October 1, 2024 Iran launches missile attack on Israel

Our live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East has moved here.

Iran’s military chief said the missile attack launched Tuesday was limited to military targets, but warned of broader strikes if Israel responds.

Major General Mohammad Bagheri said Iran had targeted military infrastructure including the Mossad intelligence agency, the Nevatim Air Base, Hatzor Air Base, radar installations and groupings of Israeli tanks, despite having the option of launching a much broader attack.

“We had the capability to attack the regime’s economic infrastructure, but we only targeted military bases,” he said Wednesday.

He added a warning to Israel and its supporters.

“If the Zionist regime is not controlled and takes action against Iran, we will target all of its infrastructure,” he said.

Bagheri said the?strikes against Israel were in retaliation for the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, Hassan Nasrallah and Abbas Nilforoushan.

Nasrallah, who led the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for more than 30 years, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his underground headquarters in Beirut on Friday. Nilforoushan, a senior commander from Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed alongside him, according to Iranian state media.

Hamas political leader Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran in July using an explosive device that had been covertly hidden in the guesthouse where he was staying, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The Iranian government and Hamas say Israel carried out the assassination. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

“Since the assassination of Martyr Haniyeh, we have gone through a difficult period of restraint at the repeated request of the Americans and Europeans, who asked us to hold back to establish a ceasefire in Gaza. However, after the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Commander Nilforoushan, the situation became intolerable,” Bagheri said.

Israelis take cover as projectiles launched from Iran are being intercepted in the skies over in Rosh HaAyin, Israel, on October 1, 2024.

Israel has vowed to respond to Iran’s largest ever attack on the country, fueling fears of a further escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

Iran launched dozens of missiles toward Israel on Tuesday in what Tehran said was a response to the?killing of Hezbollah leader?Hassan?Nasrallah?and others, just hours after Israel said it had launched a?“limited and localized” ground operation?against the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.

The?Israel Defense Forces (IDF)?said it estimated that Iran fired 180 “projectiles” at the country. It said it intercepted many of the missiles, although some landed on the ground in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

At least one person was killed and several were injured during?the attack, according to the Israeli military. The extent of the damage remains unclear.

Here’s what you need to know.

CNN teams in Beirut heard blasts overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

Thick plumes of smoke were visible in the sky above the capital’s southern suburbs, a CNN photo shows.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier said it is striking Hezbollah targets in several southern suburbs of Beirut and more details of the operation would follow.

It also told residents to evacuate several neighborhoods and buildings in the southern suburbs, where it suggested strikes are planned.

In one of a few messages posted to X after midnight local time, IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned that residents are located near “dangerous facilities belonging to Hezbollah against which the Defense Force will act with strength shortly.”

Evacuation orders from the Israeli military have been posted on social media between midnight local time and 3 a.m., likely when many people are sleeping.

An estimated 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced over the past couple of weeks, thousands of them sheltering in Beirut, including in schools on the edges of the southern suburbs of the city.

Israeli rescue force members inspect the site where a missile fired from Iran towards Israel hit a school building, in central Israel, on October 1, 2024.

Israeli authorities were picking through pieces of shrapnel to identify the type of missile used in the aftermath of an attack carried out by Iran on Tuesday.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, reporting from the site of an attack near a school?in the central Israeli town of Gedera, said the impact of the strike left a wall and the windows of a second-grade classroom shattered, with significant damage seen inside.

Workers and heavy machinery could be seen in the background clearing through debris around a large crater measuring around 8 feet at its deepest portion. Shrapnel pieces could also be seen laid out as they were collected for further analysis.

No casualties were reported but hours before the attack, children had been attending the school.

Remnants of an Iranian ballistic missile, including the guidance section and the warhead, were visible in the images and videos taken by CNN at the site of the crater, according to Trevor Ball, a former senior explosive ordnance technician for the US Army.

He said it was difficult to identify the exact model due to the lack of reference images.

Iranian missile appears to hit less than a kilometer from Mossad headquarters in Herzliya, Israel, on October 1, 2024, in videos verified by CNN.

Of the approximately 180 missiles the Israel Defense Forces say Iran fired Tuesday night, at least three apparent targets have emerged from a CNN analysis of geolocated videos of the attack.

It’s still too early to tell whether the attack resulted in any serious damage – that will require daylight and likely satellite imagery – but by analyzing the videos from the attack we have a picture of what Iran targeted.

Footage shows a significant concentration of missiles fell either at, or near, the headquarters of Mossad, Nevatim Air Base and Tel Nof Air Base.

Those locations largely tally with?what the US intelligence community, and the Israelis, believed would be targeted. Israel assessed that Iran would likely attack three Israeli air bases and an intelligence base, according to a person briefed on the matter. And?a US military official told CNN that potential Iranian targets included air bases and intelligence command centers.

Videos show at least two missiles falling near the Mossad HQ in Tel Aviv’s Glilot neighborhood, a densely populated area with a number of residential and commercial buildings.

In southern Israel’s Negev desert, videos show a significant number of Iranian rockets hitting the Nevatim base. The facility, one of Israel’s?largest, was previously hit by Iran during its April 13 attack (the IDF said the damage was minimal.)

In the area of the Tel Nof base, more than 15 miles south of Tel Aviv,?another video showed a number of impacts.

This screengrab from a video shows a missile fragment in Balqa, Jordan on October 2, 2024.

Jordan has vowed it “will not be a battleground for anyone,” after an Iranian missile attack on Israel ramped up tensions across the Middle East and compounded fears of a wider conflict.

The Ministry of Interior said?missile fragments had fallen in different parts of the country including the capital Amman.

Three people sustained minor injuries from falling missiles and debris, according to al-Momani. “There is material damage that is being assessed right now,” he added.

State media broadcasts showed damage in several locations including one live report from Balqa governorate northwest of Amman where a reporter said a 2-meter missile fragment had landed.

Shelter order: In a rare move, the Jordanian military asked people to stay in their homes and put all its forces in a state of readiness. It also said it was taking “precautionary measures to build and support front-line units on the border fronts to protect the homeland.”

Jordan’s Air Force intercepted Iranian missiles Tuesday, according to a Jordanian official.

The Kingdom was one of the Arab countries that intercepted Iranian drones and missiles that were part of a previous attack against Israel by Iran on April 13.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on October 1, 2024.

Israel operates a range of defensive systems to block attacks by everything from ballistic missiles with trajectories that take them above the atmosphere to low-flying cruise missiles and rockets.

The country’s Iron Dome system has been in the headlines often since regional hostilities ramped up last year in the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the Israeli military’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza. But the Iron Dome is the bottom layer of Israel’s missile defense, according to the country’s Missile Defense Organization (IMDO).

There are at least 10 Iron Dome batteries in Israel, each equipped with a radar that detects rockets and then uses a command-and-control system that quickly calculates whether an incoming projectile poses a threat or is likely to hit an unpopulated area. If the rocket does pose a threat, the Iron Dome fires missiles from the ground to destroy it in the air.

The next rung up the missile defense ladder is David’s Sling, which protects against short- and medium-range threats, according to the IMDO.

David’s Sling, a joint project of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense System and US defense giant Raytheon, uses Stunner and SkyCeptor kinetic hit-to-kill interceptors to take out targets as far as 186 miles away, according to the Missile Threat project at the Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS).

Above David’s Sling are Israel’s Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, jointly developed with the United States.

The Arrow 2 uses fragmentation warheads to destroy incoming ballistic missiles in their terminal phase – as they dive toward their targets – in the upper atmosphere, according to the CSIS. The Arrow 2 has a range of 56 miles and a maximum altitude of 32 miles, according to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, which called the system an upgrade of the US Patriot missile defenses Israel once used in this role.

Meanwhile, the Arrow 3 uses hit-to-kill technology to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in space, before they reenter the atmosphere on their way to targets.

Israel’s military is currently striking Hezbollah targets in Beirut, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

It said that details of the operation would follow.

Footage on AFP and Reuters showed an explosion in the Lebanese capital within the past hour.

Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on October 1, 2024.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told residents to evacuate several neighborhoods and buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where it suggested that strikes are planned.

In a message posted to X after midnight local time, IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned that the residents are located near “dangerous facilities belonging to Hezballah against which the Defense Force will act with strength shortly.”

An Iranian soldier stands next to an Iranian Shahab-3 missile in Tehran, Iran on April 29, 2022.

Variants of the Iranian Shahab-3 series ballistic missiles were used in the latest missile attack on Israel, weapons experts who analyzed verified social media videos from the scene told CNN.

Trevor Ball, a former senior explosive ordnance technician for the US Army, told CNN that fragments consistent with Shahab-3 variants such as Emad or Ghadr, were identifiable from images and videos of the attack. In one video, debris of a booster with visible markings of an Emad missile was visible, according to Ball. Different models such as the Kheibar Shekan or, less likely, a Fattah could also have been used, he added.

The Shahab-3 is the foundation for all Iran’s medium-range ballistic missiles using a liquid-propellant, according to Patrick Senft, a research coordinator at Armament Research Services (ARES). “It is most likely based on a North Korean missile which itself is probably based on the Soviet-designed Scud missiles. The Shahab-3 was the first Iranian ballistic missile that could reach Israel,” he added.

Remnants of an Iranian ballistic missile, including the guidance section and the warhead, were visible in images and videos collected by CNN at the site of a rocket attack at a Shalhavot Chabad School in Gedera, according to both Ball and Senft. It is difficult to identify the exact model due to the lack of reference images, Ball said.

