October 13, 2024 - Hezbollah drone attack on Israeli army base

- Source: CNN " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2161659080-20241013110717514.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/gettyimages-2161659080-20241013110717514.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="
By Nada Bashir, CNN
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Updated 12:14 AM EDT, Mon October 14, 2024
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a commemoration ceremony for soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge, at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on July 16, 2024.
Netanyahu warns UN peacekeepers in Lebanon to leave immediately
03:02 - Source: CNN

What we covered here

? Israel: A Hezbollah drone attack on an Israeli army base killed four soldiers and injured more than 60 people in one of the bloodiest attacks on Israel since the war began last October. Israel’s military said it will look into how the drone entered Israel without triggering an alert.

? Lebanon: UN peacekeepers said Israeli soldiers breached one of its posts in southern Lebanon in violation of international law. The Israeli military later said one of its tanks backed into the post as it was evacuating wounded soldiers. A string of Israeli military actions have wounded peacekeepers in Lebanon in recent days, drawing global condemnation.

? Iran: Iran’s foreign minister has warned there are “no red lines” in defending the country’s interests. Iran told the US it would retaliate against any new attack by Israel, a source in Tehran said. To help bolster Israeli defenses, the US will send about 100 troops to operate an advanced anti-missile system in Israel.

? Gaza: At least 13 children are among 40 people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Sunday. Over the past nine days, Israeli bombardment on Gaza’s biggest refugee camp has killed at least?300 people. Israel has issued evacuation orders to hospitals and blocked food supplies as part of its escalated offensive in the area.

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

Israeli airstrike kills 3 and injures 40 at hospital courtyard in Gaza

Three people were killed and 40 injured on Sunday by an Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in central Gaza where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, according to the Government Media Office in the enclave.

The office said it was the seventh time that the camp inside the grounds of the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah?had been struck since January and called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop attacks against civilians.

The Israeli military said it conducted a precise strike on a Hamas command center “embedded inside a compound that previously served as the ‘Shuhadah Al-Aqsa’ hospital.” The military also said it took steps to limit harming civilians and blamed Hamas for using civilian infrastructure.

Israeli strikes in Gaza?killed at least 40 people on Sunday, including at least 13 children. Many of the dead and wounded had been brought to the Al-Aqsa hospital on Sunday.

Aid convoy reaches two hospitals in northern Gaza after nine previous attempts?

An aid convoy has?reached two hospitals in northern Gaza following nine previous attempts, according to the World Health Organization.

The mission reached the Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba hospitals,?WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday, but warned that one-off missions to resupply the struggling health facilities were inadequate.

The mission delivered blood, medical supplies and medicine to Al-Sahaba Hospital as well as much-needed fuel to both facilities. Patients in critical condition were also transferred from Kamal Adwan to Al-Shifa hospital.

In recent days the Kamal Adwan Hospital had issued multiple warnings that it was in danger of losing power to run life-saving medical equipment.

Some context: Israel has escalated its offensive in northern Gaza in recent days and issued multiple evacuation orders for residents and hospitals. About 300 people were killed in the?Jabalya refugee camp?alone over the past nine days, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

The WHO said that mission staff had been harassed by military forces on their route.

Tedros reiterated his agency’s call for a ceasefire in Gaza and a “sustained facilitation of humanitarian missions.”

Drone attack kills 4 Israeli soldiers as US preps to deploy 100 troops for anti-missile system. Catch up here

Four Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than 60 people injured in a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in central-northern Israel, according to first responders and the Israeli military.

The incident late Sunday local time is one of the bloodiest attacks on Israel since the beginning of the war last October.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, launched by Hezbollah hit an army base adjacent to Binyamina, a town north of Tel Aviv that lies some 40 miles from the Lebanese border.

Seven soldiers suffered severe injuries, the IDF said.

The news comes after Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired a swarm of attack drones on an Israeli infantry training camp in Binyamina. The Lebanon-based militant group said the attack was in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Lebanon Thursday.

Here are the latest developments:

  • At least 14 killed by Israeli strikes on refugee camps in central Gaza: Israeli strikes on refugee camps in central Gaza have killed at least 14 people, including a family of eight, the Al-Aqsa hospital said Sunday. At the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, eight members of a family were killed when the Israeli military struck a house they were sheltering in, according to the hospital. Another six people were killed when an Israeli tank shelled the Bureij refugee camp, it said.
  • US troops will deploy to Israel to operate anti-missile system: Approximately 100?US troops are deploying to Israel?to operate the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, according to a US defense official. It is rare for US troops to deploy inside Israel but this is a typical number of troops used to operate the anti-missile defense system.
  • Israel won’t allow Hezbollah to return to villages in southern Lebanon: Israel will not allow Hezbollah to return to border villages in southern Lebanon after Israeli troops leave the area, the country’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday. During a visit to an observation post along the border, Gallant said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will target Hezbollah military infrastructure in the border villages.
  • Hezbollah releases audio recording of late leader Hassan Nasrallah: As Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon intensifies, the Iran-backed group released a recorded message from its late leader?Nasrallah?on Sunday. In a video featuring an audio recording from Nasrallah, the former Hezbollah chief can be heard saying: “(We) bet on you to defend your people, your family, your nation, your values and your dignity. And to defend this blessed and holy land … And to pave the road for the coveted and promised divine justice.”

