese army,” he said.

“How should I feel today? This is my uncle and his kids and their kids.”

‘Block the bombs’: Rights groups urge passage of resolution in US Congress

Several rights groups have urged support for a congressional resolution in the US calling on the Trump administration to use “all diplomatic tools at its disposal” to ensure aid reaches Palestinians in Gaza.

“US-origin weapons have been a significant part of what we determined is an ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Amnesty International USA Director Paul O’Brien said in remarks in support of the measure.

“Despite opportunities to change course, the Biden administration failed to do so, and now the Trump administration is failing to do so,” he said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations also released a statement on Thursday saying every member of Congress “with a shred of morality” should support the bill to end US complicity for Israeli abuses against the Palestinians.

Israeli defence minister says Lebanon attacks enforce ceasefire

In a post on X, Israel Katz has hailed today’s strikes on southern Beirut, saying they were needed to “enforce the ceasefire rules”.

Israel has repeatedly claimed that Lebanon’s government is unable to oversee the ceasefire agreement reached with Hezbollah in November of last year. It has maintained its attacks on Lebanon since the agreement was reached are in line with the ceasefire.

“We will continue to enforce the ceasefire rules without any compromises and will not allow any entity to create threats against the northern communities and all citizens of the State of Israel,” Katz said.

The UN special coordinator for Lebanon had previously called for a “halt to any actions that could further undermine” the ceasefire.

Photos: Israel’s strikes on Dahiyeh

ICC slams US sanctions as ‘clear attempt’ to undermine court’s independence

The ICC has released a statement saying that it stands by its staff, condemning US sanctions as a “clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution”.

“Targeting those working for accountability does nothing to help civilians trapped in conflict. It only emboldens those who believe they can act with impunity,” the statement said.

“The ICC stands fully behind its personnel, and will continue its work undeterred, in strict accordance with the Rome Statute and the principles of fairness and due process, with a view to bringing justice to victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression,” it added.

Houthis claim missile attack on Israel

In a statement, the Yemen-based armed group says it has targeted Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military had said earlier that it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen.

A Houthi missile in early May landed close to Israel’s main international air hub in an incident that drew Israel’s air defences into question.

The Houthis said the attack was in response to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Trump admin sanctions four ICC judges over probes into US, Israeli actions

The US has announced sanctions against four judges with the International Criminal Court (ICC), an international legal body tasked with investigating and trying individuals accused of grave violations of international law.

The court roused US anger when it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged abuses in Gaza, including crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The ICC has also drawn the opprobrium of the US by investigating alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the sanctions would target Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.

“As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel. The ICC is politicised and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies,” Rubio said in a statement.

Lebanon prime minister, UN call for Israel to respect ceasefire

Lebanon Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned the Israeli strikes, calling them a “systemic and deliberate of Lebanon and its security, stability and economy” on the eve of Eid al-Adha and as summer tourism season begins.

In a statement released by his office, Salam called on the international community to deter Israeli from “continuing its aggressions” and compel it to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, meanwhile, called for a “halt to any actions that could further undermine” the ceasefire.

It called on the sides to use available diplomatic tools to “prevent unnecessary and dangerous escalation”.

Hamas says it did not reject Witkoff ceasefire proposal

Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya has said in a pre-recorded speech that the Palestinian group did not reject a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza put forward with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, stating that Hamas had instead requested some changes to ensure an end to the war.

Al-Hayya added that Hamas is ready to engage in further talks and that communications with the mediators are ongoing. Israel broke off a previous truce in March to resume the war in Gaza.

For his part, Witkoff on Thursday said that Hamas must accept a ceasefire proposal “put forward so that the remaining living hostages can return to their loved ones and the remains of those killed can come home to their families”.

Hamas has said that it previously accepted a ceasefire proposal from Witkoff, who then modified the agreement based on new Israeli demands. Witkoff then accused Hamas of spoiling a deal when it took issue with some of those changes, the group said.

UN chief says one in 50 UNRWA staff in Gaza have been killed

Guterres has said that more than one in every 50 UNRWA staff members in Gaza have been killed during the war, a figure that he said constituted the “highest staff death toll in United Nations history”.

Meanwhile, Guterres told reporters that geopolitical divisions have kept the UN Security Council “paralysed” to the frustration of supporters of international law.

“Unfortunately, today in the world, we have impunity everywhere,” he said, when asked whether Israel enjoys impunity for abuses in Gaza.

