This article documents an ongoing military operation. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information.(September 2024) |
2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon | |||||||
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Part of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Israel | Hezbollah | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Benjamin Netanyahu Yoav Gallant Brig. Gen. Guy Levi [2] Col. Elad Tzuri [3] | Naim Qassem Hashem Safieddine | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Israeli Air Force Intelligence Directorate [8] | Imam Hussein Division [9] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000–14,000 (98th Division only) [10] | 20,000–100,000 [11] |
On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Lebanon as part of an escalation in the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict. On the same day, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) withdrew from the Blue Line. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) also said that the northern border is a closed military zone. [12]
According to the IDF, the operation seeks to root out Hezbollah's forces and infrastructure that pose a threat to civilian communities in northern Israel. [13] [14] [15] IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that the Iran-backed group was preparing for an attack similar to Hamas' 7 October attacks, citing weapons caches and maps found in previous raids that reference a plan called "Conquer the Galilee." [13] [16] Hezbollah denied that the Israeli military had entered Lebanon. [17]
The operation followed a series of major Hezbollah setbacks in September that degraded its capabilities [18] [19] and devastated its leadership, [20] [21] including the 17 and 18 September explosions of its handheld communication devices and the 20 September assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, commander of the elite Redwan Force. [22] [23] IDF airstrikes also targeted Hezbollah's military bases, command centers, airstrips, and weapons caches across southern Lebanon. [24] These setbacks culminated in the 27 September assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and other senior commanders, including Ali Karaki, commander of Hezbollah in south Lebanon, in an airstrike that destroyed their underground headquarters in Beirut's Dahieh suburbs. [25] [26]
The last time Israel invaded southern Lebanon and engaged in ground combat with Hezbollah was during the month-long 2006 Lebanon War. [27]
Since 8 October 2023—a day after the Hamas-led attack on Israel that began the ongoing Israel–Hamas war—Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, joined the conflict by attacking Israeli military positions. [24] Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have been involved in cross-border military exchanges that have displaced entire communities in Israel and Lebanon, with significant damage to buildings and land along the border. From 7 October 2023 to 20 September 2024, there were 10,200 cross-border attacks, of which Israel launched 8,300. [28] The strikes have approximately displaced 96,000 Israelis and 1 million Lebanese. [29] [30] [31]
Israel requested that Hezbollah implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 (UNSCR 1701) and withdraw its forces north of the Litani River. [32] [33] Hezbollah has stated it will continue attacking Israel until Israel halts its operations in Gaza. [34] Both Israel and Hezbollah have outstanding obligations under UNSCR 1701. [35] [36] [37] Hezbollah has established strong military presence in southern Lebanon, storing rockets in civilian sites, building tunnels into Israel, and obstructing UNIFIL's access. [38] [15] Israel continues to occupy Ghajar and an adjacent area, [39] [40] and has repeatedly breached Lebanese airspace, waters, and borders. [41] [42] [43] UNIFIL reports that Israel entered Lebanese airspace on more than 22,000 occasions between 2007–2021. [44] [45] Diplomatic efforts, led by U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein and France, have so far been unsuccessful in resolving the conflict. [46] [47]
The conflict escalated in September 2024. On 17 and 18 September, thousands of handheld pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in a coordinated series of attacks. [48] The explosions killed 42 people and injured at least 3,500, including civilians. [49] [50] [51] Reuters reported that, according to an unnamed Hezbollah official, 1,500 Hezbollah fighters were taken out of action due to injuries, with many blinded or having lost their hands. [52] Despite Israel denying involvement with the attack, [53] unnamed Israeli sources told Reuters and other media that it was orchestrated by Israel's intelligence service (Mossad) and military. [54] [55] [48] In response, Hezbollah, who described the attack as a possible declaration of war by Israel, launched a rocket attack on northern Israel a few days later. [56] [57]
On 20 September, tensions further rose after Ibrahim Aqil was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut, along with other senior commanders from the unit. [58] [59] After ordering Lebanese citizens to evacuate, Israel began a series of airstrikes on 23 September, killing over 800 and injuring more than 5,000 in the first week. [60] [61]
On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, and several other senior Hezbollah leaders, including Ali Karki, commander of Hezbollah's southern front, were assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. [62] [63] The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb to the south of Beirut. [63] [64]
On 1 October, the IDF unveiled that its forces had conducted raids in southern Lebanon for months before the ground operation, uncovering Hezbollah tunnels, weapons caches, and invasion plans in villages near the border, [13] [16] including Ayta ash Shab, Meiss Ej Jabal and Kafr Kila. [65] IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that these findings indicate Hezbollah's intent to launch an attack similar to Hamas' 7 October attacks, which sparked the ongoing conflict. [13] [16] Hagari also mentioned that evidence from these operations, including videos and maps, would be presented to the international community, while Hezbollah has not commented on his claims. [13] [16]