This post has been updated.

IDF says it will investigate how a drone entered Israel without triggering an alert

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari says the IDF will look into how a Hezbollah-launched drone entered Israel on Sunday without triggering an alert.

In a video message from the military base near Binyamina that was attacked, Hagari said, “We will learn from and investigate the incident, how a UAV entered without an alert at the base.”

The Hezbollah drone was launched from Lebanon close to 7 p.m. local time, Hagari said, adding that Israel needs “an improvement” to its defenses.

Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of rockets towards Nahariya and Acre with the aim of engaging Israel’s air defense systems, while it also launched a swarm of drones – some used for the first time – toward areas of Acre and Haifa.

“These drones broke through the Israel defense radars without detection and reached the target at the training camp of the elite Golani Brigade in Binyamina, south of the occupied Haifa, and exploded in the rooms where tens of officers and soldiers were preparing an attack on Lebanon … killing and injuring dozens of them,” Hezbollah said.

The IDF says four soldiers were killed in the attack, while emergency services have said more than 60 people were injured.

Hezbollah warned Israel that Sunday’s attack was the “easy part of what awaits if (Israel) continues its attack on our defiant people.”

On Sunday, the Iran-backed group said it had launched 38 attacks on Israeli soldiers, army bases and barracks in Israel and southern Lebanon — the most since the start of Israel’s war with Hezbollah.

IDF says tank backed into UNIFIL post while evacuating injured troops

The Israeli military said on Sunday one of its tanks backed into a post belonging to United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon as it was evacuating soldiers wounded by an anti-tank missile.

The claim comes hours after the UNIFIL peacekeeping force accused the?Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of forcibly entering the post with two tanks.

According to UNIFIL, “At around 4:30 a.m., while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position.” UNIFIL accused the IDF of putting the lives of its peacekeepers in danger and said the tanks left about 45 minutes after it protested their presence.

What the IDF says: The IDF, however, said it had been trying to evacuate IDF troops nearby who had been fired upon by a “large barrage of anti-tank missiles.”

It said multiple troops had been injured in the initial barrage, two of them severely, and that a further attack targeted the tank as it “backed” into the UNIFIL post.

According to the IDF, the tank left the post once enemy fire had stopped and after the wounded soldiers had been evacuated.

The IDF added that its activity did not pose a danger to UNIFIL forces, but admitted that during the operation it had used a “smoke screen” to “provide cover for the evacuation of the injured soldiers.”

UNIFIL said smoke entering the camp had left 15 of the peacekeepers suffering “skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions,” despite wearing protective masks.

Children among more than 40 killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza on Sunday, hospitals say

Injured Palestinians are brought to Al Awda hospital after an Israeli strike on Al Mufti school in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp on October 13.

At least 41?people, including at least 13 children, have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza on Sunday, according to hospitals.

At least 22 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Al Mufti school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, officials from Al Awda and Al Aqsa hospitals said. More than 5,000 displaced people are sheltering in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency?for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) school, according to Gaza’s civil defense.

Among the dead was at least one infant who was brought to the hospital with injuries, but died shortly after medical teams attempted to save him, according to Al Aqsa hospital. The baby’s body was later carried away in the arms of his sobbing uncle and taken to the morgue, CNN stringer video shows. Another video shows the deceased infant alongside another deceased baby at the hospital’s morgue.

Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, five children were killed in an Israeli airstrike while playing marbles in Al Shati camp, according to Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

Footage seen by CNN shows children bleeding from their faces as they are transported to the hospital. One video shows the five deceased children wrapped in shrouds as heartbroken family members bid farewell.

Another video shows a child survivor named Rakan on a hospital bed.

Earlier at the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, eight members of a family — including six children —?were killed when the Israeli military struck a house they were sheltering in, according to Al Aqsa hospital. Another six people were killed when an Israeli tank shelled the Bureij refugee camp, it said.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli military for comment on the strikes.

At least 4 Israeli soldiers killed in Hezbollah drone attack on Sunday, IDF says

An ambulance leaves the scene of a drone strike near the northern Israeli town of Binyamina on October 13.

At least four soldiers were killed in Sunday’s drone attack in Binyamina, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Another seven were severely injured. The military said a drone launched by Hezbollah hit an army base adjacent to Binyamina, a town north of Tel Aviv that lies some 40 miles from the Lebanese border.

First responders said more than 60 people were injured in the attack. Hezbollah has claimed responsibility.

Head covering saves man from shrapnel injury to head following drone attack in Israel

A still from a video released by Laniado Hospital shows a piece of shrapnel lodged in the kippah.

A man’s kippah — a head covering worn by Jewish men — saved him from a shrapnel injury to the head following the drone attack in Israel, according to the hospital treating him.

“A small (big!!!) miracle happened to one of the injured,” Asahel Shahaf, a spokesperson for Laniado Hospital in north-central Israel, said.

The hospital released a video of the piece of shrapnel lodged in the kippah.

More than 60 injured by drone attack?in north-central Israel, officials say

Emergency services personnel attend to the scene of a drone strike in Binyamina, Israel, on October 13.