“Unfortunately, we have not only humanitarians and journalists killed, but we have civilians killed in dramatic situations and there is total impunity.”

Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs is a violation of the ceasefire agreement

The Israeli military did release a statement shortly before these massive air strikes in the southern Lebanese suburbs. They said they were going to attack what they described as an underground area where they say Hezbollah members were manufacturing drones.

Israel has said it is going to do everything in its power to uphold a ceasefire agreement signed by the two sides. But these acts, in and of themselves, are, of course, a violation of that agreement that was signed many, many months ago.

The Israelis have repeatedly and continuously carried out air strikes across Lebanese territory, claiming Hezbollah activity and giving forced evacuation orders.

But the Israeli military never gives any proof or backing for a lot of the claims that they use to justify their air attacks in different parts of the Middle East.

If you’re just joining us

Here’s a brief recap of the most recent developments:

• Israel has begun striking the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh, causing widespread panic. It has accused Hezbollah of using underground infrastructure in the area to manufacture drones, and it has issued evacuation orders for several neighbourhoods.
• At least 52 Palestinians have been killed in attacks in Gaza today as Israel carries out heavy strikes across the Strip.
• International criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza mounts with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accusing Israel of carrying out a “premeditated genocide”.
• Israeli media report that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been offering arms and support to gangs in Gaza as part of an effort to bolster armed groups that are rivals of Hamas. Netanyahu later confirms Israel is coordinating with groups in Gaza but doesn’t provide details.

Israel issues more forced evacuation orders in Lebanon

This time, the Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee has warned residents of the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana to stay away from two buildings that appear set to be targeted.

Ain Qana is located to the east of the coastal city of Sidon.

German foreign minister says country has a ‘unique friendship’ with Israel

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has underscored the special relationship his country shares with Israel, after earlier today calling on the ally to allow more aid into Gaza.

“Standing up for the security and existence of the State of Israel and for international law are two sides of the same coin. Both are lessons of our past,” the German Foreign Office said in a social media post.

“As democracies and constitutional states, we must abide by law and order – at all times.”

Germany has been a top supporter of Israel throughout the war, but has increasingly called Israel’s conduct into question. Last week, German Chancellor Freidrich Merz said Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza and blocking of aid was “beyond comprehension”.

Israeli strikes on Dahiyeh cause ‘a lot of panic’

Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh is a very large area comprising several neighbourhoods. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people who live here.

The Israeli army, approximately an hour ago in a post on X, threatened to target up to eight buildings in four different locations, calling on the people to evacuate, to move away 300 metres [328 yards] from these buildings. But the reality is, these are major air strikes, so everyone who lives in this whole area has to leave.

There was heavy traffic here as people were making their way out. As you can imagine, this did cause a lot of panic. This is not the first time the army has carried out air strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs since a ceasefire came into force last November, but this is the largest attack.

If you talk to people here, what they will tell you is that this is terrorism. Israel warns people to leave in the middle of the night and on the eve of a major religious holiday.

The Lebanese authorities call these attacks aggression and blatant violations of the ceasefire.

Israel strikes on southern Beirut ‘no surprise’: Analyst

Speaking to Al Jazeera, analyst Rami Khouri said that Israeli strikes on Lebanon have continued, despite a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah reached in November of last year.

“It’s no surprise,” he said of today’s strike. “They’ve been assassinating people over the last three, four months. They’ve continued occupying five places in South Lebanon after the ceasefire agreement.”

“The Israelis have always used military force as their main instrument to get their foes to submit to them,” he said.  “But the irony is that it hasn’t worked. It has only generated great dissent, and we’ll have to see in Lebanon what it means.”

“Hezbollah took a hit last year, and they’re obviously regrouping,” he said. “We don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but they are regrouping.”

Photos: Palestinians gather to collect what remains of relief supplies in Rafah

Israel begins striking Dahiyeh

Video shows strikes taking place on Dahiyeh shortly after the Israeli military said it would attack the suburbs of Beirut.

The Israeli military said it was targeting underground drone production sites.

Before the attacks, it issued forced evacuation orders for four areas in Dahiyeh.

Israel’s Smotrich says it is ‘time for sovereignty’ over occupied West Bank

Israel’s far-right finance minister has instructed the government to begin work “towards the implementation of sovereignty” following meetings with settler groups in the occupied West Bank, he said in a post on X.