On 30 September, Israel informed the United States that it intended to carry out a ground maneuver in Lebanon aimed at clearing Hezbollah's infrastructure along the border. That evening, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) withdrew from the Israeli-Lebanese border to the north to a distance of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi; 2.7 nmi) from the border, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared that the settlements of Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi are a closed military area. [66] Israeli troops were amassing on the border in Southern Lebanon, with Israel stating that they were preparing for a limited ground invasion. [67]
On 1 October, IDF troops officially crossed the border into Lebanon in a series of small scale raids intended to precede a broader ground invasion. [68] [69] [70] Witnesses have said that they have heard sounds of tanks in Southern Lebanon. [71] [ better source needed ] [72] There were also reports of heavy artillery striking the border towns of Southern Lebanon. [73] The IDF called for evacuations in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, as they were preparing to bomb it. [74] Hezbollah also claimed that it had targeted IDF soldiers in towns opposite of Odaisseh and Kafr Kila. [75]
On 1 October, the IDF confirmed the existence of their ground operation in a statement on Telegram, specifying that they intended to strike Hezbollah infrastructure. Shortly after the release of this statement, IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari also confirmed the operation. [76] Prior to the release of these statements, the IDF had made no announcements about the operation. Hezbollah launched ten rockets from southern Lebanon to Israel [77] and a drone towards central Israel. [78] Hezbollah said that it targeted IDF sites, Israeli soldiers and settlements with 12 separate strikes. [79]
An Israeli strike on the house of Munir al-Maqdah, a brigadier general of Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Lebanon in Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp killed at least five people. [80]
Three rockets were launched from Lebanon towards Upper Galilee. [81] An Israeli strike on a house in Al-Dawoudiya killed at least ten people and injured five others. [82] Hezbollah said that it targeted Israeli soldiers in Metula with rockets and artillery. [83]
The IDF said that heavy fighting is taking place in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah. The IDF also warned that residents to not move in vehicles from north of Litani River to south of the river. The IDF also said that projectiles were launched to Avivim and Metula. [84] "A number of" rockets were launched from Lebanon to Israel, moderately injuring two people. [85] [86] Hezbollah said that it targeted Unit 8200 headquarters in Tel Aviv with Fadi-4 rockets and Mossad headquarters in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. [87] The IDF issued an urgent warning for residents of 25 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate to north of the Awali River. [88] Approximately 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel. [89]
The IDF claimed that in coordination with the Intelligence Division, IDF forces led by the Northern Command and special forces had captured Hezbollah infrastructure in the towns of Kafr Kila, Ayta ash Shab, Meiss Ej Jabal amongst other sites and destroyed the facilities after they were abandoned after the retreat of Hezbollah. [8]
The IDF conducted at least two airstrikes in Dahieh. [90] Hezbollah said that it targeted the Sde Dov airbase in the outskirts of Tel Aviv with missiles. [91]
Syrian military sources said that Israel struck two Syrian anti-aircraft radar stations west of Sweida and a Syrian anti-aircraft radar station in Daraa Governorate. [92]
The IDF claimed that Muhammad Jaafar Qasir, a Hezbollah commander responsible for transferring Iranian weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, was killed in an airstrike in Beirut. [93]
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched 180 ballistic missiles toward Israel, with at least one building being hit in Tel Aviv. [94] The attack was in response to the assassination of Abbas Nilforoushan, Hassan Nasrallah, Ismail Haniyeh. At least two Israelis were slightly injured in Tel Aviv and a Palestinian was killed by shrapnel in Nu'eima, West Bank. [95] [96] [97]
The IDF said that it killed the commander of Hezbollah's Imam Hussein division in an airstrike in Beirut. [9]
The IAF struck 100 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon while soldiers of the Northern Command destroyed several military sites and weapons. [98]
Writing for The Guardian , Andrew Roth assessed that the invasion showed Israel's willingness to ignore its chief ally, the United States, and the latter's lack of influence over the Netanyahu government. Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, stated that this was in parts caused by the Democrats trying to avoid criticising Netanyahu before the U.S. presidential elections. [110] Writers for ITV News and The Washington Post agreed that the invasion highlighted the waning influence the U.S. government has on Israel. [111] [112]
Hassan Nasrallah was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in September 2024.
This is a timeline of events related to the 2006 Lebanon War.
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War, was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Golan Heights. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The conflict started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, though it formally ended on 8 September 2006 when Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon. Due to unprecedented Iranian military support to Hezbollah before and during the war, some consider it the first round of the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, rather than a continuation of the Arab–Israeli conflict.
The Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian civil war refers to the Iranian–Israeli standoff in and around Syria during the Syrian conflict. With increasing Iranian involvement in Syria from 2011 onwards, the conflict shifted from a proxy war into a direct confrontation by early 2018.
Exchange of strikes between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been occurring along the Israel–Lebanon border and in Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since 8 October 2023. It is currently the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict to have occurred since the 2006 Lebanon War, and part of the spillover of the Israel–Hamas war.