More than 60 people were injured by?a drone attack that Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for?in Binyamina, north-central Israel, according to first responders.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Sunday it had “intercepted a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that was launched from Lebanon in the northern naval area.”

The IDF did not specify exactly where the drone was intercepted, but it came after Hezbollah said it had fired a swarm of attack drones on the Golani training camp in Binyamina, south of Haifa. The militant group said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes on the Al-Nuwairi and Basta neighborhoods in Beirut last Thursday that killed 22 people and injured 117, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

CNN cannot verify whether the drone struck an IDF training camp.

Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in north-central Israel said it was treating 36 casualties from what it described as a “UAV incident,” adding that there were “various degrees of injury.”

Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center in Ramat Gan told CNN it was treating three people injured by an incident in Binyamina, two of whom were in critical condition, while Rambam Hospital in Haifa said it was treating another three people. The Emek Medical Center in northern Israel said it was treating four injured people. Beilinson Hospital said it was treating a further three and Bnei Zion Medical Center in Haifa also said it was treating three.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for further information.

We’ll bring you the latest on this developing story as we get it. The post has been updated with the latest injury figures.

51 people killed by Israeli strikes on Saturday, Lebanese health ministry says

Fifty-one people were killed and 174 were injured by Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The ministry reported strikes across the country, from the north to the south.

In southern Lebanon, 14 people were killed and 63 were wounded, the ministry said.

Another major strike in Nabatiyeh killed at least 10 people and wounded 50, according to the ministry. The ministry also said that three people were killed in Beqaa, 22 in Mount Lebanon and two in the north of the country.

The IDF said it struck Hezbollah “terrorist” targets in that city.

Hezbollah releases audio recording of late leader Nasrallah in defiance of ongoing Israeli offensive

As Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon intensifies, the Iran-backed group released a recorded message from its late leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday.

In a video featuring an audio recording from Nasrallah, the former Hezbollah chief can be heard saying: “(We) bet on you to defend your people, your family, your nation, your values and your dignity. And to defend this blessed and holy land … And to pave the road for the coveted and promised divine justice.”

Keep in mind: It is unclear when the message was recorded. But the release of it underscores the militant group’s determination to fight on in the face of Israel’s ongoing offensive against the group.

The recording’s release comes as Hezbollah continues to fire dozens of rockets into Israel, nearly two weeks after Israel began its ground incursion into Lebanon.?The Israeli military said that as of 3 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) on Sunday, Hezbollah had fired 115 rockets into Israel.

Hezbollah on Sunday claimed more than 25 attacks on Israeli army bases and gatherings of soldiers in northern Israel and southern Lebanon including close combat with Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah also warned Israeli citizens to stay away from “military gatherings.”

At least 14 killed by Israeli strikes on refugee camps in central Gaza, hospital says

Family members grieve at Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza on October 13, after a young man was killed by an Israeli strike on the Bureij refugee camp.

Israeli strikes on refugee camps in central Gaza have killed at least 14 people, including a family of eight, the Al-Aqsa hospital said Sunday.

At the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, eight members of a family were killed when the Israeli military struck a house they were sheltering in, according to the hospital. Another six people were killed when an Israeli tank shelled the Bureij refugee camp, it said.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment about the strikes.

One man, Alaa Abu Ghali, told a cameraman working for CNN in Gaza that his brother Waleed’s whole family was killed in the strike.

At the hospital yard, near the morgue, a young girl desperately clung to her brother who was killed in the Bureij camp, crying as she checked his lifeless body for a heartbeat.

“Leave me with him. I want my brother. Leave me in his arms. He is going to heaven. Wake up! Stop joking. He is breathing,” the child cried as she hugged her brother with her mother.

“God loves you; that’s why he took you,” she said.

About 100 US troops will deploy to Israel to operate anti-missile system

Approximately 100 US troops are deploying to Israel to operate the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, according to a US defense official.

It is rare for US troops to deploy inside Israel but this is a typical number of troops used to operate the anti-missile defense system.

Some context: The US provides billions in military support to Israel every year. According to a 2023 report into international arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a think tank that tracks arms sales worldwide, 69% of Israel’s arm imports come from the US.

The US-imported weapons “have played a major role in Israel’s military actions against Hamas and Hezbollah,” the think tank reported, noting that at the end of 2023, thousands of guided bombs and missiles were rapidly delivered from the US to Israel. F-35 and F-15 fighter jets were also delivered to Israel from the US in January 2024.

The US also provides financial assistance to Israel, delivering over $130 billion in bilateral funding since 1948, according to the US State Department. In 2019, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding that ensured the US would annually provide Israel with $33.3 billion from the Foreign Military Financing program, and another $500 million for missile defense.

Israel’s UN ambassador: “Incomprehensible” that UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in combat zone in southern Lebanon

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said it is “incomprehensible” that the UN has not moved UNIFIL peacekeepers away from parts of southern Lebanon where the Israeli military is fighting Hezbollah militants.

Addressing the UN, Danny Danon insisted that Hezbollah was using UNIFIL’s outposts to hide and place ambushes.

He once again demanded that UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) peacekeepers move five kilometers (3.1 miles) north of the border to avoid the line of fire, adding that Israel would continue holding talks with UN officials on the matter.