Earlier in the day, Smotrich also urged the Bank of Israel to offer services to illegal Israeli settlers under foreign sanctions.

“We are changing the face of the settlement not just as a slogan but as a practical act,” Smotrich said.

“The Settlement Administration will formulate an operational plan for the application of sovereignty, and we will not stop until the entire territory receives its full legal status and becomes an inseparable part of the State of Israel,” he said.

Despite being illegal under international law, Israeli settlements have surged in recent years in the occupied West Bank, creating a major barrier to a future Palestinian state.

Israel says intercepted a missile fired from Yemen

The military has said alerts were activated in several areas of Israel before the missile was intercepted.

Yemen’s Houthis did not immediately claim the missile, although they have repeatedly attacked Israel in recent weeks. In early May, a missile landed near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.

Israel has responded with repeated strikes on Yemeni cities in Houthi-controlled territory.

Israel to attack reeling Beirut neighborhood on Eid al-Adha

As Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburbs prepare to celebrate the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, the Israeli military has said it is set to bomb the area.

Israel has attacked Beirut several times since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire came into effect in November of last year, including carrying out assassinations and pre-announced strikes that it said targeted Hezbollah sites.

The latest incident comes as Dahiye residents struggle to re-establish a sense of normalcy after the war that devastated the suburbs’ neighbourhoods.

Reconstruction has not yet begun on the dozens of buildings that were flattened during the conflict, stalled by political and financial deadlock in Lebanon.

Israeli leader finally admits to arming gangs in Gaza

News was circulating within the last couple of days, and opposition lawmakers in the Israeli parliament were pointing the finger at the Israeli prime minister, accusing him of arming these gangs.

Netanyahu then released a statement saying, “What’s wrong with that?” and stated that, after consulting with the security services, he was the one who decided to do this.

The Israeli opposition claims that there was no consultation within the Israeli government or the Israeli cabinet.

Netanyahu says that these armed gangs are ones that are opposed to Hamas, which could essentially help the Israelis defeat Hamas in Gaza.

But it’s not going down well within Israel, where people are saying that these are armed criminal enterprises within the Gaza Strip, that they should not be armed and that these are Israeli weapons that are being put in their hands.

BBC says reporting team detained by Israeli forces in Syria

The British Broadcasting Company has said that a group of its reporters were held at gunpoint by Israeli forces occupying southern Syria in an incident that took place on May 9.

BBC Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani said that a team of seven people were approached by Israeli soldiers who pointed their guns at the reporters, ordered them out of the car, and confiscated their phones and reporting equipment, despite the team identifying themselves as reporters for the BBC.

The team included Kilani, a British citizen, two Iraqi BBC staff, and four Syrians, including three freelancers and one BBC cameraman, he said.

Kilani also said that he was forced to strip to his underwear as he was searched by soldiers while his team was tied up and blindfolded. He says that the BBC complained to Israel, but has yet to receive any response.

Israel says it will launch attacks on Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh

The Israeli military says in a social media post that it will carry out attacks on what it says is “underground infrastructure” in the Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh.

It accused Hezbollah of manufacturing drones in a “blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” in the area, which has been repeatedly struck since a ceasefire was reached in November.

The Israeli military “will work to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens and prevent any attempt to reestablish the terrorist organization Hezbollah”, the military said.

Lebanon’s prime minister says more than 500 Hezbollah installations dismantled

Nawaf Salam has said that the Lebanese military is dismantling infrastructure belonging to the armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, stating that the government will continue to push to restore authority over “the entire national territory”.

“The Lebanese army is continuing its deployment and has so far dismantled more than 500 military positions and arms depots south of the Litani river,” the prime minister said during a television address marking his first 100 days in office.

Israel has continued to carry out attacks on Lebanon despite a ceasefire reached with Hezbollah in November of last year.

Press freedom groups renew calls for access to Gaza

More than 130 news outlets and press freedom groups have called for Israel to grant foreign journalists access to Gaza.

An open letter shared by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders called Israel’s near-total restrictions on press access to Gaza “a situation that is without precedent in modern warfare”.

The letter also draws attention to the enormous toll faced by Palestinian reporters who have sought to document events and conditions inside the Strip while faced with persistent Israeli attacks.

“Local journalists, those best positioned to tell the truth, face displacement and starvation,” the letter reads.

“To date, nearly 200 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military. Many more have been injured and face constant threats to their lives for doing their jobs: bearing witness.”