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.
On 30 July 2024, Israel conducted an airstrike on an apartment building in Haret Hreik in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Iranian military adviser Milad Bedi, as well as five Lebanese civilians, including two children, and wounding 80 others.
Fuad Shukr was a Lebanese militant leader who was a senior member of Hezbollah. A member of Hezbollah's founding generation, Shukr was a senior military leader in the organization from the early 1980s. For over four decades, he was one of the group's leading military figures and was a military advisor to its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah launched rocket strikes on Israel in response to the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel, until the beginning of the first ceasefire between Israel and Hamas which lasted from 24 November 2023 to 30 November 2023.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 24 November 2023, when the first ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, until 1 January 2024, one day prior to the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri.
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.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 1 April 2024, when Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus, to 26 July 2024, one day before the Majdal Shams attack.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 27 July 2024, when a Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, killing 12 children, to 16 September 2024, one day before the explosion of Hezbollah pagers and walkie talkies.
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 700 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 from 17 September 2024, when Hezbollah pagers exploded throughout Lebanon and Syria to the present. Beginning 23 September, Israel begun mass airstrikes on Lebanon, on 27 September, they assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, and on 1 October, they invaded Lebanon.
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 underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb to the south of Beirut. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force using F-15I fighters, the operation involved dropping more than 80 bombs, including US-made 2,000-pound (910 kg) bunker buster bombs, destroying the underground headquarters as well as nearby buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) codenamed the operation "New Order".
On 1 October 2024, Iran launched Operation True Promise 2 with about 200 missiles towards Israel in at least two waves, causing sirens to sound across the country. Explosions were reported overhead across Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. One Palestinian was killed by an intercepted rocket, and several others were injured due to rocket fragments falling over Jericho.
The IDF's invasion of southern Lebanon late Monday night was led by Division 98 and its commander, Brig. Gen. Guy Levi, who also led the commando unit, the Egoz special forces unit, the paratroopers, and Brigade 7 of the Tank Corp.
Israel placed explosives inside thousands of pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's extraordinary attacks, according to sources cited by Reuters and US media.
Even before Mr. Nasrallah decided to expand pager usage, Israel had put into motion a plan to establish a shell company that would pose as an international pager producer. By all appearances, B.A.C. Consulting was a Hungary-based company that was under contract to produce the devices on behalf of a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. In fact, it was part of an Israeli front, according to three intelligence officers briefed on the operation. They said at least two other shell companies were created as well to mask the real identities of the people creating the pagers: Israeli intelligence officers.
Roughly 10 rocket launches were detected crossing from southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said, triggering alerts in the Meron area of northern Israel.
The Israeli military has also announced it has intercepted a drone over the Mediterranean Sea, dozens of kilometres off the coast of central Israel.
Not only have they been firing rockets at northern Israel since midnight, they say they have carried out 12 separate attacks against Israeli positions, Israeli forces, and Israeli settlements.
At least five people are now confirmed dead following the Israeli military strike on the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in the coastal city in southern Lebanon. Earlier, we reported that the Israeli air attack hit the home of Munir al-Maqdah, a brigadier general with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Lebanon – a coalition of Palestinian armed groups aligned with the Fatah movement.
Israeli defence systems intercepted two rocket launches in the Upper Galilee region after crossing into northern Israel from southern Lebanon, while a third rocket fell into an open area in the Baram region.
The Israeli military bombed a home in the southern Lebanese town of Daoudiya, killing at least 10 people and wounding five others, the Lebanese National News Agency reports.
Hezbollah attacked "a movement of enemy soldiers in Metula with artillery shells", it said in a statement. In another, it said it targeted a "gathering of enemy soldiers" in the same area with rockets.
The Israeli army says intense fighting with Hezbollah is taking place in southern Lebanon, spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X. He also issued a warning for residents not to move in their vehicles from the northern area to the southern area of the Litani River. In northern Israel, projectiles were fired at the Metula and Avivim areas, the military said, adding some were intercepted while others fell in open areas.
The Israeli military says "a number of" rockets that crossed into the territory of Israel from Lebanon have been detected and some of them have been intercepted. The Israeli media reported, quoting medical sources, that a man in his 50s has been moderately wounded in the rocket attack on central Israel.
The Lebanese group says it launched a salvo of "Fadi-4" rockets at the Glilot base in Tel Aviv, the headquarters of the Israeli military Intelligence – Unit 8200. A statement on Telegram said the group also carried out an attack on the Mossad headquarters located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli army has issued an "urgent" warning to residents of 25 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately. It added that residents should immediately head north of the Awali River.
About 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel in the last few hours, an Israeli military statement says.
The Israeli military says its air force has killed Hezbollah member Muhammad Jaafar Qasir in Beirut. It says Qasir was the commander of the unit responsible for the transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing Israeli rescue services, reports that two people have been lightly wounded in Tel Aviv after the Iranian missile attack.