Danon also said an investigation is underway into an incident involving UNIFIL peacekeepers, without specifying which incident he was referring to.

UNIFIL reported Thursday that peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli tank fired toward an observation tower at its headquarters in the southern Lebanese city Naqoura.

Former Israeli war cabinet member calls for operation in Lebanon to "continue and expand"

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

Former Israeli war cabinet member?Benny Gantz on Sunday called for Israel’s operation in Lebanon to “continue and expand.”

The leader of the National Unity party, Gantz was a member of Israel’s emergency war cabinet until June, when he resigned over disagreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza.

Gantz has been supportive of the government’s decision to launch an operation in Lebanon.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have insisted the ground operation is “limited” and “localized” — even though four of its divisions are now involved in the fighting, and more than a quarter of Lebanon’s territory has been placed under evacuation orders by Israel.

More background: Gantz is a retired army general who has in the past served as the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and as the country’s defense minister. He served in the military during Israel’s invasions of Lebanon in 1982 and 2006.

Iran ready to respond to "any misstep" by Israel, says Revolutionary Guard commander?

Iran is ready to respond to any Israeli action against the country, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander said Sunday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

“We are ready to respond to any misstep taken by Israel,” IRGC Aerospace Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh said.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister warned there were “no red lines” in defending the country’s people and interests.

An Israeli cabinet meeting will be held Sunday as its leaders weigh a response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.

US will deploy advanced anti-missile system to Israel amid heightened tensions, Pentagon says

This US military file photo shows a US Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launching station in Israel on March 4, 2019.

The US will send an advanced anti-missile system to Israel and US troops to operate it “to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a statement on Sunday.

It is not the first time the US has deployed the system, the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery, to the Middle East, Ryder said in his statement, and the system was also deployed to Israel in 2019 for an exercise. But the deployment of additional US troops to Israel is notable amid the heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, and as the region braces for a potential Israeli attack on Iran that could continue to escalate hostilities.

More on the weapon system: The THAAD system is specifically meant for anti-ballistic missile defense and could help Israel better defend itself against a future Iranian attack if Iran decides to respond to any Israeli strike.

The US has been consulting with Israel on how it plans to respond to Iran’s October 1 attack, and US officials have made clear they do not want Israel to target Iranian nuclear sites or oil fields. US President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, their?first conversation in almost two months, telling him Israel’s retaliation should be “proportional.”

Some context: The US military has significantly increased its presence in the Middle East since October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel. The US has bolstered its air defenses across the region, deployed additional warships and aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea, and recently sent additional troops to Cyprus to help with possible evacuation planning, CNN previously reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the THAAD deployment earlier.

Israel won’t allow Hezbollah to return to villages in southern Lebanon, defense minister says

Israel will not allow Hezbollah to return to border villages in southern Lebanon after Israeli troops leave the area, the country’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday.

During a visit to an observation post along the border, Gallant said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will target Hezbollah military infrastructure in the border villages.

He added that the destruction of such targets would enable Israeli citizens to return to the north, after fleeing the area for their safety.

"We are trapped in a box, not knowing what will happen next,” displaced Gaza teacher tells CNN

Palestinians in northern Gaza carry their belongings as they flee areas north of Gaza City on October 12.

A history teacher who has fled Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza after Israel launched its third invasion of the area said the last nine days were worse than “a year’s worth of suffering.”

Ibrahim told CNN most of the houses in Gaza City, where many people have fled from Jabalya, are destroyed, adding that the situation is much harder than he expected. He said military planes and drones keep flying overhead and tanks and artillery strikes are a “constant presence” in the area. He also said that the only bakery in northern Gaza burnt down after it was bombed.

Ibrahim said the Israeli army was advancing “from all directions, making it impossible to know where to go or how to escape.”

Some 300 people have been killed in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza since the beginning of the latest Israeli ground operation in the area nine days ago, the Gaza Government Media Office said Sunday.

UN accuses Israel of violating international law by breaching a southern Lebanon position

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Sunday the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) breached one of its positions in southern Lebanon, in violation of international law.

“At around 4:30 a.m., while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position. They requested multiple times that the base turn out its lights,” the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said in a statement on Sunday.

“The tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism, saying that IDF presence was putting peacekeepers in danger.”

UNIFIL said the IDF’s actions are a “flagrant violation of international law and Security Council resolution 1701 (2006),” adding that it has requested an explanation from the Israeli military over what it called “shocking violations.”

In addition to its position being breached, UNIFIL also said 15 of its soldiers are receiving treatment after another incident in the same area.

“At around 6:40 a.m., peacekeepers at the same position reported the firing of several rounds 100 metres north, which emitted smoke.?Despite putting on protective masks,?fifteen peacekeepers suffered effects, including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions, after the smoke entered the camp,” the statement read, without indicating who had fired the rounds.

Lastly, UNIFIL said the IDF had stopped what it said was a “critical logistical movement” near Meiss el Jabal, denying it passage.

Destruction on southern Lebanese city "painful to watch," rescue worker tells CNN

A rescuer searches for survivors at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, on October 12.

The scale of destruction, explosions and fires resulting from Israeli airstrikes on Nabatiyeh commercial center on Saturday is “shocking and painful to watch,” civil defense official Hussein Faqih told CNN on Sunday.