Regarding claims that Iran used its Fattah 1 hypersonic missile for the first time during its attack on Israel, weapons experts expressed skepticism.

“It’s one of their newest ballistic missiles, and they have a lot to lose from using it,” Ball said. “Israel would get an idea of its capabilities just from being used. There’s also the chance it could fail to function, giving Israel an even greater idea of its capabilities. They get free propaganda and risk nothing by saying it was used.”

The Israeli Air Force will carry out more strikes in the Middle East overnight and its operational capabilities have not been affected by Iran’s missile strikes, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“The Air Force continues to operate fully, and tonight it will continue to strike in the Middle East powerfully, as has been happening throughout the past year,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said late on Tuesday night local time.

The statement came after new video footage emerged showing Iranian missiles striking Nevatim air base in southern Israel.

Hagari added that Israel would continue to pursue Hezbollah commanders and anyone who threatened Israeli citizens.

“Iran committed a serious act tonight, pushing the Middle East towards escalation. We will act at the time and place we decide,” Hagari said.

Even until a few weeks ago, some senior US officials privately believed?that through its diplomatic and deterrence efforts, the US had helped to successfully thwart a large-scale Iranian attack against Israel, sources told CNN.?

But Iran’s missile attacks against Israel on Tuesday marked yet another development in the Middle East that the Biden administration had hoped to avoid, but could not.?Israel’s strikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut?last month that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in particular,?appears to have effectively guaranteed that Iran would move ahead with its offensive against Israel.

And even?before Israel assassinated Nasrallah, there were some indications that Iran had grown alarmed about the degree of damage that Israel was inflicting on its most powerful and capable proxy militia in the region, according to a US military official.

The US believed that Iran would intervene in the conflict if it judged that it was about to “lose” Hezbollah, according to a senior US official. The combined effects of Israel’s operations against Hezbollah had already taken hundreds of fighters off the battlefield, according to that official and another person familiar with the intelligence.

Hezbollah itself also remains a dangerous adversary for Israel. Even if Israel has done severe damage to Hezbollah’s command structure, the group still maintains a dangerous arsenal of military assets it could bring to bear against Israel.

In a series of back-and-forth strikes across the border —?including a particularly intense exchange on August 25 —?Hezbollah has so far held back from using some of their more sophisticated long-range fire options, like ballistic and cruise missiles, potentially preserving them for later use, according to current and former US officials. And even though Israel has struck many of its launch sites, those officials say, others still remain.

US officials have long assessed that both Iran and senior Hezbollah leadership has wanted to avoid all-out war with Israel, even as both have exchanged fire in recent months. In April, Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel.

Iran's Fattah hypersonic missile is carried past an Iranian flag during a military parade in the south of Tehran, Iran, on September 21.

Iran used its Fattah 1?hypersonic?missile for the first time during its attack on Israel on Tuesday, according to the semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News.

The Fattah is considered Iran’s first domestically produced hypersonic missile.

Iran’s military unveiled the weapon last year, saying it can travel up to 15 times the speed of sound and is capable of “targeting missile defense systems.”

Tuesday’s attack in Israel was a “significant escalation” by Iran with more than 200 ballistic missiles shot toward the country, the White House said Tuesday. US Navy destroyers fired roughly a dozen interceptors against the Iranian missiles

Iran’s attack against Israel today was twice as large as Iran’s attack in April, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

Here’s what we know about the Biden administration’s response to the attacks:

White House comments on attack’s impact:

Administration braced for Iran’s retaliation for weeks:

Inside the Situation Room meeting:

Harris also condemns attack:

A video has emerged on social media which appears to show an Iranian missile exploding?less than a kilometer (or 0.6 miles)?northwest of?the Mossad headquarters in the fringes of Tel Aviv.

CNN geolocated the video and found it was filmed from a high-rise apartment building in Herzliya, less than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the headquarters of the Israeli intelligence service.

CNN geolocated another video appearing to show the impact of this missile in a nearby parking lot. The video shows a large crater, with dirt from the impact covering nearby vehicles. The crater is just a few hundred?meters?away from a cinema complex.

CNN cannot independently confirm?the intended target of the missile, or that?the crater was caused by the impact seen in the video shot from the apartment.?However,?it is likely?that this was the cause,?based on the?missile’s?trajectory.

Fifty-five people were killed and 156 were injured in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Among the victims, 22 were killed and 47 were injured in the city of Nabatieh, the ministry said.

Rockets are seen in the sky from Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s attack by Iran on Israel could shift the scales in the already extremely tense situation in the Middle East as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tehran “will pay.”

Up until now, Iran has mostly used its proxies in the region — Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen — to strike against Israel.

When it attacked Israel directly in April, after accusing it of bombing its diplomatic complex in Syria, the assault appeared designed for effect rather than impact.

Tuesday’s missile strikes seemed different.

The Pentagon said Iran’s attack on Tuesday was twice as large as Iran’s last barrage against Israel in April. Tehran said the barrage was a response to the?killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?and others. It came just hours after Israel announced it launched “limited and localized” ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon — something that would have been seen by Iran as a major escalation.

While the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said most of the missiles were intercepted, some have landed on Israeli soil and appear to have caused damage.

Unlike in the spring, when Israel had days to prepare for the attacks, it received little warning on Tuesday, learning about the imminent threat just hours before Tehran launched the barrage.

Whatever Israel decides to do in response could shape the next stage of the conflict. It opted for a limited response back in April following pleas by the US and other allies to exercise restraint. But the words used by Israeli officials on Tuesday suggests the reaction might be more forceful this time.

IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari called the barrage a “serious attack” and said “there will be serious consequences.” Hagari did not elaborate on what these consequences might be.

CNN’s Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

A crater is seen in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, on Tuesday.

Top officials from France, Britain, Germany and the European Union have all condemned Iran’s missile attacks on Israel, warning of potentially disastrous consequences for the wider region.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced what he called an “attempt by the Iranian regime to harm innocent Israelis” and “escalate this dangerous situation” in the Middle East.

The British leader was on a phone call to his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, when the Iranian attack began, according to a readout from Starmer’s office.

Starmer said he had used calls with Netanyahu and his Lebanese, French and Palestinian counterparts to push for a “political route forward.”

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, also condemned Iran’s attack “in the strongest possible terms.”

“We have urgently warned Iran against this dangerous escalation. Iran must stop the attack immediately. It is leading the region further into the abyss,” Baerbock said on X.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier also weighed in on what he described as “an extremely serious situation in the Middle East.”

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, warned a “dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation” is underway that risks “spiraling out of control.”

The bloc is “fully committed to contribute to avert a regional war,” Borrell said, stressing that “an immediate ceasefire across the region is needed.”

Two new videos show a number of Iranian missiles striking Nevatim air base in southern Israel based on geolocation analysis by CNN.

Iran previously?targeted the same base during a similar?April 13 attack.

How CNN geolocation worked: The videos were filmed?from?Ar’arat an-Naqab, a town just south of the air base, in southern Israel’s remote Negev desert.?CNN was able to geolocate the videos by matching the buildings seen in the videos to archival photos of the town and the airbase.

What’s seen in the videos: As the camera pans skyward, dozens of rocket trails can be seen falling toward the base.?Sirens are heard wailing in the background.

Then, in both videos, a single?interceptor missile?can be seen rising from a battery near the base before it travels out of frame.

The control tower at the air base can be seen in one of the videos as the missiles begin to impact and explode.?Smoke begins to rise across the area of the base, as the sound of more impacts is heard, and more explosions are seen.

Without daylight, however, it’s unclear what?exactly was hit at the base.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the videos, but did not immediately receive a response.

After the April 13 attack, Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesperson, confirmed that some?of the hundreds of projectiles?fired at Israel did hit the base, causing minor damage to the infrastructure there, including in an area near the runway.

Nevatim remained fully functional then, Hagari said at the time.

At least one person was killed and several injured as Iran launched a missile attacks and Israel launched interceptors Tuesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF),

One Palestinian was killed in Jericho as a result of the attacks, the IDF’s international spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

The hospital in Jericho, a city in the occupied West Bank, that treated the man said he had died from injuries caused by shrapnel from an interceptor missile launched by Israel to counter the attack.

Shoshani said Iran’s firing of nearly 200 missiles toward Israel was an attempt to “harm and kill civilians” and risked “dragging the region into a wider escalation.”

Asked if Israel would retaliate, he said, “we will choose the time and place and the way we will respond to this outrageous attack against Israeli citizens.”

Two people were lightly injured from shrapnel in Tel Aviv, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis that Iran “made a big mistake” and “will pay” for launching a missile attack on the country Tuesday.

“It was also thwarted thanks to the vigilance and responsibility shown by you –?the citizens of Israel. I also thank the United States for its support in our defense effort,” Netanyahu added.

“We will stand by the rule we established: whoever attacks us — we will attack him,” he continued.

Netanyahu also addressed the attack in Tel Aviv’s neighborhood of Jaffa, sending condolences to the families of those killed. “As with the missile attack, there is also a deliberate and murderous hand behind this attack – it comes from Tehran,” he said.

Israeli police at the scene of an attack in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv, on Tuesday.

The death toll from the Tel Aviv shooting and stabbing attack has risen to seven, after one of the wounded died from the injuries he sustained, the Tel Aviv Ichilov Medical Center said.

It was initially reported that six people were killed and 12 wounded, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services said.

