By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-06 22:27:37 | Updated at 2024-10-07 00:24:38
2 hours ago
Israel intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon on Sunday in a widening war with Iran-allied militant groups across the region, while Palestinian officials said one strike on a mosque killed at least 19 people.
A year after Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel has opened a new front in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has traded fire with Israel along the border since the war in Gaza began. New strikes began in the Beirut suburbs late on Sunday, Associated Press video showed.
Israel also has vowed to strike Iran after a ballistic missile attack on Israel last week.
The widening conflict risks further drawing in the United States, which has provided crucial military and diplomatic support to Israel. Iran-allied militant groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have joined in with long-distance strikes on Israel.
Israel is on high alert ahead of memorial events for the October 7 attack, while rallies continue around the world marking the anniversary. A stabbing and shooting attack at the central bus station in Beersheba killed a border police officer, police said. They did not identify the assailant but were treating it as a terror attack.
Beirut’s skyline lit up again late on Sunday with new air strikes, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on September 23.
Israel has said it targets Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, which has called its firing of rockets into Israel a show of support for the Palestinians.