Israel issues evacuation orders for southern Beirut

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee says residents living near buildings in the neighbourhoods of Hadath, Haret Hreik and Borj el-Barajneh in the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh are “required to evacuate”.

“You are next to infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah,” Adraee said in a social media post, which included a map of the identified buildings.

The message, in Arabic, indicated that Israel may soon bomb the area. Israel has attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs several times since a ceasefire with Hezbollah went into effect in November.

‘I was amputating limbs with blunt tools, with no anaesthetics’

Rossel Morhij, a UK-based plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has volunteered in Gaza twice, tells Al Jazeera about her most recent visit when, as she was finishing a shift at Nasser Hospital, a school sheltering people nearby was bombed.

“I went to the ED [emergency department] to try and help, but it was something I’ve never seen, and the images will stay with me forever,” she said.

“One of the patients was an eight-year-old child who lost 19 members of his family. His name was marked with a permanent marker over his chest because he was identified by the only surviving neighbour there,” she recalled.

“He lost his cousins, his dad, his sisters and brothers. His mum was alive, but she was unconscious with severe brain damage in the ICU,” Morhij said, adding that she did not know how to tell the boy he had also lost a limb.

“When I went for the first time, it was four months into the war, and people were already starving, malnourished, with no equipment. I was amputating limbs with blunt tools, with no anaesthetics, only ketamine, where the patient is subconsciously still awake,” she said.

Day’s death toll in Gaza rises to 52

At least 52 Palestinians have been killed today across Gaza, hospital sources tell Al Jazeera.

The sources said 31 bodies had arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Another seven arrived at al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City.

Another 14 arrived at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Netanyahu says Israel made use of clans in Gaza that ‘opposed’ Hamas: Reports

Israeli media outlets are reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that Israel had armed Palestinian gangs that opposed Hamas.

The Times of Israel stated that in a short interview with advisor Topaz Luk, Netanyahu said that “in consultation with security officials, we made use of clans in Gaza that are opposed to Hamas.”

“What’s wrong with that?…it’s only good”, he is reported to have said, adding that it “saves lives” of Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a slightly different translation from Hebrew, quoting Netanyahu as saying, “We have mobilised clans in Gaza rivalling Hamas”.

Canada says remains of captive returned to Israel

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that the body of Judih Weinstein, a Canadian citizen taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023, has been returned to Israel.

As we reported earlier, the Israeli military said today it had recovered the bodies of Weinstein and her husband in Gaza.

“As the family grieves the unimaginable loss of both Ms Weinstein and her husband, Gadi Haggai, who was murdered in that same horrific attack, the return of their remains is a time to begin to heal and to rest,” Carney said.

French dock workers blocking shipment of military material bound for Israel

The CGT trade union has said the workers at the Fos-sur-Mer port outside of Marseille have refused to load crates of links used to assist the rapid fire of bullets onto a cargo ship.

Christophe Claret, the leader of the dock workers at the port, told the AFP news agency they had been notified that the ship was due to be loaded on Thursday with the material.

“We managed to identify it and set it aside,” he told AFP, emphasising that once dockers refuse to load a shipment, no one else can do it for them. The other containers for the ship will all be loaded, he said.

The CGT said the move made clear its refusal to “participate in the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government.”

Israeli strikes kill scores of people throughout Gaza

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Palestinians have been killed and injured in numerous Israeli attacks on northern, southern and central Gaza.

Wafa reported that five people were killed in Israeli attacks in areas around Khan Younis with a man also succumbing to wounds sustained by Israeli shelling south of Gaza City.

Four bodies were also recovered west of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, and a child was injured by Israeli fire near Bureij in central Gaza.

Wafa also reported that Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians trying to reach an aid centre near Wadi Gaza in central Gaza.

Authorities have told Al Jazeera at least 52 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza today.

MSF staff protest in Geneva over Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

About 100 MSF staff have protested against the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and its deadly delivery scheme, which has been widely condemned by aid groups.

“People need the basics of life … they also need it in dignity,” MSF Switzerland’s director general, Stephen Cornish, told the Reuters news agency at the protest.

“If you’re fearing for your life, running with packages being mowed down, this is just something that is completely beyond everything we’ve ever seen,” he said. “These attacks have killed dozens … They were left to bleed out on the ground.”

He added that MSF staff in Gaza have had to give blood to help the wounded, with most Palestinians too malnourished to donate.