“It took hours to just control the fires in 20 locations,” he said. Rescue workers were still removing the rubble through Sunday afternoon, he added.

One person was killed and 12 others injured and around 15 buildings and 30 shops were either destroyed or damaged including the nearby Old Mosque, he said.

Faqih said that if it weren’t for the mass displacement of residents fleeing the bombardment the past weeks, this strike “would have resulted in a massacre. If it happened during the day, it would have been a massacre,” he added.

Nearly 2 weeks into Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon, Hezbollah is continuing to fire rockets

Hezbollah continues to fire dozens of rockets into Israel, nearly two weeks after Israel began its ground incursion into Lebanon.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as of 3 p.m. local time (8 a.m. ET) Sunday, Hezbollah had fired 115 rockets from Lebanon into Israel.

Most of the projectiles were intercepted but Israeli authorities reported some had landed in open fields causing fires. No injuries were reported.

Remember: Israel launched what it called a “targeted and limited” ground incursion into southern Lebanon on October 1, to remove “immediate threats” from Hezbollah along the border. The objectives, the IDF said at the time, included destroying Hezbollah’s ability to target northern Israel as well as to infiltrate the country.

Hundreds of people have been killed in a Gaza refugee camp. Here's what to know

Some 300 people have been killed in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza since the beginning of the latest Israeli ground operation in the area nine days ago, the Gaza Government Media Office said Sunday.

The office said heavy fighting meant emergency workers had not yet been able to recover dozens of those who have been killed in the area, leaving decomposing bodies in the streets and buildings. Many civilians told CNN it was too dangerous to evacuate their homes.

Here’s what to know from elsewhere in the region:

In Lebanon: Three mosques in southern Lebanon were hit by Israeli fire, leaving them partly or fully destroyed, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. Videos posted on social media and geolocated by CNN showed a pile of rubble where the Kfar Tebnit mosque minaret once stood.

The Israeli military also expanded its evacuation warnings to residents of 21 more villages in southern Lebanon on Sunday, urging them to move further north into the country, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the UN that?UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in Lebanon?are in “harm’s way,” calling on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to get them out.

Separately, on Sunday morning, four?Lebanese Red Cross?volunteers were injured by a double Israeli airstrike on a house in Srebbine, southern Lebanon, the organization said.

Israel’s military operations: At least two Israeli soldiers were severely injured during combat operations in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday. The military also said it captured a Hezbollah fighter while storming one of the group’s tunnels and hideouts in?southern Lebanon.

Iran: Iran has “no red lines” in defending its interests, the country’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Sunday.

“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Araghchi said in a social media post, also criticizing US arms deliveries to Israel.

Israeli military issues evacuation warnings for 21 more villages in southern Lebanon

An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, on October 13.

The Israeli military has expanded its evacuation warnings to residents of 21 more villages in southern Lebanon, urging them to move further north into the country.

People living in the villages close to the Israeli border have been warned to relocate north of the Awali River — about 31 miles (50 kilometers) north.

“Anyone found near elements of Hezbollah and its facilities and combat means exposes his life to danger,” said Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic spokesperson, reiterating the advice of previous IDF messages. “You must go immediately north of the Awali River to save your life and evacuate your homes immediately.”

The series of Israeli evacuation directives this week now affect at least 157 villages.

Overall, more than a quarter of Lebanon’s territory has been placed under evacuation orders by Israel.

Eyad Kourdi contributed to this report.

Dire situation in "completely besieged" refugee camp in northern Gaza, says hospital director

Ali Assaf, center, is comforted in front of the Al-Maamadani Hospital as he mourns his family members who were killed by Israel in an overnight airstrike, in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, on October 12. He is reportedly the only survivor from his family.

Some 300 people have been killed in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza since the beginning of the latest Israeli ground operation in the area nine days ago, the Gaza Government Media Office said Sunday.

The office said heavy fighting meant emergency workers had not yet been able to recover dozens of those who have been killed in the area, leaving decomposing bodies in the streets and buildings.

The Israeli military reinvaded Jabalya earlier this month after saying there were signs of “the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area.” This is the third time Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has launched a ground operation in the Jabalya camp.

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, the closest medical facility to Jabalya, said medical teams in the hospital were overwhelmed by the high number of casualties that keep arriving amid the heavy fighting.

Abu Safiya said the Jabalya camp was now “completely besieged,” which made it impossible to bring in health supplies, food and the specialized medical teams that are so desperately needed there.

He said the hospital currently has enough fuel for 10 days, after a delivery on Saturday. That delivery was delayed by Israel for three days, putting the hospital dangerously close to running out of electricity.

The IDF said it asked people in the area to evacuate, although many locals have told CNN it was too dangerous to try to leave.

Three mosques hit by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon

Destroyed shops and a mosque are seen after Israeli airstrikes hit a commercial street in Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, on October 13.

Three mosques in southern Lebanon were hit by Israeli fire, leaving them partly or fully destroyed, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.

Videos posted on social media and geolocated by CNN showed a pile of rubble where the Kfar Tebnit mosque minaret once stood. Although the mosque’s main building was left standing, it exhibited some damage as well.