MDA medics said they treated victims at several sites on Jerusalem Boulevard, including near train tracks, in the street, at a synagogue and in a butcher’s shop.

The injured were taken to hospitals while air-raid alarms sounded in the region and throughout Israel.

This post has been updated to reflect a higher death toll.

Danny?Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, is calling for an emergency session of the UN Security Council to “convene as soon as possible” after Iran attacked Israel with nearly 200 missiles.

He told reporters at the UN Tuesday that Israel has a right to defend itself.

He added that “10 million people were forced into bomb shelters” as Iran attacked. “Imagine the entire population of New York City in 10 minutes has to seek shelter. Children, babies, elderly — that’ s what happened in Israel.”

Danon called Iran a “terrorist state” that had shown “its true face” to the world.

Iranian officials have warned aircraft that a “near conflict zone” exists in its western and southern airspace, specifically near Iraq, Kuwait and Turkey.

The notice, sent to airmen by Iran’s aviation authority Tuesday evening, urges all operators to “take military activity risk” into consideration.

The warning could hit air travel across Europe and Asia, given that a number of airlines — many of them headquartered in Persian Gulf countries — travel through that airspace to fly to the Middle East and Europe.

Iraq and Jordan both temporarily closed their airspace around the time the Iranian attack began on Tuesday evening.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller would not say whether Iran’s nuclear program is a legitimate target for Israeli retaliation after the Iranian missile attack, saying, again, the US plans to “discuss those consequences with our Israeli counterparts before we talk about them publicly.

Miller echoed National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in stating the US will coordinate with Israel on its response to the attack on Israel, calling it “a significant escalation.” He also pledged that there would be consequences.

He said the missile attack was defeated in part due to coordination between the US, Israel and partners. Miller did not specify which other countries.

Asked if Israel has done anything escalatory in the past weeks, Miller argued Israel “certainly” has “done things to expand the conflict, but if you look at the actions they have taken, they were bringing terrorists to justice.”

Israel last week assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a major strike on Beirut.

By contrast, he said that today “Iran came to the defense of a terrorist organization.”

Miller also said “this wave of the attack is over,” adding that he does not mean other waves are coming. The US view is that it would be “incredibly escalatory” if Iran were to carry out further strikes in Israel.

Iran’s attack against Israel today was twice as large as Iran’s attack in April, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

“So absolutely, just like the last time their intent is to cause destruction,” he said.

Missiles launched from Iran towards Israel streak across the night sky as seen from Deir al-Balah, Gaza.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said its missile strike on Israel was in defense of Iran’s interests and citizens, warning on X that the operation on Tuesday was “only a portion of our power.”

“This action was in defense of the interests and citizens of Iran. To let (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu know that Iran is not belligerent, but it stands firmly against any threat,” he wrote. “Do not enter into a conflict with Iran.”

In a message posted on X, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in Hebrew that the “blows” against Israel would become “stronger and more painful.”

“With God’s help, the blows of the uprising front will become stronger and more painful on the worn and rotting body of the Zionist regime,” he said.

The barrage comes after Israel launched a ground operation across its northern border?into Lebanon?targeting the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Israel killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike last Friday and?decimated the leadership?of the most powerful paramilitary force in the Middle East — ratcheting up fears of a new regional war.

About 6,000 Americans have reached out to the US State Department for further information about potentially departing Lebanon, spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday.

Not all of those who have registered on the form are actively seeking assistance to leave the country that is under increasing Israeli assault.

The US is “working with airlines to provide additional flights with more seats for American citizens, and it’s something that we hope to turn on in the next few days,” Miller said.

“People are just looking for information. They’re looking for options. There are a number of American citizens who live in Lebanon who have lived there for years and may not want to depart the country,” he added.

Miller said Monday that the US is “not evacuating American citizens from Lebanon at this time.”

“We always conduct a prudent planning process. We have been doing that for some months, going all the way back to October 7. But at this time, there’s still commercial options available,” he said.

He reiterated on Tuesday that Beirut’s airport is still open as he outlined efforts to get more seats for Americans.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted three Israeli military bases around Tel Aviv during a wave of missile launches Tuesday, according to the semi-official Iranian media outlet Mehr News.

The Israeli military has initially estimated that Iran fired about 180 missiles.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the Iranian missile attack against Israel “totally unacceptable” and added that the “entire world should condemn it.”

Blinken said this attack included “some 200 ballistic missiles.”?Israel initially estimated that 180 missiles were launched at the country.

Israel “effectively defeated this attack,” Blinken added.

Blinken was speaking at the State Department ahead of a meeting with the Indian external affairs minister.

US Navy destroyers fired roughly a dozen interceptors against Iranian missiles that were launched toward Israel on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Tuesday.

The US currently has three guided-missile destroyers operating in the eastern Mediterranean: USS Arleigh Burke, USS Cole and USS Bulkeley. According to Ryder, the destroyers involved were the USS Bulkeley and USS Cole.

Ryder also said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke a second time on Tuesday with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, after speaking with him before Iran’s attack.

US destroyers also took part in intercepting Iran’s barrage of ballistic missiles and drones on April 13, shooting down several of the missiles launched at Israel.

This post has been updated with additional details from the Pentagon’s spokesperson.

Projectiles are seen being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv.

Hamas praised the launch of Iranian missiles toward Israel on Tuesday, saying they avenged the deaths of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander in Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Those three figures have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks and days, tipping the region closer toward a multi-front conflict.

“We affirm that this honorable Iranian response is a strong message to the Zionist enemy and its fascist government, on the path to deterring them and curbing their terrorism, as their crimes, arrogance, and violations of international laws and humanitarian norms have exceeded all limits,” Hamas said in a statement.

Some context: Israel has been engaged in a war against the militant group in Gaza since Hamas’ attacks on October 7 last year.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has meanwhile exchanged tit-for-tat attacks on Israel’s northern border since the same date, in solidarity with Hamas, and those confrontations have escalated in recent weeks.

Israel will carry out a “significant response” to Iran’s attack, an Israeli official told CNN Tuesday.

Those warnings echoed the message from Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, who said in a televised message on Tuesday that “this attack will have consequences.”

“We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide,” Hagari said.

The barrage of missiles fired at Israel on Tuesday evening caused citizens to rush to cover, but the Israeli military has said that no new attacks have been identified and it is safe for people to leave their shelters.

Jordan’s military said in a statement that all units and formations in its armed forces’ general command have been put on “on high alert to confront any attempts that threaten the security and stability of the kingdom.”

Citing a military source in the armed forces general command, the statement added:

People take shelter during an air raid siren in central Israel.

Iran launched a missile attack on Israel on Tuesday in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others, according to a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Earlier on Tuesday, the US said it believed that a ballistic missile attack on Israel was imminent after Israel launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon.

Here’s what we know about the attack so far:

Over 100 missiles launched: The Israeli military estimated that Iran fired 180 “projectiles,” but stressed that it was not the final count. CNN teams saw dozens of missiles over the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa. CNN’s Jim Sciutto said he saw multiple missiles intercepted. Meanwhile, Jordan’s military said in a statement that “hundreds of Iranian missiles were launched toward Israel,” citing a military source in its armed forces general command. Some Iranian missiles made direct impact in central and southern Israel, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

No injuries reported as people bunkered: Sirens blared in Israel as people were told to bunker as the missiles came down, including the Israeli security cabinet, according to an Israeli source. There were no injuries following Iran’s attack, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said.

Warnings of escalation: The Iranian Mission to the United Nations said Tuesday afternoon that Tehran’s response has “been duly carried out” and if Israel should “dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.” An Israeli military spokesperson said “there will be serious consequences.”

US support: A US defense official said that US forces in the Middle East were “defending against Iranian-launched missiles targeting Israel.” Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were in the Situation Room at the White House monitoring the attack. The president “directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks & shoot down missiles targeting Israel,” a National Security Council spokesperson said. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have also been briefed on the attack, according to their respective spokespeople.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel has not identified any additional aerial threats from Iran at this stage.

“You may leave the protected spaces, and should continue to follow the Home Front Command’s guidelines. I ask you to continue demonstrating responsibility and to be alert,” Hagari told Israeli people in a televised statement on Tuesday.

This picture shows projectiles being intercepted in northern Israel.

The Israeli military’s initial estimate is that Iran fired 180 “projectiles” at Israel.

“At this moment, we understand it was approximately 180 projectiles,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told CNN. “But this is not final, and (is) an initial estimate.”

Israel has plans to retaliate in response to Iran’s missile attack, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said Tuesday.

Some Iranian missiles fired at Israel Tuesday night made direct impact in central and southern Israel, the Israeli military spokesperson said.

“We carried out many interceptions,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “There are a few impacts in the center and some more in the south. At this stage, we are assessing the situation. We are not aware of injuries.”

People across Israel have sought shelter as a barrage of missiles were fired at the country from Iran on Tuesday night.

Here’s what it looked like across the country:

People take cover on the side of the road on a highway in Shoresh, Israel, on Tuesday.

Iranian-launched projectiles are seen being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem.

People take cover behind a vehicle parked along the side of a highway in Tel Aviv.

People take cover behind vehicles under a bridge along in Tel Aviv.

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon.

There were no injuries following Iran’s attack on Israel on Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has said.

“There was a serious attack on us, and there will be serious consequences,” Hagari said Tuesday.

He added this was not the first time Israel had faced a threat from Iran.