UN chief says vision for two state solution must be maintained

Antonio Guterres has said that it is “absolutely essential” to keep the vision for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict alive.

Many analysts say that Israel’s continuous expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory has made the prospect of a future Palestinian state all but non-existent, but Guterres questioned what the alternative would be.

“Is it the one state solution in which either the Palestinians are expelled or the Palestinians will be forced to live in their land without rights? That would be totally unacceptable,” he said.

“I firmly believe that it is the duty of the international community to do everything to keep the two-state solution alive, and then to materialise the conditions to make it happen.”

Some advocates have called for a single state where both Jews and Palestinians would be granted equal rights.

‘Opportunity to send a powerful message’: Palestine still in running for first World Cup appearance

Palestine’s national football team is still in the running for their first World Cup appearance, but they will need back-to-back victories when they face off against Kuwait later today and Oman next week in the Asian qualifiers.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, football journalist Bassil Mikdadi said a World Cup appearance would be “a powerful message, given the genocide that is unfolding in Gaza”.

“It would be an opportunity for the team to relay a message from the Palestinian people to the world,” Mikdadi said.

He noted that Palestine has been without a football league since the war began in October 2023, and the national team receives little financial support when compared with other countries.

Palestine will take on Kuwait beginning at 18:15 GMT.

Palestinian Mujahideen Movement denounces reports Israel is arming group in Gaza

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement has issued a statement regarding the accusation made by Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman that Benjamin Netanyahu had approved arming a Palestinian rival of Hamas in Gaza.

As we reported earlier, Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed or denied the claim, which was reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement said the report “confirms the malicious efforts of Netanyahu and his fascist government to spread chaos and destruction in the Gaza Strip, tighten the siege, and implement a cowardly policy of starvation”.

It added that the Israeli military “has not only committed brutal crimes through bombing, terrorism and siege, but it is also working to feed these gangs and exacerbate the effects of the siege and the brutal starvation policy by spreading chaos and sponsoring aid thieves”.

The statement added, “Our people will reject all deviant groups that have agreed to be pawns of the occupier and aid it at the expense of our people.”

Palestinians in Gaza forced to seek refuge in al-Mawasi, where Israel repeatedly attacks

Repeated attacks on al-Mawasi, which has been declared a “safe zone” by the Israeli military, have had severe implications for desperate families.

As far as we know, the Israeli military is now operating in the city of Khan Younis and has issued evacuation orders that cover most of the residential areas and neighbourhoods in the city.

People have nowhere left to go, just al-Mawasi as the last refuge.

But this area has been a theatre for Israeli attacks. We are talking about hundreds of Palestinians who were killed in the area, and the Israeli military has started to trap people there.

Witnesses in al-Mawasi have told us that they have been following the Israeli military orders, but they have received nothing, just more bombardment and higher rates of killing that have shattered the credibility of the Israeli narrative.

One person injured in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

One person has been injured in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reports.

The NNA cited a statement by Lebanon’s Health Ministry saying a car had been targeted in Burj Qalawieh in the Bint Jbeil district.

Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a ceasefire in November, but Israeli strikes have continued on a near-daily basis.

‘I saw a man in pieces… the lower half of his body was gone’

At least 3 Palestinians have been killed, including children and women, in an Israeli strike on al-Nasser Street, near the al-Shifa Hospital compound west of Gaza City.

Resident Fadi al-Hindi was sitting in his tent when the attack occurred and told Al Jazeera that he immediately ran outside to check on his children.

“When I arrived, I saw a man in pieces; he had been riding a bicycle, and the lower half of his body was gone. Everyone in the street was injured, and we started to collect the pieces of the wounded. All the people here were injured, and most of them are martyrs because it was a huge missile,” he said.

“Every day when I walk down the street, I’m afraid I’ll be targeted next to them and die,” al-Hindi stated.

Another resident, Naaman al-Kafarna, told Al Jazeera the densely populated area was very crowded when the attack occurred.

“There were many martyrs. Everyone who was in that place was either injured or torn apart,” al-Kafarna said.

Photos: The aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told the Israel Defense Forces “to act forcefully against dozens of terror targets”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said two people, including a child, were killed and eight injured in the strikes. Its prime minister warned against his country being dragged “into a new war”.

Hezbollah, an armed group backed by Iran, said it had not carried out the rocket attack and remained committed to the deal which ended 14 months of fighting.

