DEIR ALBALA, Gaza Strip — The Israeli military on Sunday announced plans to strike “numerous targets” in Beirut and elsewhere in the coming hours, with future targets for the Lebanon-based Hezbollah’s financial arm. The explosion began about an hour later in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said, “Anyone in the vicinity of locations used to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist activities must leave immediately.” Evacuation orders affected southern Beirut, eastern Bekaa Valley and parts of southern Lebanon.
A senior Israeli intelligence official said the airstrikes would target al-Qad al-Hassan “all over Lebanon.” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with military regulations.
Registered nonprofit organizations licensed by both the United States and Saudi Arabia provide financial services that are also used by ordinary Lebanese. Its name means “charitable loan” in Arabic, and Hezbollah uses it to shore up support among the Shiite population in a country where state institutions and financial institutions have failed in recent years.
In a statement, Al-Kaad al-Hassan said the decision to target the country was a sign of Israel’s “bankruptcy” and assured customers it was taking “measures” to ensure the safety of their funds.
A year of heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza war and frequent cross-border shootings culminated in all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops to Lebanon earlier this month.
Israel’s announcement comes as U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says the number of Lebanese civilian casualties in the Israel-Hezbollah war is “too high” and urges Israel to scale back some attacks, particularly in and around Beirut. It was held the next day.
Iran supports Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, and three U.S. officials said Israel moved military assets for military strikes in response to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack. The United States is reportedly investigating the unauthorized publication of confidential documents showing the . They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Israel has stepped up attacks on a district in southern Beirut known as Dahiyeh, a densely populated residential area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It is also home to many civilians who are not affiliated with extremist groups.
In southern Lebanon, the Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in an Israeli vehicle attack. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon that day and continued ground operations there.
The Lebanese army has remained largely on the sidelines of the war. The military is a respected institution in Lebanon, but it is not strong enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or protect the country from Israeli aggression.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into Israel on Sunday. Three people were slightly injured in a fire caused by a rocket attack in the northern city of Safed, Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue team said.
In the center is the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, which announced on Sunday that Israeli forces had “deliberately destroyed UN stronghold observation towers and border fences” in southern Lebanon. It once again resisted Israeli pressure to leave its position.
The Gaza Strip Health Ministry said Israeli forces bombed homes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday, killing at least 87 people as a large-scale operation continued against Hamas militants who are said to be regrouping. was declared dead or missing.
The ministry said another 40 people were wounded in the attack on the town of Beit Lahya, which was the first target of an Israeli ground invasion about a year ago. The Israeli military said it had attacked Hamas targets.
The United States has called on Israel to seek a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. But since negotiations stalled in August, neither Israel nor Hamas have shown interest in such a deal.
Doctor Raheem Keder said parents and eight children were among those killed in the Beit Rahiya strike. He said the strike destroyed a high-rise building and at least four nearby houses.
The Israeli military announced it had used precision weapons against Hamas targets.
Six people, including a child, were killed in a car crash in Deir al-Bala, central Gaza, according to officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The number of bodies was counted by an Associated Press reporter.
The international charity Médecins Sans Frontières, known by its French acronym MSF, has announced an attack on a hospital in northern Gaza after the Health Ministry said Israeli forces shelled two hospitals over the weekend. He called on the Israeli military to stop immediately.
Israeli forces said they were conducting an operation near a hospital but did not fire any direct shots.
Internet connections went down in northern Gaza late Saturday, making it difficult to gather information about the strike and complicating rescue efforts.
Northern Gaza has suffered the most destruction in the war and has been besieged by Israeli forces since late last year.
In the first weeks of the war, Israel ordered all residents of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate south, and repeated that order this month. Most of the population evacuated last year, but about 400,000 people are thought to remain.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants breached Israel’s security fence and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted another 250. Approximately 100 prisoners are still being held in Gaza, and it is believed that a third of them are being held to death.
More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities, but authorities do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The war destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of the country’s 2.3 million people.
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Sammy Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehaib in Beirut and Zeke Miller, Mike Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Tara Kopp in Washington contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