CNN’s team in the Lebanese capital of Beirut heard celebratory gunfire and fireworks on Tuesday evening as word spread of Iran’s huge missile attack on Israel.

Meanwhile, over on Israel’s other front, videos filmed by a CNN stringer in Gaza captured audible cheering as Iranian rockets flew overhead en route to Israel.

Jordan’s military said in a statement that “hundreds of Iranian missiles were launched toward Israel,” citing a military source in its armed forces general command.

The country’s armed forces has called on citizens to remain at home “for their safety and the safety of their families,” the statement added.

Jordan’s Air Force has been active in intercepting Iranian missiles tonight, according to an official from the country.

CNN’s Alex Marquardt contributed reporting.

A US defense official says that US forces in the Middle East “are currently defending against Iranian-launched missiles targeting Israel.”

The US has positioned an array of assets in the region that are capable of intercepting missiles, including destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, a carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea, and fighter jet squadrons. It is not yet clear which assets engaged the missiles or how many were intercepted by the US.

Israeli officials are urging residents in the northern municipality of Safed to remain in protected areas until further notice, warning of the potential of falling fragments from intercepted projectiles.

Medics are deployed to the scene after armed attack in Jaffa, Tel Aviv on Monday.

Six civilians were killed and nine were wounded in a shooting and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Israeli police said, revising the previous death toll of eight.

Two attackers were “neutralized” by authorities and civilians at the scene using personal pistols, police added. Police earlier described the attackers as apparent “terrorists.”

Israel’s national emergency service says it happened near a light rail station in Jaffa.

This post has been updated with the revised death toll and details from Israeli police.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are in the Situation Room at the White House “monitoring the Iranian attack against Israel,” National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett posted on X.

Savett wrote that Biden and Harris are receiving updates from their national security team. The president “directed the US military to aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks & shoot down missiles targeting Israel,” he added.

The Iranian Mission to the United Nations said Tuesday afternoon that Tehran’s response has “been duly carried out,” following a barrage of missiles launched at Israel.

“Iran’s legal, rational, and legitimate response to the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime—which involved targeting Iranian nationals and interests and infringing upon the national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran—has been duly carried out,” the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations said in a?post on X.

The mission said that if Israel should “dare to respond or commit further acts of malevolence, a subsequent and crushing response will ensue.”

The mission added that “regional states and the Zionists’ supporters are advised to part ways with the regime.”

Iran launched missile strikes?from locations across the country, including Tabriz, Kashan, and the outskirts of Tehran, late Tuesday night local time.

Social media platforms were inundated with videos that captured dramatic scenes of rocket fire illuminating the Iranian skyline.

Earlier Tuesday, the US had warned of a forthcoming attack from Iran against Israel.

The Israeli security cabinet is in an emergency bunker in Jerusalem, according to an Israeli source.

CNN teams on the ground in Israel have counted dozens of missiles flying above Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa in the past hour.

CNN’s Jim Sciutto is in a shelter in Tel Aviv.

Speaking to CNN, he said that the US believed two air bases and Mossad headquarters would be targeted by Iran this evening. But, he reported seeing impacts in Tel Aviv.

“I did see impacts. I saw two impacts close to the hotel here and I saw another one further north of here, I might guess a couple of miles where I did see some fire and explosion,” Sciutto said.

He added that he saw multiple intercepts over him in Tel Aviv and an impact on the Tel Aviv shoreline. Sciutto said that it’s unclear whether the impacts were the missiles themselves striking, fragments of missiles that have been intercepted or perhaps some of the interceptor missiles themselves coming down. He went on to say the speed and trajectory were forceful.

We’ll bring you more details as we get them.

Iran said it targeted Israel on Tuesday in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader?Hassan Nasrallah and others, according to Iran’s semi-official?Tasnim?news agency, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“In response to the martyrdom of Martyr Haniyeh, Seyed Hassan Nasrallah and Martyr Nilfroshan, we targeted the heart of the occupied territories,” it said.

“If the Zionist regime reacts to Iran’s operations, it will face crushing attacks,” IRGC also said, according to Tasnim.

The IRGC said that its aerospace forces “targeted important military with security targets by launching dozens of ballistic missiles” at Israel.

It added in a statement that details of its missile attack on Israel “will be conveyed at a later time” and the operation was carried out with the support “of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army and the Ministry of Defense.”

Iranian-launched projectiles are seen being intercepted by Israel above Jerusalem on Tuesday.

CNN teams in Israel, Jerusalem and Haifa have counted dozens of missiles flying above them.

Several have been intercepted, but it’s unclear how many.

US President Joe Biden convened a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top national security officials on Tuesday to discuss the expected ballistic missile attack by Iran on Israel, according to White House spokesperson Emilie Simons.

”.@POTUS just convened a meeting with @VP and their natsec team to discuss Iranian plans to imminently launch a significant ballistic missile attack against Israel. They reviewed the status of U.S. preparations to help Israel defend against attacks and protect U.S. personnel,” Simons posted on X.

Biden also posted on X and said that he and Harris had met with the national security team earlier today “to discuss Iranian plans to launch an imminent missile attack against Israel. We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region.”

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond is in northern Israel as Iranian missiles fly over the country.

Diamond added that tonight’s missiles could be an escalation of what was seen in April.

CNN cameras also captured at least a dozen missiles fly over Tel Aviv.

Sirens blared as CNN’s Jim Sciutto spoke in Tel Aviv. At one point, a missile landed near where Sciutto was reporting, and he sought cover with his team.

Projectiles are seen being intercepted by Israel above Tel Aviv on Monday.

Missiles have been launched from Iran to Israel, according to an Israel Defense Forces statement.

Sirens are sounding across Israel, it said.

A man looks at the destruction at the site of an overnight Israeli airstrike in the Bir el-Abed neighborhood of Beirut's suburbs on Tuesday.

Turkey is readying to evacuate its citizens and nationals from nearly 20 other countries from Lebanon as the conflict with Israel intensifies further.

The Turkish foreign ministry warned there is a “possibility that the security situation in Lebanon will worsen further” in a Tuesday statement.

“Plans were prepared for the evacuation of our citizens by sea or air,” the ministry said. Preparations for this evacuation effort are “continuing” for both Turkish citizens and nationals from nearly “20 countries that have requested support so far,” it added.

Turkey strongly condemned Israel’s ground?operations in Lebanon, calling it “an illegal invasion attempt” in an earlier statement on Tuesday.

Ankara warned that the?offensive?“targets the security and stability of the region and beyond” and is likely to “spark a new wave of migration.”

“This attack must come to an end immediately,” the Turkish foreign ministry stressed.

Israel assesses that Iran is likely to attack three Israeli air bases and an intelligence base located just north of Tel Aviv, a person briefed on the matter said.

The?intelligence?base?in Glilot was evacuated Tuesday afternoon, the source said,?and?the?Israeli?military has put contingency plans for the safety of personnel at those?bases?into effect.

The United States warned?Israel?that an?attack?would likely come within the next 12 hours, the person said.

A US military official also said potential Iranian targets in Israel include air bases and intelligence command centers.

The US is supporting?and?coordinating with?Israel?on?air?defense.?It is not coordinating or supporting on Lebanon ground operations.

Both?Israel?and?the United States are engaged in significant diplomatic efforts to head off the?Iranian?attack, although it is not clear how successful those efforts will be.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres “is extremely concerned with the escalation of the conflict in Lebanon” and is appealing for an immediate ceasefire, according to a statement from his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

The statement warned that an “all-out war must be avoided in Lebanon at all costs.”

Guterres spoke with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday morning, according to Dujarric, and the UN system in Lebanon was mobilized to assist across the country.

“The Secretary-General will continue his contacts, and his representatives on the ground will also continue their efforts to de-escalate the situation,” the statement said.

Israeli tanks and APC’s are seen gathering by the Lebanese border on Monday.

The word “limited” is going to have to do a lot of work in the weeks ahead.

Israel has described its initial?ground incursion into southern Lebanon?as such, although its key ally, US President Joe Biden’s administration, has already suggested that what may initially begin as small in scope could risk?dragging on.

It will take a remarkable amount of efficiency and discipline from the Israeli military and Israeli Prime Minister?Benjamin Netanyahu?to know when it is time to stop. Militaries are not particularly keen on pulling back, especially in large scale operations. If the incursion is easygoing, it could incentivize the Israel Defense Forces to push forward, sensing a weakened enemy against which swift progress can be made. If the going gets tough, the IDF can suggest the mission is more imperative than ever, and that they must push on.

But, quite remarkably after two weeks of technological wizardry and ruthless, calculated attacks against Hezbollah — starting with the?simultaneous explosion?of communication devices and culminating in the?killing of the militant group’s leader?Hassan Nasrallah — the playing field may shift. The Israeli military are now walking into the ground trap that their adversary has been setting for them for well over a decade.

They may discover that Hezbollah,?its leadership decapitated, is so enfeebled that it is genuinely a less challenging task than imagined to mop up what remains of its ground troops after months of heavy airstrikes. But southern Lebanon was always going to be where the Iran-backed group held the home advantage. Its tunnel network provides them an endless maze for Israeli forces. And so, knowing when to stop is going to be key to this not becoming a quagmire for Israel. Almost every modern war that has dragged on for years began with the idea that it would all be over in a matter of weeks.

A potential ballistic missile attack by Iran on Israel could “cost the regime its head,” an Iran expert said, especially if the attack is carried out as a last-ditch effort to save face.