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, said it was “alarmed by the possible escalation of violence”, urging both Israel and Lebanon to “uphold their commitments”.

The IDF said three rockets were intercepted in the northern Israeli town of Metula in the morning. There were no injuries.

Hours later, the Lebanese army said it had conducted a search operation, discovering “three primitive rocket launchers” which it dismantled.

In a statement later on Saturday, Hezbollah denied any links to the rocket attack on Israel, and reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire deal.

The truce has been fragile. Israel has carried out nearly daily air strikes on what it describes as Hezbollah targets, and has indicated that attacks will continue to prevent the group from rearming.

In addition to that, the Israeli military is still occupying five locations in southern Lebanon, in what the Lebanese government says is a violation of the country’s sovereignty and a breach of the ceasefire deal, which required the withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Israel says the Lebanese military has not yet fully deployed to those areas, and that it needs to remain at those points to guarantee the security of its border communities.

Saturday’s rocket attack into Israel will put even more pressure on the Lebanese government, and probably be used as proof by Israel that the Lebanese army does not have full control of border areas.

Despite Israel’s constant attacks, Hezbollah has not responded in kind. The group faces the huge challenge of providing financial help to its communities affected by the war, and pressure from its opponents to disarm.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, who came to power in January, has said only the state should have arms in the country, in what is seen as a reference to Hezbollah’s arsenal. Lebanon’s international partners say they will only help the country if the government acts to curb Hezbollah’s power.

Hezbollah launched its campaign the day after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The longstanding conflict escalated and led to an intense Israeli air campaign across Lebanon, the assassination of Hezbollah’s senior leaders and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

The offensive killed about 4,000 people in Lebanon – including many civilians – and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents from September to November 2024.

Israel’s stated goal in its war against Hezbollah was to allow the return of about 60,000 residents who had been displaced from communities in the country’s north because of the group’s attacks, and to remove it from areas along the border.

Mourners dressed in black flocked to a stadium on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital on Sunday. They also paid their respects to Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s successor, who was killed in a separate Israeli strike before he could assume his post.

Nasrallah, the former leader of the Lebanese militant Shia Islamist group, was one of the most influential figures in the Middle East.

Hours before the funeral began at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), Israel launched air strikes in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers.

People braved the cold to attend the funeral, which was held at the 50,000-capacity Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium.

Nasrallah’s coffin was draped in Hezbollah’s flag and paraded along with Safieddine’s casket through huge crowds of black-clad mourners.

Excerpts of Nasrallah’s speeches were played to the gathered supporters, who chanted, waved flags and held portraits of the leaders.

Hezbollah’s current leader, Naim Qassem, addressed mourners via video link from an undisclosed location, saying Hezbollah remained “strong” and “would not submit”.

One mourner, 55-year-old Umm Mahdi, told the AFP news agency that the funeral was the “least we can do” for Nasrallah, “who gave up everything” for his cause.

Prior to his death, he had not been seen in public for years because of fears of being assassinated by Israel.

The late leader had close personal links to Iran and played a key role in turning Hezbollah into the political and military force it is today. He was revered by the group’s supporters.

Under Nasrallah’s 30-year leadership, Hezbollah – which is banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK, US and other countries – helped train fighters from the Palestinian armed group Hamas, as well as militias in Iraq and Yemen, and obtained missiles and rockets from Iran for use against Israel.

He died aged 64 in Dahieh, a closely-guarded suburb of Beirut. After Nasrallah’s death, Hezbollah allowed open access to the area for the first time for a public memorial.

The mass funeral is an apparent show of strength for Hezbollah, which suffered a series of major setbacks during Israel’s campaign in Lebanon last year.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that Israeli planes were flying over the stadium while the funeral took place to “convey a clear message: whoever threatens to destroy Israel – that will be the end of them”.

Israel’s incursion into Lebanon came after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza.

Lebanon was subject to an intense Israeli air campaign and a ground invasion of the country’s south.

Dozens of senior figures were killed when Israeli-made walkie-talkies were detonated in a surprise attack in September 2024.

Many of Hezbollah’s most senior military and political leaders were also killed during the latest conflict with Israel.

The offensive killed around 4,000 people in Lebanon – including many civilians – and led to more than 1.2 million residents being displaced before a ceasefire deal was struck in November.

