Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on October 11, 2024. — AFP
Israel intensified its aerial bombardment of targets in Lebanon, striking areas both within and beyond traditional Hezbollah strongholds, as its troops engaged militants across the border on Sunday. In regions dominated by Hezbollah, Israeli warplanes attacked a marketplace in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Saturday, followed by a 100-year-old mosque in a village near the border on Sunday, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA). Deadly strikes have also occurred in other parts of Lebanon, including a Shia Muslim village in a predominantly Christian mountain area and another in northern Lebanon, according to the health ministry.
AFP footage from the northern Deir Billa area after the strike showed rescuers and villagers sifting through rubble with their bare hands as smoke rose from the site. The mayor of Kfar Tibnit, where the NNA reported a strike destroyed a mosque, expressed sorrow over the loss of a cherished community space. "It was a significant place because families used to gather in the square right next to it on special occasions," Fuad Yassin told AFP, noting that the mosque was at least 100 years old. Lebanon's health ministry reported that strikes on three villages on Saturday resulted in 15 deaths.
Israel has accused militants of using civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza for operations, a claim the groups have denied. The Israeli military stated that its 36th division continued "targeted and limited operational activity" in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah. In a statement, it said Israeli jets had hit "Hezbollah launchers, anti-tank missile posts, weapons storage facilities, and additional terror targets". On the ground, soldiers had "eliminated dozens of terrorists". According to the NNA, Israeli forces have "escalated their attacks" on southern Lebanon, with "successive air strikes from midnight until morning" targeting several border villages.
Hezbollah reported clashes with Israeli troops attempting to "infiltrate" a border village, leading to an hour-long battle. It later claimed to have shelled Israeli soldiers gathered in Maroun Al Ras village. Early Sunday, Israel intercepted five more projectiles fired from Lebanon as air raid sirens sounded. The military said Hezbollah launched about 320 projectiles into Israel over the weekend of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It also reported roughly 280 "terror targets" were attacked in Lebanon and Gaza over the same period.
Israel on Saturday advised residents of south Lebanon not to return home and issued new evacuation warnings for several villages. With no sign of a cease in violence, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon warned against a "catastrophic" regional conflict. Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeeping mission Unifil, expressed concern that an Israeli escalation against Hezbollah could soon escalate "into a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone". There is "no military solution", Tenenti said.
Hamas initiated the year-long war in Gaza by launching the deadliest-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. In support of its ally Hamas, Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel in October last year, triggering a near-daily exchange of fire that led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people. In September, Israel expanded its focus to Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to fight Hezbollah until Israelis displaced by the violence could return to their homes.
Since Israel began a wave of air strikes on targets around Lebanon and sent troops across the border, more than 1,200 people have been killed, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, and a million others have been displaced. Efforts to negotiate an end to the Lebanon and Gaza wars have so far failed. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government would request the UN Security Council to issue a new resolution calling for a "full and immediate ceasefire". French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his call for a ceasefire and urged Hezbollah to "immediately stop" attacking Israel.
In a show of support for Hezbollah, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, visited the site of an earlier deadly Israeli strike. A source close to Hezbollah said the strike targeted the group's security chief Wafiq Safa, though neither Hezbollah nor Israel has confirmed this. Ghalibaf's visit, a signal of Tehran's defiance, came after Israel vowed to respond to Iran's second-ever direct attack, following an earlier missile barrage in April. Tehran claimed the barrage was in retaliation for the killing of top militants and an Iranian general.