“Resorting to another direct missile attack on Israel would mean the regime (in Tehran) sees itself in more dire straits that Iranian officials acknowledge,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank in Washington, DC, told CNN. He added that an attack could “easily beget a larger regional war” as Israel would likely respond much more forcefully than it did in April, when Iran fired an onslaught of drones and missiles toward Israel.

The White House on Tuesday said the United States believes Iran is preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel, and Washington is actively preparing to support Israel against such an attack. The US also warned that an attack of the kind would “carry severe consequences for Iran.”

Ben Taleblu said that should an Iranian attack take place, much of the region’s fate would hinge on how Washington responds, “which has been essentially absent from the past few game-changing weeks in the Middle East.” He also noted that Iran has the largest missile arsenal in the region.

Following warnings from the United States that Iran is planning an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel, an Israeli source told CNN that intense diplomacy is happening behind the scenes.

According to the source, the assessment is that an attack will happen shortly. Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had not yet identified an aerial threat from Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on his country to “stand together” and follow the directions of emergency services.

The?US?warned?Israel?early?Tuesday?morning?ET (midday?Israel?time) that Iran was poised to launch an?attack, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The warning between the two countries came several hours before the White House announced publicly that it had indications Iran was preparing for a ballistic missile?attack?against?Israel.

The?official said Iran has been postured to move quickly in an?attack?on?Israel. After an onslaught?of?drones and missiles fired toward?Israel?in April, many?of?Iran’s assets remained in position.

A security official handles the remains of a rocket that landed on a highway after it was fired from Lebanon into Israel, near Kfar Qasim, on October 1.

Hezbollah said it targeted Tel Aviv earlier Tuesday morning with a barrage of rockets aimed at the headquarters of Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, as well as the base housing an Israeli intelligence unit.

Two?people also sustained injuries when their vehicles were hit on a highway north of Kfar Qassim in central Israel, following strikes launched from Lebanon, Israel’s military said.

A 54-year-old bus driver sustained moderate head and back injuries from shrapnel when his bus carrying 10 passengers was hit. And a 31-year-old man is being treated for light injuries?after?his car was impacted by the strike.

An Israeli security official told reporters earlier that sirens were activated across central Israel after a number of projectiles were fired from Lebanon, “sending millions of people into bomb shelters.”

Hezbollah said it used Fadi-4 rockets in the attack, which it described as a long-range surface-to-surface missile, which is part of a series of rockets that the group started using recently to strike deeper into Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Sheba Tel-HaShomer Medical Centre, in Ramat Gan, Israel, on June 8.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israelis to “stand together” and continue following frontline commands as fears of an imminent attack from Iran grow.

Earlier on Tuesday, the United States warned that it believes Tehran is preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.

In a statement, Netanyahu said Israel is in the throes of a “campaign against Iran’s axis of evil” and made specific demands from the Israeli public.

The top spokesperson for the Israeli military, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, made a similar request to Israelis Tuesday, calling on the public to “continue acting responsibly.”

Hagari asked Israelis to “adhere” to new directives issued by the Home Front Command on Tuesday, imposing restrictions on gatherings and protection of spaces in Jerusalem and other designated areas.

The US Embassy in Israel has directed all US government personnel and family members “to shelter in place until further notice” because of “the current security situation,” it said in an alert Tuesday.

“This is provided for your information as you make your own security plans,” the alert said. It was issued as the White House said it believes Iran is preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack on Israel.

The alert does not make specific mention of that threat. Under the State Department’s “no double standard” policy, if the department “shares information with the official US community” — such as embassy personnel — it must share “the same or similar” information with the US citizens in that country “if the underlying threat applies to both official and non-official U.S. citizens/nationals.”

The Israeli military said it had not yet identified an aerial threat from Iran, after the US said it believed Tehran was preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.

During a short video message, Hagari said Israeli military planes are currently “scanning the sky” for any imminent threat from Iran.

“We are on peak alert both on the offensive and the defensive,” Hagari added, warning Iran that any attack on Israel would “have consequences.”

The US anticipates that the forthcoming attack from Iran against Israel could be similar in scope and scale to the one in April, a US official tells CNN.

In that attack,?Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles toward Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic complex in Syria.

More than 300 projectiles — including around 170 drones and over 120 ballistic missiles — were fired toward Israel in the April attack, but “99%” of them were intercepted by Israel’s aerial defense systems and its “partners,” according to the Israeli military.

Israeli troops faced no resistance from Hezbollah as they pushed into a Lebanese border village on Monday night, according to an Israeli military source.

The source said Israeli special forces had previously conducted raids into Kfarkela, on the northern tip of Israel’s border with Lebanon, where they discovered Hezbollah offensive lines that the Israeli military believed could be used to infiltrate Israel.

The ground operation came after Israeli special forces carried out more than 70 missions inside Lebanon, spanning back to November. During those operations, many of which were overnight missions, forces of 20 to 30 special operators destroyed thousands of Hezbollah sites – including tunnels and weapons depots – and gathered intelligence on the militant group’s positions along the border.

The operations spanned hundreds of days inside Lebanon in total, the source said.

Israeli forces faced zero resistance from Hezbollah during the course of those operations, engaging in no firefights. The Israeli military source could not explain why Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force did not defend its border assets, which the Israeli military says were meant to be used to infiltrate Israeli territory.

The Israeli military believes that a larger ground operation will be able to discover and dismantle more Hezbollah infrastructure than smaller-scale special operations raids – and do so at a faster pace.

The flag of Iran is seen in front of the building of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Headquarters on May 24, 2021 in Vienna, Austria.

A senior White House official says the US believes Iran is preparing to “imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel.”

“The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel,” a full statement reads.

The US is prepared to do whatever it can to help Israel intercept anything Iran directs its way, a US official told CNN. Those efforts would be similar to how the US offered its assistance in April, when Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles toward Israel – the vast majority of which were successfully intercepted.

It was not immediately clear the scale of attack the US anticipated Iran to launch against Israel this time around.

Israel has been conducting cross-border raids inside Lebanon since the start of the war last October, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday, after the IDF launched what it called a “limited and localized” ground operation in Lebanon.

“In the past day, IDF started an operation in the area close to the border. This is an additional action to what we already do in Lebanon,” Hagari said in a briefing.

He said Israeli troops have been conducting raids for months in an attempt to dismantle what the IDF described as “Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure that pose a threat to Israeli civilian communities in northern Israel.”

He said the IDF found tunnels built under houses in villages along the border. CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

Hagari listed several villages on the Lebanese side of the border where he said Hezbollah constructed tunnels and stored weapons.

Separately, the IDF published a list of locations where it said it had found weapons.

Hezbollah has rejected claims that Israeli forces had entered southern Lebanon Tuesday, describing?them as “lies.”

Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging area in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border, on October 1.

Hezbollah’s attempts to “infiltrate Israel” from the north, in violation of a 2006 United Nations resolution, are among the reasons for the “limited” ground operation Israel launched into Lebanon overnight, an Israeli security official said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the official argued that Hezbollah has been violating the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for a permanent ceasefire and an end to hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.

The official said that in launching the ground operation, Israel is “trying to make sure that we create a reality where residents can return to northern Israel, and for the last year, we’ve been calling the international community to act against this clear violation of Resolution 1701 by Hezbollah.”

What does the resolution say? It stipulates that Hezbollah forces must withdraw north of the Litani River in Lebanon, and that only the Lebanese military should hold positions in the border area.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon?(UNIFIL) said in a statement earlier that the Israeli military informed it on Monday of its intention to “undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon.”

The UN peacekeeping force urged de-escalation and stressed that any Israeli operation inside Lebanon would be a violation of the 1701 Resolution.

Hezbollah rejected claims that Israeli forces had entered southern Lebanon, describing?them as “lies.”

“All Zionist claims that occupation forces entered Lebanon are false,” a statement by Hezbollah spokesman Mohamed Afif said on Tuesday.

Fighters from the Iran-aligned militant group have not yet directly clashed with Israeli ground forces, according to Afif who said Hezbollah is ready for a “direct confrontation if the enemy dared to enter Lebanese territory.”

His comments were made to Al Jazeera and posted on Hezbollah social media channels.

Smoke billows near a village in southern Lebanon after an Israeli air strike, as seen from northern Israel, on October 1.

The Israeli military has called for residents in more than two dozen villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate approximately 30 miles into the country.

“You must immediately move to the north of the Al-Awali River. Save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X.

The Al-Awali River is about 30 miles north of some of the southern Lebanese villages that Israel urged residents to leave.

The warnings come as Israel launches what it says is “a limited ground operation” and “localized raids” in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. Israeli forces have not yet launched a full-scale invasion into southern Lebanon, three sources told CNN earlier.

“Anyone in close proximity to Hezbollah members, their facilities, or their combat equipment is putting their life at risk. Any house used by Hezbollah for military purposes is expected to be targeted,” Adraee said.

In an earlier post, the Israeli military spokesperson called on residents not to travel “using vehicles” north of the Litani River towards southern Lebanon.

An unspecified number of troops in the US have been put on prepare to deploy orders, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Monday.

Singh also said that additional air defense support going to the region, announced by the Pentagon on Sunday, are units previously scheduled to deploy that will now be joining units already there instead of replacing them.

The reinforcement of air support capabilities, she said, includes “a certain number of units already deployed to the Middle East region that will be extended, and the forces due to rotate into theater to replace them will now instead augment the in-place forces already in the region.”?It will include “an additional few thousand” service members in the region, she said.