Lebanese state news agency NNA said damage to the mosque was caused by an Israeli airstrike, which also killed four people and “caused serious damage to the surrounding houses and vehicles.”

Another video, also geolocated by CNN, showed the mosque in Dhohaira seemingly blown up by Israeli forces.

NNA reported a third mosque had been damaged in Nabatiyeh, when Israeli aircraft struck the city market repeatedly overnight.

The Lebanese Red Cross said its team responded to “a major airstrike” in Nabatiyeh Saturday night. “Severe fires are preventing us from reaching the targeted area,” the group said on X on Saturday, later adding search and rescue efforts were underway through the night.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said in a preliminary count that at least eight people had been injured.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on these incidents but has yet to hear back.

Two Israeli soldiers severely injured in southern Lebanon?combat operations

At least two Israeli soldiers were severely injured during combat operations in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday.

The two were among multiple casualties suffered by the Israeli military in at least two separate incidents. The IDF wouldn’t reveal the exact number but said “multiple soldiers” had been injured.

The Galilee Medical Center said in a statement that seventeen Israeli soldiers injured in fighting in southern Lebanon had been treated at the facility since Sunday morning.

Iran has "no red lines" in defending its people and interests, foreign minister says

Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi speaks at the UN headquarters in New York, on September 25.

Iran has “no red lines” in defending its interests, the country’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Sunday.

“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Araghchi said in a social media post, also criticizing US arms deliveries to Israel.

Key context: His comments come as Iran braces for Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month.

Iran has been engaging with countries in the Middle East to determine whether the scale of Israel’s response could be reduced, sources familiar with the matter told CNN earlier this week.

The US has been consulting with Israel and officials have made clear they do not want Israel to target Iranian nuclear sites or oil fields.

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are in "harm’s way," Netanyahu warns

The base of United Nations Interim Force in Naqoura, Lebanon in 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned the UN that UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in Lebanon are in “harm’s way,” calling on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to get them out.

The Israeli prime minister went on to say the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had asked UNIFIL to redeploy multiple times but said those requests had been refused. Netanyahu claimed the peacekeepers’ presence was “aimed at providing a human shield for Hezbollah.”

“Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” Netanyahu added.

The Israeli prime minister also said he regretted that some UN peacekeepers had been injured.

“We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and are doing everything we can to prevent such harm. But the simple and necessary way to ensure this is to remove them from the danger zone,” he said. “It should be done right now, immediately.”

Remember: Five UNIFIL peacekeepers have been injured by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon in just two days. The injuries to UN troops have drawn international condemnation.

Israel’s military expresses "deep concern" and launches review after UN peacekeeper shot in southern Lebanon

Israel’s military told CNN it expresses “deep concern” after two UN peacekeepers were injured in southern Lebanon on Friday.

A peacekeeper from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon?was hit by gunfire at its headquarters in the city of Naqoura on Friday, according to a statement released by UNIFIL on Saturday.

“He underwent surgery at our Naqoura hospital to remove the bullet and is currently stable. We do not yet know the origin of the fire,” UNIFIL said.

Asked by CNN about gunfire that caused the injury to a peacekeeper, Nadav Shoshani, international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said in a statement that two peacekeepers were “inadvertently hurt during IDF combat against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.”

Shoshani added that the IDF is “currently conducting a thorough review at the highest levels of command to determine the details.”

Remember: The peacekeeper hit by gunfire Friday was the fifth member of the UN force hurt in southern Lebanon in just two days.

The injuries to UN troops have drawn international condemnation. On Saturday, 40 countries whose soldiers serve as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said in a joint statement they “strongly condemn” recent attacks on peacekeepers.

Co-signatories of the statement included the UK, France, India, Germany and Spain.

Israeli military says it captured Hezbollah fighter in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military said it had captured a Hezbollah fighter while storming one of the group’s tunnels and hideouts in southern Lebanon.

“The forces surrounded the building, examined the tunnel shaft, and located an underground complex about 7 meters deep and 50 meters of space where a Hezbollah terrorist was entrenched, along with weaponry and equipment for long-term stay,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Video shared by the IDF showed a man, climbing up a ladder and exiting a tunnel shaft in his underwear and sneakers. He can be seen holding his hands up as he surrenders to Israeli soldiers.

In the video, the alleged fighter is blurred, presumably to conceal his identity. The Geneva Conventions require prisoners of war to be protected against “public curiosity.”

The IDF said that after surrendering, the Hezbollah fighter was interrogated, arrested and transferred to “a detention facility for further investigation within the country.”

In a response to CNN, a Hezbollah official denied any of its fighters or members had been captured. “Not true,” the official said in response to the Israeli military statement posted on X.

This post has been updated.

Lebanese Red Cross volunteers injured in Israeli double strike?

A damaged vehicle, following a double Israeli airstrike that injured four Lebanese Red Cross volunteers in Srebbine, southern Lebanon, on October 13, 2024.

Four Lebanese Red Cross volunteers were injured by a double Israeli airstrike on a house in Srebbine, southern Lebanon, on Sunday morning, the organization said.

The volunteers had been dispatched to the scene after the initial strike and in coordination with UNIFIL.

The Red Cross?said the volunteers were treated in a Lebanese hospital and are “in good condition.”

