Israel continued to pound Lebanon on Thursday, launching further attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, including in central Beirut, while calling on residents of southern Lebanese towns to evacuate.
Two days after the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, Lebanese authorities reported a new round of attacks and dozens of casualties among the country’s emergency services since the conflict intensified in September.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hezbollah fired about 230 projectiles into northern Israel in one day, but most were intercepted or fell over uninhabited areas.
The IDF, meanwhile, said it had killed at least 15 Hezbollah fighters in attacks on about 200 targets in Lebanon, including in residential areas of the capital Beirut, where the Shiite militia said its news agency was targeted.
A new attack on the capital’s Bashoura neighborhood – the second this week in central Beirut – left at least nine dead and 14 injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify remains removed from the site so a final toll can be determined, the ministry said.
Two Lebanese soldiers killed
The escalation of fighting in Lebanon, days before the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, has revived fears that the war in Gaza could ultimately spark a regional conflagration.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah began launching rockets into northern Israel on October 8 in support of Hamas. After a year of cross-border skirmishes, the Israeli goal now is to push Hezbollah back from the border so that some 60,000 Israelis evacuated from northern areas can return home.
Meanwhile, Israel has yet to respond to Iran firing a barrage of missiles at locations across Israel on Tuesday.
Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday, the first deaths since the start of the offensive among the country’s army, which vowed to remain neutral in the conflict.
The Lebanese army said one soldier was killed in the southern city of Taybeh as troops carried out an evacuation and rescue mission together with the Lebanese Red Cross.
More than 100 medical workers and firefighters have been killed and 220 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon so far, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad.
According to the government in Beirut, about 1.2 million people in Lebanon have been displaced by the massive aerial bombardment launched by Israel last week.
Israel orders more evacuations
In a call from an Israeli military spokesman in Arabic, the army announced it would take action against Hezbollah in 25 locations in southern Lebanon, ordering people to evacuate north beyond the Awali River, some 60 kilometers from the border.
Residents of the town of Nabatieh were also told to leave.
Every house used by Hezbollah is a target, the army spokesman warned.
Many people in Hezbollah-controlled areas are often unaware of which buildings are used by the Shia militia.
Israeli attacks on many areas in southern Lebanon continued Thursday morning, according to state news agency NNA. The agency reported that Lebanese Civil Defense was deployed 193 times in a 24-hour period to recover bodies or extinguish fires.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, 46 people were killed and 85 injured in Israeli attacks in the country on Wednesday alone. The ministry’s figures do not distinguish between civilians and Hezbollah members.
Israel kills top Hezbollah commander
Israel says its attacks continue to target senior Hezbollah commanders.
In one attack on Thursday, the IDF claimed to have killed the man responsible for firing a rocket at a football field in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in July, killing 12 youths.
Khider al Shaebia was killed in a targeted airstrike in Lebanon on Wednesday, the IDF said. He was reportedly the Hezbollah commander in the Lebanese area bordering the Golan Heights and had ordered hundreds of rocket attacks on Israel.
Hezbollah says Israeli soldiers killed
Details about Israel’s ground offensive are scarce, but Hezbollah said several Israeli soldiers were killed by explosives in the village of Maroun al-Ras, near the border.
Hezbollah said more soldiers were injured after it detonated an explosive in the village, where eight Israeli soldiers were also killed on Wednesday.
When asked for comment, the Israeli military said it could not comment on the latest losses.
During the last direct confrontation between the two sides in 2006, Hezbollah used guerrilla tactics in the mountainous areas of southern Lebanon, leading to major losses on the Israeli side.