“I can tell you these augmented forces include F-16, F-15E, A-10, F-22 fighter aircraft and associated personnel,” Singh said.

The Israeli military informed United Nations peacekeeping forces on Monday of its intention to “undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon,” a statement by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon?(UNIFIL) said.

The peacekeeping forces will remain in position and have contingency plans ready to be activated “if absolutely necessary,” the UNIFIL said.

“Any crossing into Lebanon is in violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a violation of resolution 1701. We urge all actors to step back from such escalatory acts, which will only lead to more violence and more bloodshed,” it added.

Resolution 1701 is the 2006?Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for a permanent ceasefire and end to hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The resolution also stipulates that Hezbollah forces must withdraw north of the Litani River in Lebanon, and that only the Lebanese military should hold positions in the border area.

“The price of continuing the current course of action is too high,” the UNIFIL statement said.

“Civilians must be protected, civilian infrastructure must not be targeted and International law must be respected.”

If you’re just joining our coverage, here’s what we know about Israel’s incursion into Lebanon:

Israeli officials have characterized the incursion into southern Lebanon as limited in scope, saying there will be “no long-term occupation.”

Even sources in Lebanon have said that Israel has not yet launched a full-scale invasion, with another source at the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) saying the military staged some “sporadic raids” across the border.

But Israeli officials have declined to say how deep troops would venture into the country or how long the operation is expected to last.

Previous military operations initially declared by Israel to be limited in their goals have proved to be anything but. Examples include Israel’s years-long occupation of southern Lebanon that began in 1982 with the stated aim of a brief and limited mission to destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

More recently, Israel’s military declared a “limited” operation in Rafah, southern Gaza that has left the city in ruins.

Why is Israel attacking Lebanon?

Israel has stepped up strikes on various targets across Lebanon since Thursday September 19 in a series of attacks that have left hundreds of civilians dead and injured, and displaced at least 1 million people across the country.

Israel’s stated war goal is to “ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Thursday, and its military has also said it is striking Hezbollah targets, particularly across southern Lebanon and Beirut.

Israeli army tanks manoeuvre in a staging area in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border, on October 1.

The ground operation that the Israeli military launched overnight into southern Lebanon does not amount to an invasion or incursion, an Israeli security official said, describing it instead as “localized raids” that are “very limited in scope and in the area of operation.”

The official said there were so far “no clashes” on the ground between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah.

Speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity Tuesday morning, the official refused to comment on whether Israeli tanks have entered Lebanon and would not elaborate on how deep into Lebanese territory Israeli troops have advanced, saying they were focused on the border areas.

CNN cannot independently verify the extent of Israel’s operation in Lebanon or the types of forces on the ground there.

The IDF has been building up its presence along Israel’s northern border for weeks, redeploying some units that had previously fought in Gaza to Israel’s northern border area.

The security official said the forces that have entered are “not numbers of a large ground invasion.”

The official also pushed back against suggestions that Israel has begun an invasion of Lebanon, criticizing media reports that called the operation “an incursion” that is “going to Beirut.”

Members of Israeli security forces inspect the impact site of a reported rocket fired from Lebanon, on the Horeshim interchange in central Israel, on October 1.

Two people sustained moderate to light injuries when their vehicles were hit on Highway 6, north of Kfar Qassim in central Israel, following strikes launched from Lebanon, Israel’s military said.

A 54-year-old bus driver sustained moderate head and back injuries from shrapnel when his bus carrying 10 passengers was hit. And a 31-year-old man is being treated for light injuries when his car was impacted by the strike.

An Israeli security official told reporters sirens had been activated across central Israel.

“A number of projectiles, these are from Lebanon, have been fired towards Israel, sending millions of people into bomb shelters just a few minutes ago. I can tell you multiple rockets towards central Israel, multiple locations,” he added.

Israeli police issued a warning for drivers to avoid Highway 6, which has been closed “due to damage from strikes.”

Police officers and bomb disposal units “are now working to isolate fall scenes in the station sectors and are scanning for remains and other items in order to remove another risk to the public,” according to Israel’s first response service, MDA.

The Israeli military has staged some “sporadic raids” across the Lebanon-Israel border but its troops have not remained on Lebanese soil, a source from the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said.

The assessment that Israel has not yet launched a full-scale invasion was supported by two other high-level Lebanese security sources.

The Iran-aligned Houthi militant group in Yemen has fired drones targeting Israel in support of their ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Houthis said the drones targeted Jaffa near Tel Aviv and Eilat in southern Israel with five drones. Israel has not commented on the Houthi claim, and it is unclear if there was any damage or injuries.

On Monday, Israel’s military struck what it said were power plants and a seaport used by the Houthis in Yemen, killing at least four people and wounding dozens more. The Houthis, like Hamas and Hezbollah, are among the Iran-backed militant groups who have been battling Israel since the war in Gaza began last October.

While the Houthis do not pose as much of a threat to Israel as Hamas and Hezbollah, they have?wreaked havoc?over the past year in the Red Sea, where they have launched strikes at commercial ships they deemed linked to Israel and its allies, threatening to choke global trade.

Deadly fighting between Israel and Iran-backed militant groups has ramped up in recent weeks as the Israeli military?expands its attacks?on Hezbollah in Lebanon and the?Houthis?in Yemen.

Along with Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, Hezbollah and the Houthis are part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” an alliance of Islamist militias spanning Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen. The proxies give Iran strategic depth against its enemies.

In support of Hamas and Palestinians, Hezbollah and the Houthis have launched regular attacks on Israel over the past year. They have vowed to keep fighting until the war in Gaza ends.

Here’s what to know about the groups:

Hezbollah: The Lebanese group is believed to be the?most heavily armed?non-state group in the world. The Shiite group emerged out of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel occupied southern Lebanon for?18 years?before it was?driven out by Hezbollah. In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought a war for 34 days, which ended with no clear victor.

The Houthis: The Shiite group, bolstered by Iranian weapons and technology, has been fighting Saudi-backed forces for more than a decade in Yemen’s civil war. While the Houthis do not pose as much of a threat to Israel as Hamas and Hezbollah, they have?wreaked havoc?over the past year in the Red Sea, where they have launched strikes at commercial ships they deemed linked to Israel and its allies, threatening to choke global trade.

Hamas: The group emerged in 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Sunni Islamist group from Egypt. Hamas considers Israel’s existence as illegitimate and seeks its destruction. It receives funding, weapons and training from Iran.

The US has designated Hamas, the Houthis and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misstated the length of Israel’s occupation in southern Lebanon. It was 18 years.?The description of the goals of Hamas has also been updated to more accurately convey their meaning.

Lebanon’s army on Tuesday denied reports it had withdrawn from southern border positions by several kilometers following Israel’s ground incursion into the country.

Such reports were inaccurate, the Army Command said.

CNN is unable to independently verify the Lebanese army’s movements.

Prior to Israel’s incursion, a Lebanese security source told CNN on Monday that Lebanon’s army had evacuated observation posts at the southern border?and moved to barracks in border villages.

A displaced Palestinian girl holds a child as she walks at a tent camp on a rainy day, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 6.

“Limited” is a subjective word. What Israel sees as a “targeted and limited ground operation” in southern Lebanese villages may look anything but to civilians on the ground.

The most recent use of that word by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) should offer little comfort to the non-Hezbollah population of Lebanon.

On May 6, Israeli forces launched what they called a “limited” offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to target Hamas, in defiance of significant international opposition. Israel claims it dismantled the militant group’s Rafah Brigade and destroyed tunnel networks.

Around 1 million Palestinian civilians, many already displaced, fled the city. Much of what is left of Rafah has been described as unrecognizable by foreign media, including CNN, who were shown the aftermath by the IDF.

“Limited” has been used to describe incursions into Lebanon before.

In 1982, Israel described its invasion of southern Lebanon as “limited”. What followed was a bloody 18-year occupation and many thousands of lives lost.

Also, one key restraint from previous moments of conflict appears increasingly impotent this time around.

The United States, Israel’s largest and strongest ally, seems powerless to temper Israel’s military moves, while supporting its right to self-defense.?Israel’s ground operation started just hours after US President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire.

The US administration’s diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza have at times been publicly undermined by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.?Meanwhile, the proposal for a temporary Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, which Biden officials believed had a positive response from Israel just last week, is now a distant memory.

Lebanese civilians could be forgiven for doubting Israel’s claims of a limited operation. Only time will show if their distrust if justified.

Damaged buildings are seen in Gaza on September 13.

With the world’s eyes now on the crisis unfolding in Lebanon, a humanitarian worker urged people not to look away from Gaza.

Winter is approaching, and the more than 2 million people displaced across Gaza do not have enough food or shelter, Scott Anderson, UNRWA’s deputy humanitarian coordinator said.

“We’re very concerned about the second winter,” Anderson, he told CNN’s Becky Anderson.

The United Nations and other members of the international humanitarian community must be enabled to bring in sufficient aid through the Rafah crossing, which is the point where aid travels from Egypt into Gaza, Anderson said.

Despite immense need, aid has only trickled into Gaza throughout the war due to limited entry points, long checks by Israeli authorities and in some cases protests.

Even once aid enters Gaza, it is difficult for it to reach the people who need it due to Israeli bombardment, damaged roads, mass displacement and communications blackouts.

