Hezbollah steps up rocket fire as Israel sends more troops into Lebanon

BEIRUT — (AP) — Hezbollah fired another barrage of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, and the militant group's acting leader vowed to keep up pressure that has forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military said it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon and that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike.

Dozens of rockets fired by Hezbollah were aimed as far south as Haifa, and the Israeli government warned residents north of the coastal city to limit activities, prompting the closure of more schools. The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched more than 170 rockets across the border.

Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hezbollah's acting leader, said its military capabilities remain intact after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, and attacks that killed its top commanders in a matter of days. He said Israeli forces have not been able to advance since launching a ground incursion into Lebanon last week.

Kassem, speaking by video from an undisclosed location, said Hezbollah will name a new leader to succeed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, "but the circumstances are difficult because of the war."

In a statement addressed to the people of Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hezbollah “weaker than it has been for many, many years.” He added: “We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement,” without naming them.

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month. Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah who oversees the group’s political affairs, was generally regarded as the heir apparent. But no announcement has been made on a successor, and Safieddine has not appeared in public or made any public statements since Nasrallah’s death.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said Tuesday night that Israel was still checking the status of Safieddine, and accused Hezbollah of trying to hide details of a recent strike in Beirut on a location where he was believed to have been.

The Israeli military said it has dismantled militant infrastructure along the border and killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters.

There was no way to confirm battlefield claims made by either side.

The Israeli military said it deployed a fourth division in southern Lebanon and that operations have expanded to the west, but its focus still appears to be a narrow strip along the border.

A day after marking a year of war in Gaza, Israeli forces fought heavy battles Tuesday with Palestinian militants in the north, where residents have been ordered to evacuate.

Hezbollah's acting leader said Hezbollah backs efforts by Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to reach a cease-fire. Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah, has been seen as the main interlocutor between the militant group and the United States, and has been trying to broker a cease-fire.

In a follow-up to Kassem’s speech, the group issued a statement saying it will “not abandon our support and backing for our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

The statement came in apparent response to reports that interpreted Kassem’s speech as suggesting the group would agree to a cease-fire in Lebanon without a cease-fire in Gaza, contrary to Hezbollah’s public stance that the two fronts are linked.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran. Most rockets have been intercepted or fallen in open areas.

The Israeli army on Tuesday said 170 projectiles were launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel, with most intercepted. A 70-year-old woman was wounded by shrapnel, and Israeli media aired footage of what appeared to be minor damage to buildings near Haifa.

The military said late Tuesday that Israeli strikes over the past 24 hours had killed 50 Hezbollah fighters, including six whom it described as senior commanders. Israel says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can return to their homes in the north.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated in mid-September.

Last week, Iran launched its own barrage of some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel, in what it said was a response to the killing of Nasrallah, along with an Iranian general who was with him at the time, and Ismail Haniyeh, the top leader of Hamas killed in an explosion in Tehran in July.

Israel has vowed to respond to the missile attack, without saying when or how.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was to meet in Washington with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, but Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said Tuesday the meeting, expected for the following day, had been postponed. Asked for the reason, she referred reporters to Israeli officials. Netanyahu’s office had no immediate comment.

The Biden administration says it is opposed to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which could further escalate regional tensions.

Heavy fighting raged in northern Gaza, the first target of Israel’s ground offensive in the war. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, and Israeli troops have largely isolated the region — which includes Gaza City — since last October, when up to a million people fled south following Israeli evacuation orders.

Hundreds of thousands have remained in the north despite the harsh conditions, and Israel ordered another total evacuation in recent days. Israel has barred residents from returning to the north.

Gaza's Health Ministry said the Israeli military had besieged the Kamal Adwan hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya on the strip’s border with Israel, opening fire on the hospital’s management office and detaining a medic transporting a patient to another hospital despite coordination with the military. The military had no immediate comment.

The ministry said the military also called for three hospitals in northern Gaza — Kamal Adwan, Awda and the Indonesian Hospital — to evacuate patients and medical staff.

“The military contacted me directly and said in a threatening way, ‘tomorrow all the patients and staff in Kamal Adwan must be removed or they will be exposed to danger.’ Clearly, it’s a clear threat,” said the hospital's director, Hossam Abu Safiya.

“We have told all sides that the north is still crowded with people ... and we have the right to provide them services,” Abu Safiya said. "We are staying firm and will continue to provide services no matter what the cost.”

Israeli forces are also battling Hamas militants in Jabaliya, a densely populated urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation. Palestinian residents said Israeli warplanes and artillery were pounding Jabaliya as well as Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.

The Israeli military said it killed around 20 militants in airstrikes and ground fighting in Jabaliya. It said troops located a large quantity of weapons, including grenades and rifles.

Earlier, Kamal Adwan Hospital said at least 15 people, including two women, four children and four people trying to retrieve bodies, were killed Tuesday in the fighting in Jabaliya.

“The situation is extremely difficult. The bombing and explosions haven’t stopped,” said Jabaliya resident Mahmoud Abu Shehatah. “It’s like the first days of the war.”

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed around 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. They do not say how many were fighters, but say women and children make up more than half of all fatalities.

___

Goldenberg reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP's war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.