Israel bombed Beirut early on Thursday morning, killing at least six people as their battle with the Hezbollah terrorist group continues, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after the Hamas terrorist group’s cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage.
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Israel Strikes Hezbollah Intelligence Targets
Israeli Air Force fighter jets, acting on intelligence from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), struck targets at Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, according to the IDF.
“Terror operatives belonging to the unit, intelligence-gathering means, command centers, and additional terrorist infrastructure” were hit, the Israeli military said in an Oct. 3 post on the messaging platform Telegram. “The Intelligence Corps is Hezbollah’s primary intelligence body and is responsible for aggregating intelligence about the IDF and the State of Israel.”
The IDF’s claims have, as yet, not been independently verified, and Hezbollah has yet to comment.
Biden Says He Doesn’t Expect Israel to Retaliate against Iran on Thursday
President Joe Biden says he doesn’t expect Israel to retaliate immediately against Iran and rejects the suggestion the U.S. would grant permission for such an attack.
Biden was speaking to reporters Thursday, two days after Tehran bombarded Israel with almost 200 ballistic missiles. Israel says it intercepted many of them, while Iran says most of its missiles hit their targets.
The barrage has raised concerns about the escalating conflict in the Middle East and the role of the U.S. in Israel’s defense.
“First of all, we don’t ‘allow’ Israel, we advise Israel,” Biden said. “And nothing’s going to happen today.”
Lebanon Says All Border Crossings with Syria Function under State Supervision
Lebanon’s minister of public works and transport says all the country’s border crossing with Syria function under the supervision of state institutions.
Ali Hamie spoke to reporters hours after the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman posted on X that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group is trying to transport military equipment through the Masnaa border crossing with Syria.
“All border crossings, the first among them the Masnaa border crossing” are under the monitoring of state institutions including the transport ministry, customs authorities, the General Security Directorate and the Lebanese army.
Israeli military spokesperson, Avchay Adraee, called on Lebanese authorities earlier Thursday to conduct inspections on trucks crossing its eastern border and to turn back any vehicle found to be containing combat equipment.
“The Lebanese State is responsible for its official border crossings and is able to prevent Hezbollah from passing through these crossings,” Adraee said on X.
In the same post, Adraee said Israeli forces bombed a truck on Sunday packed with weapons that Hezbollah was trying to smuggle into Lebanon. No further details about this airstrike were made public.
Spain Sends Two Planes to Beirut to Evacuate Civilians
Spain’s defense ministry says its two planes sent to Beirut to evacuate Spanish civilians have taken off and are heading to an airbase near Madrid.
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that between 400 and 500 of the around 1,000 Spaniards registered as living in Lebanon are being airlifted out. The government has urged all Spaniards to leave and is offering to assist those who say they want to be evacuated.
Robles said that a third plane could be sent if needed.
Spain also has 676 soldiers in Lebanon deployed under a United Nations peacekeeping mission. Robles said that the troops are staying put until otherwise ordered by the U.N. command.
Hundreds of People Arrive in Turkey from Lebanon
Hundreds of people leaving Lebanon arrived in southern Turkey Thursday.
A ship carrying over 300 passengers who boarded the vessel in the Lebanese city of Tripoli docked at a port in Mersin on the country’s Mediterranean coast, according to Turkish news agency IHA.
IHA said the Med Lines ship transporting foreign nationals was the third to arrive at the Mersin port in recent days.
The passengers then travel onward to their home countries, IHA reported.
The increasing violence in Lebanon is a significant escalation in the war in the Middle East, this time between Israel and the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Israel Extends Evacuation Warnings in Lebanon
The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of villages and towns in southern Lebanon that are north of a United Nations-declared buffer zone established after the 2006 war. The warning issued Thursday signaled a possible broadening of Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon, which until now has been confined to areas close to the border.
Central Beirut Airstrike Death Toll Rises to 9
The death toll from the Israeli airstrike on a building in central Beirut has been revised up from six, as previously reported, to nine, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel made the strike into the heart of the Lebanese capital without warning late on Wednesday night.
Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members were killed in the hit on the building, which is located just yards from the Lebanese Parliament.
IDF: Over 240 Rockets Fired From Lebanon into Israel on Wednesday
More than 240 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel throughout Wednesday, according to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
One person suffered minor injuries as a result of falling glass shards or shrapnel during the attacks on the Western Galilee, medics say, but there are no other reports of injuries.
The rocket fire seems to be continuing into Thursday, with warning sirens in at least four areas in northern Israel so far, according to the IDF’s Telegram channel.
The most recent siren sounded in the Galilee Panhandle, near the Lebanese border.
Senior Hamas Leader Killed in Airstrike in Gaza: Israeli Military
The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed a senior Hamas leader in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip around three months ago.
It said that a strike on an underground compound in northern Gaza killed Rawhi Mushtaha and two other Hamas commanders, Sameh Siraj and Sameh Oudeh.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
The military said the three commanders had taken refuge in a fortified underground compound in northern Gaza that served as a command and control center.
It said Mushtaha was a close associate of Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas who helped mastermind the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.
Sinwar is believed to be alive and in hiding inside Gaza.
6 Dead in Israeli Strike on Central Beirut
Israel bombed Beirut early on Thursday morning, killing at least six people as their battle with the Hezbollah terror group continues, according to Lebanese authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had conducted a precise air strike on the Lebanese capital, with Reuters reporting witnesses hearing a huge blast.
At least six people were killed and seven wounded, Lebanese health officials said, in what is believed to be the closest an Israeli strike has come to the center of Beirut in this current conflict.
Japan Readies Military Jets for Evacuations
Japan on Thursday dispatched two Self Defense Force planes to prepare for a possible airlift of Japanese citizens from Lebanon.
Two C-2 transport aircraft are expected to arrive in Jordan and Greece on Friday, Japan NHK national television reported.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that there has been no report of injury involving the about 50 Japanese nationals in Lebanon.
Japan dispatched SDF aircraft in October and November 2023 to evacuate more than 100 Japanese and South Korean citizens from Israel.
Australia Plans Evacuation Flights from Lebanon
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday her government had booked 500 seats on commercial aircraft for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families to leave Lebanon on Saturday.
The seats are available to 1,700 Australians and their families known to be in Lebanon on two flights from Beirut to Cyprus, Wong said.
“What I would say to Australians who wish to leave, please take whatever option is available to you,” Wong told reporters in Geelong, Australia.
“Please do not wait for your preferred route,” she added.
American Killed in Israeli Strike on Lebanon
An American has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, according to the U.S. congresswoman representing his constituency.
Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib’s office said on Wednesday it was in touch with the family of Kamel Ahmad Jawad of Dearborn, Michigan, adding he was the congresswoman’s constituent and an American citizen.
Jawad was in Lebanon taking care of his elderly mother, the Detroit News reported.
His daughter, Nadine Jawad, said in a statement that her father was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon on Tuesday “while trying to save innocent lives.”
She added that in his final days, her father chose to stay near a hospital to help the elderly and the disabled.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of Kamel Ahmad Jawad and our hearts go out to his family and friends. His death is a tragedy, as are the deaths of many civilians in Lebanon,” a White House spokesperson said on Wednesday.
What Happened on Wednesday?
Israel said regular infantry and armored units had joined ground operations in Lebanon on Wednesday following Iran’s missile attack against the Jewish state.
Hezbollah said its fighters engaged the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Lebanese soil, reporting ground clashes for the first time since the IDF crossed the border on Monday.
The terror group claimed it had destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with rockets near the border town of Maroun El Ras.
Israel confirmed on Wednesday it had lost eight soldiers in ground combat in south Lebanon, its deadliest day on its Northern border for almost a year.
Iran said on Wednesday its missile volley—its biggest-ever assault on Israel—was over, barring further provocation, but Israel and the United States promised to hit back hard.
However, U.S. President Joe Biden has said he would not support any Israeli strikes against Iranian nuclear sites in response to its ballistic missile attack and urged Israel to act “proportionally.”
Epoch Times reporter Guy Birchall, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.