“Volunteers should be protected at all times while attempting to rescue casualties,” it added.

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces about the incident but has yet to hear back.

Netanyahu doesn’t want to end the war, former Israeli diplomat tells CNN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks in Jerusalem on July 16.

Israel’s widening military operations in Gaza and Lebanon – and looming response to Iran’s missile attack – are testament to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s need for political survival, a former Israeli diplomat told CNN.

“Netanyahu does not want to end the war,” Israel’s former consul general to New York Alon Pinkas told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade.

“He wanted to extend, to prolong the war in order to create … a war-like atmosphere which is important to him politically and expedient to him politically,” said Pinkas, who was speaking from Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu’s self-styled image as “Mister Security” seemed irrevocably shattered by the October 7 Hamas attack, but he has since staged a turnaround.

The war to eliminate Hamas in Gaza remains largely popular in Israel, but it has raised complex questions around long-term occupation, relations with Palestinians, and conflict with Israel’s neighbors including Iran-backed proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel’s war goals have expanded to target Hezbollah, and Netanyahu’s cabinet is weighing its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.

“I don’t see him ending the war,” Pinkas said, citing Netanyahu’s repeated rejection of US President Joe Biden’s post-war Gaza plans and refusal to make any ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

Only a ceasefire in Gaza – where Pinkas believes Israel has already achieved its war goals – could bring about a de-escalation in Lebanon, yet the prime minister has “legitimately but wrongly refused to see that logic.”

It's morning in the Middle East. Catch up here

Rescuers search for survivors at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on October 12.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?will hold a cabinet meeting?on Sunday, an Israeli official tells CNN, as the country’s leaders weigh their response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.

The wider region is already mired in conflict. Israel has intensified its military operations?in Gaza, issuing evacuation orders and blocking food supplies to the impoverished enclave.

Tensions continue to simmer along the Israel-Lebanon border, with dozens of countries condemning attacks on United Nations peacekeepers. A quarter of Lebanese territory is?under evacuation orders amid Israeli airstrikes and a ground incursion, while the country’s prime minister?made another push for a ceasefire?on Saturday.

Here’s what to know:

  • Israeli strikes on Lebanon: At least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on three Lebanese towns on Saturday, according to a CNN tally of numbers from Lebanon’s health ministry. Nearly half of the primary health care centers in Lebanon’s conflict areas are now closed, according to World Health Organization.
  • Hezbollah launches projectiles: The Israeli military said 320 projectiles fired by Hezbollah crossed into Israel over Yom Kippur weekend. Hezbollah said Saturday it continued to fire rockets into Israel, targeting what it said was a “gathering of Israeli enemy forces” in villages just south of the border.
  • Countries condemn attacks on peacekeepers: A peacekeeper from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was injured in the country’s south on Friday evening, the fifth member of the UN force hurt in southern Lebanon in just two days. Forty countries whose soldiers serve as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon say they “strongly condemn” recent attacks on peacekeepers, in a joint statement released on Saturday.
  • Northern Gaza: At least?22 people have been killed?by Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza, emergency responders said. A?UN inquiry?has accused Israel of?war crimes during its year-long war against Hamas in Gaza, with Palestinians?living in desperate conditions.
  • Iran diplomacy: Tehran has?informed the United States?that it will retaliate against any new attack by Israel, a source in Tehran told CNN on Saturday.?Iran’s government has also been?engaging?in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the?Middle East?to gauge whether they can reduce the?scale of Israel’s?response to its missile attack?earlier this month and –?if that fails?–?help protect Tehran,?sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
  • Reports on October 7: Hamas plotted the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel for more than two years and?tried to persuade?Iran and Hezbollah to participate,?a report in The New York Times?has claimed, citing what it said were minutes of secret Hamas meetings found on a computer and seized by the Israeli military in Gaza in January. Iran and Hezbollah have vigorously denied the report.

40 countries that contribute to UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon “strongly condemn recent attacks”

Forty countries whose soldiers serve as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon say they “strongly condemn” recent attacks on peacekeepers, in a joint statement released on Saturday.

The statement?was posted on X?by Poland’s mission to the UN, after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported a fifth member of the peacekeeping force was injured in southern Lebanon on Friday.

“Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” the statement said, adding: “We urge the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times.”

Co-signatories of the statement include the UK, France, India, Germany and Spain.

Since Thursday, UNIFIL reported that two peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli tank fired toward its observation tower in Naqoura, causing it to collapse. On Friday UNIFIL said two more were hurt after two explosions near the observation tower.

Sri Lanka and Indonesia, whose nationals were among the injured, condemned the incidents.

On Friday a fifth peacekeeper was hit by gunfire at its headquarters in Naqoura due to ongoing military activity nearby, according to a UNIFIL statement released on Saturday.

Austin expresses "deep concern" about Israeli forces firing on UN peacekeepers in a call with Gallant

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Saturday expressed “deep concern” regarding reports of Israeli forces firing on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, during a conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, according to the Pentagon.

Austin “strongly emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and security of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) forces” and urged Israel to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway “as soon as feasible,” the readout said.

Austin also raised the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed “steps must be taken to address it.”

