The year 2023 in Israel was defined first by wide-scale protests against a proposed judicial reform, and then by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, which led to a war and to Israel invading the Gaza Strip.
Events in the year 2023 in Lebanon.
A 14-month-long conflict between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel began on 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets and artillery at Israeli positions following the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. The conflict escalated into a prolonged exchange of bombardments, leading to extensive displacement in Israel and Lebanon. The conflict, part of the broader Middle Eastern crisis that began with Hamas' attack, marked the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict since the 2006 Lebanon War.
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 2 January 2024, with the Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, until 31 March 2024, one day prior to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
On 23 September 2024, Israel began a series of airstrikes in Lebanon as part of the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict with an operation it code-named Northern Arrows. Since then, Israel's attacks have killed over 800 people, injured more than 5,000, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians. The attacks are the deadliest in Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese Civil War, and began five days after Israel performed a deadly pager and walkie-talkie attack on devices intended for Hezbollah members, and three days after Israel performed an airstrike on an apartment complex in Beirut which killed Redwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil as well as 54 others.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period that begins 17 September 2024, when Hezbollah pagers exploded throughout Lebanon and Syria, and ends prior to 27 November 2024, when the 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement was signed. Beginning 23 September, Israel began its airstrikes in Lebanon, on 27 September, they assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, and on 1 October, they invaded Lebanon.
Citizens and permanent residents of Lebanon have fled the nation or have been internally displaced since the escalation of tensions between Israel and Hezbollah beginning in 2023, and especially during and following the September 2024 Lebanon strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley. As of 25 September 2024, nearly 500,000 people were reported by Lebanese officials to have been displaced due to the strikes.
On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located 60 feet (18 m) underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force using F-15I fighters, the operation involved dropping more than 80 bombs, destroying the underground headquarters as well as nearby buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) codenamed the operation "New Order".
On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Southern Lebanon, marking the sixth Israeli invasion of Lebanon since 1978. The invasion took place after nearly 12 months of Israel–Hezbollah conflict. On 26 November, Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire agreement, mediated by France and the United States. The ceasefire went into effect on 27 November, though some attacks continue.
On the night of 3 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike on an underground bunker in Dahieh, a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, Lebanon, where Hezbollah leaders, including Hashem Safieddine, had convened in the headquarters of Hezbollah's Intelligence Branch. Safieddine was later confirmed dead by both the IDF and Hezbollah.
On 10 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in Bachoura in central Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike in the densely populated neighborhood killed at least 22 Lebanese people and injured another 117. The apparent target of the airstrike was Wafiq Safa, the brother-in-law of former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who reportedly evaded the assassination attempt against him. Israel used US-made JDAM fit for 2,000-pound bombs in the attack. The attack has been the deadliest attack in Beirut since the start of the 2023 Israel–Hezbollah conflict on 8 October 2023.
On 14 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted an airstrike on the Maronite Christian town of Aitou in North Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike killed 22 Lebanese people, including 12 women and 2 children, and wounded 8. This was the first time Israel targeted the Christian-majority region of Zgharta. Lebanese sources have referred to it as a massacre.
On 16 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces targeted a meeting of the municipal council of Nabatieh in Lebanon and struck it with 10 airstrikes, killing at least 16 municipality staff, including the mayor of Nabatieh, and injuring more than 52.
The Israeli Defense Forces conducted airstrikes on the Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association, a Hezbollah-linked financial institution on the night of October 20–21, 2024. During these airstrikes, the Israeli air force targeted a number of Al-Qard Al-Hassan's sites in Lebanon. Israel says AQAH finances Hezbollah's military activities - a claim the group denies, saying it has no role other than providing small, interest-free loans to ordinary Lebanese, in line with Islamic law's ban on receiving interest.
On 28 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces conducted a series of airstrikes on roughly a dozen settlements in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, killing at least 134 people and leaving at least 117 others injured. Follow-up airstrikes on two villages killed at least nineteen more on 30 October, with "dozens" more being killed on 2–3 November. The airstrikes were described by regional governor Bachie Khodr as the most intense in the area since the start of Israeli–Hezbollah escalations in September 2024.
On 23 November 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in Basta in central Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike in the densely populated neighborhood killed at least 29 people and injured another 67 with 30 others missing.
Israeli attacks on the Lebanese health sector during the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) were proportionally more deadly than any other war in the world between 7 October 2023 and 18 November 2024, including the Israel–Hamas war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to international humanitarian law, hospitals, the patients they shelter, health professionals, and ambulances cannot be endangered by belligerents. This principle applies to services affiliated with armed groups, such as Hezbollah. Despite Israel alleging the use of Lebanese medical facilities by Hezbollah for military purposes, several human rights organizations issued condemnations for not providing substantial proof of such use, and for not respecting the protection afforded to sick or injured people treated in these facilities.
Israel Defense Forces