Mass amounts of food, tents, and vaccines are currently waiting to enter Gaza, Anderson said.

“It’s a very dire in situation,” Anderson said.

Ambulances arrive to American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon, on September 17.

Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah have been engaged in a?tit-for-tat?escalation since the war in Gaza began following Hamas’ attack on Israel last October.

Hezbollah has?said it will not stop striking Israel until a ceasefire is reached in the Palestinian enclave, much of which has been reduced to rubble by Israeli bombs and fighting.

In recent weeks, Israel has refocused its military objectives north?with a new war aim to return displaced?residents to their homes along the Lebanon border. About 60,000 Israeli civilians have been forced from their homes by Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.

What’s unfolded is some of the fiercest fighting between the two longtime foes since the 2006 Lebanon war, which killed 1,100 people in the country.

Last month, pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon in a coordinated Israeli attack that killed dozens of people and maimed thousands, including women and children.

Israel has also stepped up a relentless bombing campaign across Lebanon targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure and leadership, but the strikes have?also decimated homes and neighborhoods in densely populated areas. Massive airstrikes in southern Beirut have killed a?string of Hezbollah leaders, as well as more than 1,000 people.

Residents and rescue teams inspect the damage following an overnight Israeli airstrike on the Ain al-Helweh camp for Palestinian refugees on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon early on October 1.

An Israeli military attack has killed a Palestinian militant at a refugee camp in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The overnight strike on the Ain Al-Helweh refugee camp targeted the house of Munir Muqdah, commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Lebanon and father of the killed militant, the report said Tuesday.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades,?the military wing of Palestinian political party Fatah, announced the death of Hassan Munir Muqdah in what it described as an “assassination operation.”

The fate of the Palestinian commander is unknown.

Israel’s military on Tuesday warned residents of southern Lebanon not to travel south following a?cross-border incursion by Israeli?troops targeting Hezbollah.

The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said that Hezbollah militants were “using the civilian environment and residents as human shields to launch attacks” amid intense fighting in the region.

But many residents?are?unable to leave:?Prior to the Israeli ground incursion, a?woman living?in one of Lebanon’s southernmost villages told CNN that she and her family?were?stuck?in their homes amid intensive Israeli bombardment.

Witnesses?also said?artillery fire and airstrikes were raining down on the villages?Monday.

Israel has launched a ground incursion?into Lebanon?targeting the militant group Hezbollah, opening a new?and dangerous phase in almost a year of war.

The incursion, which Israel’s security cabinet has called the “next phase” of its war with Hezbollah, is the fourth time?that Israeli soldiers have publicly entered Lebanese soil in nearly 50 years, and the first?since Israel’s?34-day war in the country?in 2006.

Extent of incursion unclear: Israeli officials have characterized the incursion into southern Lebanon as limited in scope, saying there will be “no long-term occupation.”

But officials have declined to say how deep Israeli troops would venture into the country or how long the operation is expected to last.

Previous military operations initially declared by Israel to be limited in their goals have proved to be anything but. Examples include Israel’s years-long?occupation of southern Lebanon that began in 1982 with the stated aim of?a brief and limited?mission to destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

More recently, Israel’s military declared a “limited” operation in Rafah, southern Gaza that has left the city in ruins.

How has the US reacted? Attention has focused on how the once-mighty US is increasingly powerless to rein in its ally or to influence other major belligerents in a?fast-worsening regional crisis.

The US is a key provider of Israel’s weapons — it likely supplied the?2,000-pound bombs?used to kill Hezbollah’s leader — but Biden and his advisers have?continued to call?for a diplomatic resolution.

Read the full story.

Israel is ramping up strikes on Iran-backed proxies on multiple fronts, with “a limited ground operation” across its northern border?into Lebanon?targeting Hezbollah, and long-distance attacks on Houthi militants inside of Yemen, as fears of a devastating regional conflict loom large.

Along with Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, Hezbollah and the Houthi movement are part of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” an alliance of Islamist militias spanning Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen.

Hezbollah and the Houthis have launched regular attacks on Israel over the past year and have vowed to keep fighting until the war in Gaza ends.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took public aim at Iran, as their long-standing shadow war is pushed further into the open.

In a televised speech, he?told?the Iranian people that “Israel stands with you,” directly addressing them “without filters, without middlemen,” and repeated his appeal to Iranians to reject their government.

A senior US official previously told CNN the US believes Iran will intervene in the conflict if they judge that they are about to “lose” Hezbollah. The combined effects of Israel’s operations against Hezbollah had already taken hundreds of fighters off the battlefield,?according to?that official and another person familiar with the intelligence.

In the same attack that assassinated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, a senior member of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, was also killed.

In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that Israel faces “crushing blows” to come.

Hamas militants?were the target of a deadly Israeli attack on a school in northern Gaza overnight, Israel’s military said.

At least seven people were killed and a number of others wounded in the strike on the Al-Shujaiya School in the east of Gaza City, which was sheltering displaced civilians, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense in the enclave.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that a Hamas command and control center “was embedded inside a compound that previously served as the ‘Shejaiya’ UNRWA School.”

CNN cannot independently verify the Israeli military’s claim about Hamas operating in the school.

David Sanger speaks during an interview with CNN.

CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger has called Israel’s continued offensive in Lebanon in the face of US resistance a “remarkable example of defiance of an ally.”

When asked by CNN’s Laura Coates why there appears to be so much daylight between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, who again on Monday called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, Sanger said one of the reasons is “these two leaders don’t have a whole lot left to say to each other.”

Biden and Netanyahu have not spoken since Israeli wiped out Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, Sanger said, a move Israel knew the US would not object to.

Biden has declined to use his only form of leverage against Israel, Sanger added, which would be to withhold weapons.

Experts have told CNN Israel likely used US-supplied 2,000 bombs in the strike that took out Nasrallah.

This picture taken from northern Israel along the border with southern Lebanon, shows a fire following Israeli bombardment on September 30.

Israel launched numerous attacks on southern Lebanon overnight, causing “severe damage,” the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported on Tuesday morning.

Israel hit various sites in Lebanon’s South Governorate with airstrikes, artillery shelling and heavy machine gun fire, destroying shops and damaging private property and crops, NNA reported.

Israeli airstrikes also hit multiple locations in the neighboring Nabatiyeh Governorate, followed by “continuous artillery shelling” throughout the night, according to NNA.

Both the South and Nabatiyeh governorates are on the other side of Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it had targeted Metula, in northern?Israel,?twice this morning hours?following?the Israeli military’s incursion into Lebanon.

Hezbollah said a gathering of soldiers in Metula was targeted with artillery and rocket fire, and that they had?successfully hit their target.

The attack was “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people” in Gaza, and “in defense of Lebanon and its people,” the group said.

The Israeli military said that “approximately five projectiles were?identified?crossing from Lebanon. Some of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were?identified?in the area,” without?indicating?where they had?come?down.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted “two projectiles” that crossed from Lebanon in a separate incident. It said that sirens were also sounded?in the area of?Bar’am, in northern?Israel, and “one projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon and fell in an open area.”

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a $100 million aid package for Lebanon as it expressed deep concern over the “dangerous situation” in the country and its impact on regional stability, state-run Emirates News Agency reported.

The aid from the UAE comes as the United Nations’ agency for humanitarian emergencies (OCHA) warns of the devastating impact on civilians of the recent escalations in Lebanon.

The Lebanon country director for aid agency Relief International told CNN on Sunday that the aid sector’s capacity is already limited following the displacement of about 1 million people in the country by Israeli attacks.

The World Food Programme has also launched an emergency project to scale up food assistance for up to 1 million people in need in Lebanon.

The Israeli military says soldiers including paratroopers and?commandos, as well as armored corps?troops?have been “preparing for limited, localized, targeted operations in southern Lebanon that began last night.”

Soldiers have been training in northern Israel over the past few weeks, the military says, after plans were approved.

The military said that the soldiers had gained skills and operational experience in Gaza over many months.

The Israeli military earlier said it had begun “a limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. There will be “no long-term occupation” of Lebanon, Israeli officials said, but declined to provide a timeline.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighbourhood in Beirut's southern suburb early on October 1.

Israel has launched a?ground operation?southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. Israeli officials said there would be?“no long-term occupation”?of Lebanon but declined to provide a timeline.

The ground offensive comes after hours of Israeli raids and artillery fire across the border.

Here’s what you need to know:?

??Mass casualties: At least 95 people were killed in Israeli strikes yesterday, adding to a death toll of more than 1,000 since last Monday. One million people in Lebanon have been displaced by the fighting, the prime minister said.

??Lebanese army retreats: The Lebanese army evacuated observation posts at the southern border with Israel and moved to barracks in preparation for the ground offensive, a security source told CNN.

Israel defies US:?The White House?reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself but warned of the risk of “mission creep,” one day after President Joe Biden once again called for a ceasefire. Israel’s escalation in its war with Hezbollah defies rising?pressure from the US, a key provider of its weapons.?US-supplied 2,000-pound bombs?were likely used in the Israeli attack that killed Hezbollah’s leader on Friday.

??UN opposes ground incursion: “We all know the devastation that an all-out war, a ground war in Lebanon would bring to the people of Israel and the people of Lebanon,” the UN chief’s spokesperson said Monday.

??Strikes on Damascus: An Israeli strike has killed a well-know television anchor and two others, state news agency SANA reported. Israel has launched airstrikes in Syria intermittently since October 7.