Representatives from Iran, Iraq and Yemen attended the funeral, which was delayed to allow time for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon – though some troops still remain.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the slain leaders as “two heroes of the resistance” in a speech.

Israeli ministers said some troops would remain inside Lebanon to protect Israel’s northern communities.

In response, Lebanon said Israel must withdraw completely. It said it would consider “the continued Israeli presence in any inch of Lebanese territory an occupation”.

The ceasefire requires Israel to withdraw and for Lebanon’s army to replace all armed groups south of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) north of Israel.

Hezbollah was the dominant force in the area for decades, but was heavily damaged in the conflict, the deadliest fought with Israel since the militant group was formed in 1982.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,960 people – many of them civilians – were killed during the hostilities, and one million others were displaced from areas where Hezbollah had a strong presence.

Israeli authorities say more than 80 Israeli soldiers and 47 civilians were killed. About 60,000 citizens were displaced from northern Israel.

Most of those displaced in Lebanon have returned home, the UN says, while only a minority of those displaced in Israel have done so, according to reports.

The positions where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops have been deployed are in mountainous terrain on the edge of the internationally recognised border between Lebanon and Israel.

On Tuesday Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the IDF was “temporarily remaining in five strategic high points”. He added that this was “necessary for our security”.

“Once Lebanon fully implements its side of the deal, there will be no need to hold these points,” he told a news conference in Jerusalem.

Lebanese soldiers moved into the areas vacated by Israeli troops and began clearing roadblocks and checking for unexploded ordnance, the Associated Press news agency reported on Tuesday.

It said some villagers pushed their way through to get back to their homes, many of which were blown up in the conflict.

“I am very happy I am going back even if I find my home destroyed,” said Atef Arabi, 36, who was returning to the village of Kfar Kila with his wife and two daughters. “If I find my house destroyed I will rebuild it.”

Israel’s withdrawal had been postponed from the original 60-day deadline – which fell on 26 January – stipulated in the ceasefire.

In a social-media post on Tuesday, Mr Katz said: “The IDF’s enforcement activities against Hezbollah will continue at full strength. We will not allow a return to the reality of 7 October [2023]” – referring to the date when Palestinian Hamas gunmen carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza.

Hezbollah had launched its military campaign against Israel the following day, saying it was acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said on Monday that the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel.

“We need to remain at those points at the moment to defend Israeli citizens, to make sure this process is complete and eventually hand it over to the Lebanese armed forces,” Shoshani told reporters.

He said the “temporary measure” was approved by the United States-led body monitoring the ceasefire, which came into effect in late November.

Lebanon had expressed concern earlier on Monday that Israel would not move all of its forces out of the country by Tuesday’s agreed deadline.

“We are afraid that a complete withdrawal will not be achieved tomorrow,” Aoun said in a statement.

“The Lebanese response will be through a unified, comprehensive national position,” the Lebanese president added.

Lebanon’s concerns over the Israeli army’s plans illustrate the fragility of the ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

They also come after several reports of attacks across Lebanon, a common tactic of the Israeli military on the eve of a cessation of hostilities.

A drone struck a car in the port city of Sidon, the deepest of Israel’s many attacks in Lebanon since the ceasefire took effect on November 27.

The strike near a Lebanese army checkpoint killed a Hamas official who headed the group’s operations department in Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from the scene, said “Israel acts with little restraint.”

An Israeli drone also dropped a grenade on the main square of the southern town of Kfarchouba, and soldiers set fire to houses in the border town of Odaisseh, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Ramzi Kaiss from Human Rights Watch said “Israel’s deliberate demolition of civilian homes and infrastructure” was making it “impossible for many residents to return” home.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire to bring an end to months of all-out war, during which Israel launched ground operations against Lebanon and assassinated a wave of top Hezbollah figures, including chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Under the deal, the Israeli army was to withdraw from southern Lebanon over a 60-day period while Lebanon’s military deployed in the Hezbollah heartland alongside United Nations peacekeepers.

The 60-day deadline, which fell in late January, was later extended to Tuesday.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, was to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the Lebanon-Israel border, and dismantle any of its remaining military infrastructure in the south.

However, last week, Israel accused the Lebanese armed group of failing to abide by the deal and said it did not plan to fully withdraw in the short term.

Speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said he had received word from Washington that Israel would remain in those five locations, a plan Lebanon rejected.