With hospitals moving patients underground, Israel is preparing for a bloody war with Hezbollah

Soldiers, including several visibly injured, are seen at the emergency department’s reception desk at the Ziv hospital.

The Ziv hospital in northern Israel is on high alert. Non-urgent operations are on hold, staff have been asked to consider donating blood when needed, and all patients – including newborns in the maternity unit – have been moved underground.

The expectation here is clear: If Israel ends up sending more troops to southern Lebanon, it could get bloody.

“We have been in a war situation for the past year, but after the army entered into Lebanon, our services and all of the staff are ready for, unfortunately, the next wave of casualties,” the hospital’s director, Salman Zarka, told CNN.

Ziv Medical Center is the only hospital in the area and the closest to Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria, as well as the occupied Golan Heights. The hospital in Safed has been receiving people injured in cross-border fire for months, including children hurt in the?deadly attack on Majdal Shams?in July.

“When you have combat on the ground, usually you have more wounded and, unfortunately, dead soldiers. I hope it will not happen, (but) we have to be ready,” Zarka, an IDF reservist and a former commander of the IDF’s Medical Services Center, added.

Read the full story?here.

Netanyahu will hold a cabinet meeting Sunday as Israel weighs response to Iran?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a cabinet meeting on Sunday, an Israeli official tells CNN.

Exactly when and where the meeting will be held remains unclear.

On Friday, a source told CNN the cabinet had discussed how to respond to?Iran’s October 1 missile attack?but had not reached a decision on how to proceed.

Iran has informed the United States and some countries in the Middle East that?it will retaliate?against any new attack by Israel, a source in Tehran with knowledge of the diplomatic discussions told CNN on Saturday.

IDF says more than 300 projectiles fired by Hezbollah crossed into Israel over Yom Kippur weekend

Rockets are fired from Israel's Iron Dome defense system during a rocket attack from Lebanon on October 12.

The Israeli military said 320 projectiles fired by Hezbollah crossed into Israel over Yom Kippur weekend, which began around 6 p.m. local time on Friday.

On Saturday, Hezbollah said it continued to fire rockets into Israel, targeting what it said was a “gathering of?Israeli enemy forces” in villages just south of the border.

Israeli authorities said three men suffered mild shrapnel injuries following rocket launches from Lebanon, many of which Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for. The men, ages 48, 30, and 27, were injured in the town of Jadeida-Machar.

About half of Lebanon's primary health care centers in conflict areas have shut down

Nearly half of the primary health care centers in Lebanon’s conflict areas are now closed amid escalating violence, according to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Of the 207 centers in conflict areas, 100 are now closed, Ghebreyesus posted on?X on Saturday. Five hospitals have shut following structural damage from attacks.

“The attacks on health workers and facilities, which have caused almost 100 deaths, must stop. The number of people injured is increasing. The health system is struggling to cope due to limited human and resource capacity,” the WHO director general said.

90% of children in Gaza have suffered from "food poverty," aid group says

Palestinians receive food at a displacement camp in Khan Younis, Gaza, on September 3.

Over the past 12 months, 90% of children in Gaza have suffered from “food poverty,” according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

“Human suffering should never be normalized,” the group posted to X on Saturday. “We must work towards ending this ongoing crisis.”

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday said no food has entered northern Gaza since the start of October, putting 1 million people at risk of going hungry.

On Wednesday,?the WFP said in a report that the aid entering the strip has plummeted to its lowest level in months, forcing the organization to stop the distribution of food parcels in October. CNN had reached out to Israeli authorities and the military for comment on the lack of food entering northern Gaza since the beginning of the month but has not heard back.

Current operation in the north: The Israeli military is carrying out a widespread operation in northern Gaza, coming just weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to be?mulling a plan to besiege the area?to starve Hamas and force it to release hostages. Four sources have told CNN that the Israeli cabinet has not adopted the siege proposal put forward by retired Gen. Giora Eiland. But the operation currently underway bears resemblance to the plan presented by Eiland in a public video, and in private to the Israeli cabinet and the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

Israel ramps up military push in northern Gaza just weeks after considering siege plan

Israeli army tanks drive in an area near Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip on October 6.

The Israeli military is carrying out a widespread operation in northern Gaza, issuing evacuation orders and blocking food supplies. The intensifying military action comes just weeks after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to be?mulling a plan to besiege the area?to starve Hamas and force it to release hostages.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this week launched the operation following intelligence that it said showed “the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure in the area of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as efforts by Hamas to rebuild its operational capabilities in the area.”

In practice, the renewed offensive has been far more widespread than the?Jabalya refugee camp.

Four sources have told CNN that the Israeli cabinet has not adopted the siege proposal put forward by retired general Giora Eiland. But the current operation bears resemblance to the plan presented by Eiland in a public video, and in private to the Israeli cabinet and the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

A former senior military official aware of the Israeli government and security leadership’s thinking – though not directly involved in decision-making – told CNN that the cabinet had adopted “a version of” Eiland’s proposal, which has come to be known as “The General’s Plan.” Eiland told CNN the claim was “quite true” but said there were significant differences between his proposal and what was being implemented on the ground.

The operation comes at a time when the Israeli government is known to be considering several plans to reset the war in Gaza.

Read the full story?here.