??US troops: An unspecified number of US troops have been put on prepare to deploy orders to the Middle East, the Pentagon said Monday.

??International evacuations: Multiple governments including the UK and Germany have organized for their citizens to evacuate Lebanon.

??Israel’s wide battles: Israel has struck a refugee camp and school housing displaced Palestinians overnight in Gaza, where it is pressing on with its war against Hamas. Further afield, a CNN reporter joined the Israeli military on its longest-range combat mission since 1985 to strike a Houthi-controlled port in Yemen.

Israeli military tanks gather by the Israeli-Lebanon border on September 28.

This week’s ground incursion into southern Lebanon is the latest chapter in a long history of Israel sending its troops into the territory of its northern neighbor.

Here is a timeline of Israel’s previous invasions of Lebanon, one of which lasted years:

1978: Israel first sent troops across the border after members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) entered Israel from Lebanon by sea and seized control of a civilian bus, killing dozens of Israelis, according to the IDF.

In response, Israel occupied most of the southern part of the country, despite Lebanon’s claims it had nothing to do with the bus attack. This eventually led to the creation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, (UNIFIL) tasked with securing Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.

19?82: The longest Israeli invasion of Lebanon began in June 1982. Much like this week’s declarations, Israel said the incursion was going to be brief and limited with a mission to destroy the PLO.

But it resulted in a years-long occupation of southern Lebanon and Israeli troops bogged down in a protracted and increasingly unpopular war.

Israeli forces ended up initially taking almost half of Lebanon’s territory including West Beirut. The operation resulted in more than 17,000 deaths, according to contemporary reports, and an Israeli inquiry into a massacre at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.

That investigation held Israel indirectly responsible for the massacre that was carried out by Israel-allied right-wing Christian Lebanese fighters. Israeli troops withdrew from West Beirut after that but continued to occupy southern Lebanon until 2000. That conflict also ultimately birthed Hezbollah.

2006: In 2006, Hezbollah militants infiltrated Israel in a surprise attack, killing eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two more in an attempt to prompt a prisoner exchange.

Israel retaliated with a massive air operation followed by?a sweeping ground offensive, which ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire.

The month-long war killed about 1,200 people in Lebanon, hundreds of them children, according to Human Rights Watch. Forty-nine Israeli civilians and 121 IDF soldiers were killed, according to the Israeliu military.

A UN commission found the IDF used “excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate” force against civilians.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attends a meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, on September 6.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, “to review security developments and Israeli operations,” according to a Pentagon readout of the call.

Austin and Gallant “agreed on the necessity of dismantling attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese Hizballah cannot conduct October 7-style attacks on Israel’s northern communities,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon spokesman,?wrote in the statement.

The Israeli military said it has begun “a limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.

Earlier Monday, President Joe Biden?told reporters?that “we should have a?ceasefire?now,” when asked what he knew about Israeli special forces’ raids into southern Lebanon. “I’m comfortable with them stopping,” the president said.

Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people and wounded a number of others?in central Gaza late Monday night, health officials told CNN.

The casualties were caused by at least two Israeli attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to officials at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital in the enclave.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

The reports come after Gaza’s Civil Defense said an Israeli strike?killed at least seven people?and wounded a number of others at a school housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza on Tuesday.

The Biden White House reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself as it begins its incursion in southern Lebanon, but warned of the potential of mission creep.

The White House said it sees Israel’s incursion as being in line with the country’s right to defend itself against threats from terror groups.

But the spokesperson went on to warn:

Mission creep is a term used to describe the “gradual broadening of the original objectives of a mission or organization,” according to Merriam-Webster’s definition.

Some context:?US officials have told CNN that they have been?informed?by their Israeli counterparts that Israel’s ground operation was expected to be limited in scope and duration. But they have publicly emphasized the possibility that what the Israelis are currently referring to as a limited ground operation could ultimately broaden in scope and turn into a longer-term incursion.

President Joe Biden last week unveiled a 21-day ceasefire proposal, backed by other US allies, that was almost immediately rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden and his advisers?continue to call?for a diplomatic resolution.

An Israeli strike killed at least seven people and wounded a number of others at a school housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza, the Civil Defense in the enclave said Tuesday morning.

CNN cannot independently verify the report of the strike at the Al-Shujaiya School in the east of Gaza City, and has reached out to the Israeli military for comment.

Israeli attacks have?killed at least 41,615 people and wounded 96,359 in Gaza since October 7, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave said Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister?Benjamin Netanyahu?has been considering a plan to force all Palestinian civilians out of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to lay siege to Hamas and force the release of hostages.

It is unclear how many Palestinians remain north of?the Netzarim Corridor, which splits Gaza in two, but estimates run into the hundreds of thousands.

Israel’s expected ground incursion into Lebanon will drive home a new strategic reality of a year of war — the once-mighty US is powerless to rein in its ally or to influence other major belligerents in a?fast-worsening regional crisis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Monday launched the next stage of its onslaught against Hezbollah with what the Israel Defense Forces called a “limited ground operation” into Lebanon — despite weeks of requests from Washington for restraint and familiar (and spurned) calls for de-escalation.

This came just hours after President Joe Biden?said “we should have a ceasefire now,” when asked what he knew about?Israeli special forces’?previous?raids into southern Lebanon. “I’m comfortable with them stopping,” the president said.

His comments only underscored the chasm between the US and Israeli governments on a day when Netanyahu told Iranians in a broadcast, “There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach.”

The disconnect is widening as it coincides with the endgame of a cliffhanger US election. Biden’s room for maneuver is limited if he is to avoid exacerbating the domestic political impact of war in the Middle East — a factor Netanyahu, a consummate operator in US politics, surely understands. The Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, has largely stuck to the administration line — despite earlier comments that suggested she might take a slightly harder rhetorical stance toward Netanyahu while emphasizing the plight of Palestinian civilians.

Read the?full analysis on US-Israel tensions.

Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria.

Safaa Ahmed, a well-known Syrian television anchor, has been killed alongside two others in an overnight Israeli strike on Damascus, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian defense ministry?said the Israeli military targeted Damascus with drones and planes at around 2 a.m. local time from the “direction of the occupied Golan Heights.”

“Our air defense systems confronted the aggression’s missiles and drones and shot down most of them,”?the ministry said, adding that three civilians and nine others were injured as a result of the strike.

Videos posted to social media, and geolocated by CNN, show that an explosion took place next to Syria’s Telecom building, west of the city’s military airport. Additional videos geolocated by CNN show a car in flames after the blast.

It is not clear if this is the location where Ahmed or the others were killed, and the location of their?death was not reported by SANA.

When asked about the reports, the Israeli military said: “We do not comment on reports in the foreign media.”

Some background: Israel has launched airstrikes in Syria intermittently since Hamas’ October 7 attacks last year but does not usually confirm when it has carried out attacks there.

Israeli officials are characterizing the ground operation into southern Lebanon as limited in scope, saying there will be “no long-term occupation” but declining to specify the duration.

Israeli troops will be focused on removing “immediate threats” from Lebanese villages along the border, including Hezbollah’s ability to infiltrate northern Israel, Israeli officials insisted.

A senior Israeli official also said Israel does not plan to remain in Lebanon, said there will be “no long-term occupation of southern Lebanon.”

But the officials declined to say how deep Israeli troops would venture into the country or how long the operation is expected to last.

Smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on Tuesday, October 1.

As Israel’s ground operation in Lebanon began, the sounds of outgoing artillery fire, drones and helicopters rang through the air from a CNN team’s position close to the border.

Several explosions, plumes of smoke and flashes of light were also seen?coming from the direction of the Lebanese village of Aadaysit Marjaayoun.

A Hebrew statement by the Israeli military says it has begun a “limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon.

This appears to culminate a day of positioning for an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed at least seven high-ranking Hezbollah commanders and officials in recent weeks, including the militant group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in a strike?on his underground headquarters in Beirut on Friday.

Here’s a look at some of the group’s leaders who have been killed.

Twenty-four wounded and sick children and their companions have been evacuated from Gaza in a joint Israeli-European Union operation, an Israeli official told CNN.

In total, 32 people were evacuated from the enclave.

The Palestinians who were evacuated are being relocated to Romania, according to the Israeli official. The action was directly approved by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Some context:?One of these children evacuated to Romania was registered with?Children Not Numbers, a non-governmental organization, whose founder, Somaya Ouazzani, says evacuating children out of Gaza for medical treatments has become increasingly hard since early May when the Rafah border with Egypt shut down.

“Evacuations are near impossible. They take multi-agency efforts,” she said. “The evacuations do not represent the sickest kids in Gaza.”

Several experts and NGOs also reported similar experiences to CNN, noting that many children with critical cases die while waiting to be evacuated.

Before the Rafah border shut down, the Palestinian Children Relief Fund (PCRF) was seeing “50 or so kids a day approved for evacuation,” according to Tareq Hailat, head of the Treatment Abroad program at PCRF. “Now, we are lucky if we see one.”

Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system is one of the most important tools in its arsenal and has saved countless civilian lives over various conflicts in the last decade, analysts say. It is highly effective.?The Israel Defense Forces said the system boasted a 95.6% success rate during a rocket salvo fired by Islamic Jihad?in May 2023.

Development on the Iron Dome first began in 2007. After tests in 2008 and 2009, the first Iron Dome batteries were deployed in 2011. The system has been upgraded several times since.

Learn more from this explainer on how Israel’s Iron Dome system works.