“What we’re hearing from Lebanese officials is that Israel will withdraw from some villages but will remain in strategic locations on hilltops just a few metres inside Lebanon,” Al Jazeera’s Khodr reported on Monday.

It is assumed that the positions Israel intends to maintain will offer military control across southern Lebanon.

Karim Bitar, lecturer in Middle East studies at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), said, “It appears that there is a tacit if not an explicit US agreement to extend the withdrawal period.”

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said in a statement that the convoy was taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport when it was targeted and one of its vehicles set on fire.

Protesters have been blocking the road to the airport following a decision by the Lebanese government to bar two Iranian planes from landing.

Both Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and the country’s army condemned the attack on Unifil, and said they would work to arrest those involved.

Several videos shared online show one white UN vehicle alight, as a group of young men, carrying yellow flags, chase and beat what appear to be peacekeepers as they attempt to flee.

Separate footage shows a group of men shouting as they kick, hit and climb onto a convoy of three UN vehicles along a dark road.

Unifil’s injured deputy commander, who was not named, was returning home after ending his mission, according to a statement from the United Nations.

“We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Lebanon during a difficult time,” it added.

“Attacks on peacekeepers are flagrant violations of international law and may amount to war crimes. We demand a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice.”

Aoun said the attack was “unacceptable” and “cannot be allowed to be repeated”.

In a social media post from the presidency, he added: “The security forces will not be lenient with any party that tries to destabilize and undermine civil peace in the country.”

Supporters of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have gathered outside Beirut’s airport since Thursday over a stand-off between Lebanon and Iran that saw two Iranian planes barred from landing in the Lebanese capital.

It has left dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Iran.

The measure was put in place after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Iran’s Quds Force had been “exploiting” international flights to “smuggle” funds to arm Hezbollah.

The IDF’s Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said it was in contact with the committee monitoring the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, but alleged: “Despite the efforts made, we estimate that some of these money smuggling attempts have succeeded.”

The Amal movement, a group allied to Hezbollah, said “the attack on Unifil is an attack on southern Lebanon”, and described it as “a stab at civil peace”.

Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmed Al-Hajjar told state media he would convene a security meeting on Saturday in light of the attack, calling it a “crime against peacekeeping forces”.

Unifil was created to monitor a buffer zone created near the border with Israel following the end of the 2006 Lebanon war, and has posts throughout southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces had been due to pull out next week but the source told the BBC Israel wanted its military to stay in five positions there for another 10 days, till 28 February.

The ceasefire deal that ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was brokered by the US and France and came into force on 27 November.

It requires the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon and the removal of Hezbollah fighters and weapons from there too.

At the same time, thousands of Lebanese soldiers were expected to be deployed to the region where, for decades, Hezbollah has been the dominant force.

The ceasefire has already been extended once – the initial deadline was 26 January – after Israel said the Lebanese state had not fully implemented the deal. Lebanon accused Israel of delaying its withdrawal.

One of the priorities of the new Lebanese government is to restore the country’s territorial sovereignty, and the authorities strongly reject another delay.

President Joseph Aoun insisted on Wednesday that there was “no truth” to reports that another extension had been agreed, his office said. He also “repeatedly stressed Lebanon’s insistence on the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops” by Tuesday.

The continued presence of Israeli troops is a source of concern for many in Lebanon as Israel occupied the country’s south for 18 years, between 1982 and 2000.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to target Hezbollah, and has vowed to carry out more attacks on the Iran-backed group to stop it from rearming or rebuilding its forces.

On Wednesday, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier at low altitude over the capital Beirut for the first time since the ceasefire began.

Hezbollah, which is a militant, political and social movement, was severely weakened in the conflict with Israel, although it continues to enjoy significant support among Shia Muslims in Lebanon.

The ceasefire deal was widely considered as a surrender by the group, after it saw its infrastructure and weapons arsenal depleted, and hundreds of fighters and key figures killed, including long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The conflict escalated last September, when Israel launched an intense air campaign across Lebanon, assassinated Hezbollah’s senior leaders and invaded southern Lebanon.

The offensive killed around 4,000 people in Lebanon – including many civilians – and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents, Lebanese authorities say. It also caused billions of dollars in destruction and damage.

Israel’s stated goal in its war against Hezbollah was to allow the return of about 60,000 residents who had been displaced from communities in the country’s north because of the group’s rocket, mortar and drone attacks, and to remove its weapons and infrastructure from areas along the border.

Hezbollah had launched its campaign the day after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.