Sep. 22: Halevi, Gallant laud strikes on top Hezbollah officials, vow evacuees will return home

Harris calls on Trump to accept proposal for another presidential debate

Photo combination showing former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris participating at the presidential debate, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 10, 2024, . (Saul Loeb/AFP)

NEW YORK – US Vice President Kamala Harris calls on her Republican rival Donald Trump to agree to another debate on CNN next month as the November 5 Election Day nears.

Yesterday, former US president Trump rejected doing another debate with his Democratic opponent after Harris’ campaign said she had agreed to an October 23 matchup on CNN, following their September 10 debate on ABC.

“He should accept because I feel very strongly that we owe it to the American people and to the voters to meet once more before Election Day,” Harris tells supporters at a fundraiser in New York City.

“We should have another debate,” she adds. “My opponent is looking for a reason to avoid.”

Representatives for Trump’s campaign could not be immediately reached for reaction to Harris’ comments.

Speaking to supporters at a North Carolina rally yesterday, Trump said: “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late. Voting has already started.”

Harris acknowledges that early voting has started in some US states but notes that it is a close contest with more than a month to go.

“This race is as close as it could be. This is a margin of error race,” she says.

Israeli fighter jets reportedly carrying out fresh airstrikes in southern Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets are carrying out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, according to Hezbollah-affiliated media.

Al-Manar says that the strikes are taking place in Taybeh in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese report comes amid heightened tensions on the northern border, after Hezbollah fired around 150 rockets at Israel this morning, and the IDF carried out several airstrikes on terror targets in Lebanon in recent days.

IDF: Several interceptor missiles launched at drone in Beit Shean valley, incident over

The IDF says it launched several interceptor missiles at a drone that entered Israeli airspace in the Beit Shean valley a short while ago.

According to the military, the drone had been launched from Iraq, and it flew over Syria before reaching Israel.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq took responsibility for the attack a short while ago.

The IDF says the incident is over without elaborating on whether the drone was intercepted.

אזעקות ביישובים רבים בעמק המעיינות, תיעוד: מיירטים באזור הכנרת

צילום: לפי סעיף 27א' pic.twitter.com/JziTciM33Y

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) September 22, 2024

Gantz slams Levin for ‘trolling Supreme Court justices about system of seniority’ amid Gaza war, rocket fire in north

Former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz reacts to Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s nomination of every current serving Supreme Court justice for president of the court, which he calls “a shameful show of disconnection by the justice minister and the prime minister.”

“I am on my way home from the north, after visiting the residents there who are under fire, some of them for almost a year. I turn on the radio and hear that while our communities are under fire, our soldiers are fighting and our hostages are dying in Hamas captivity, the justice minister is busy trolling the judges of the Supreme Court about the system of seniority,” he writes on X.

“Since the establishment of the state, it has been customary for the Supreme Court president to be appointed according to the seniority system,” he insists.

Levin and the two other coalition representatives on the committee oppose the appointment of liberal Justice Isaac Amit, who is next in line for the post under the system of seniority.

Report: Israel investigating unlikely possibility that Hamas chief Sinwar has been killed in Gaza

Hamas's Gaza Strip leader Yahya Sinwar in a tunnel in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, October 10, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)

Israel is investigating the possibility, though highly unlikely, that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead, following up on military intelligence, according to Israeli journalist Ben Caspit.

The Walla news site notes that the Shin Bet has rejected the report and believes that Sinwar is alive.

The intelligence being investigated holds that Sinwar was killed during IDF operations in Gaza.

Caspit quotes a source close to the matter as saying, “There have also been times in the past when he disappeared and we thought he was dead, but then he reappeared.”

Responding to the report, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid posts on X that officials with direct knowledge have told him Jerusalem doesn’t have intelligence that suggests the Hamas leader is dead.

“It is all hopes and guesses which are based on the fact the Sinwar has been incommunicado in recent weeks,” Ravid quotes one of the Israeli officials as saying.

Since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, believed to have been masterminded by Sinwar, Israel assassinated the terror group’s military wing chief Muhammad Deif and Khan Younis Brigade chief Rafa’a Salameh in an airstrike in Gaza in July and Deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Beirut in January. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was also killed in Tehran in July, in an attack widely blamed on Israel.

Levin taps every serving Supreme Court justice for president to drag out appointment process

Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset in Jerusalem on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In a fit of pique, Justice Minister Yariv Levin decides to nominate every current serving Supreme Court justice for president of the court and invites the general public to submit its reservations about every justice, in a tactic apparently designed to further drag out the process of appointing a new head of the judiciary.

The High Court of Justice gave Levin until today to formally publicize the names of the candidates for the president of the Supreme Court, after he refused to fill the position for the past year owing to his desire to appoint a conservative to the post and rein in what he sees as an overly activist court.

In his letter publicizing the names of all 12 current Supreme Court justices, he notes specifically that the law enables any member of the public to file a submission to the Judicial Selection Committee explaining why they believe a specific candidate would not be suitable for the role within 20 days of publication of the names.

It appears that Levin intends to deliberate at length on such submissions for each candidate so as to further delay appointing a president.

Levin has insisted that in a time of war, the president of the court must be chosen “with broad agreement.” He and the two other coalition representatives on the committee oppose the appointment of liberal Justice Isaac Amit, who is next in line for the post under the system of seniority in place since the court was founded. But since there is a majority on the committee to appoint Amit, Levin has simply refused to call a vote to fill the position since the previous president Esther Hayut retired in October last year.

“The justices of the Supreme Court rejected all the compromise proposals I offered and forced [the committee] by court order to deal with this issue, at the current time,” Levin complains in his letter to the members of the Judicial Selection Committee.

“Whoever tries to take the crown and forcibly put it on his own head will not merit the public trust and will not be recognized as someone who was chose lawfully and in an accepted manner,” adds the justice minister.

Following the court order earlier this month, Levin vowed to boycott the incoming court president, a step that would further gum up the workings of the judiciary.

Amit Becher, the head of the Israel Bar Association which has two representatives on the nine-member committee, says Levin’s announcement is “shameful,” and that it demonstrated “contempt for the High Court ruling and the justices of the court.”

Becher adds that Levin’s tactics won’t work and that a new president will eventually be appointed.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims drone attack on Jordan Valley; videos purport to show interceptions

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it launched a drone at a target in the Jordan Valley, in what it claims is its fifth attack today.

The Iran-backed group’s statement comes after drone infiltration sirens were activated in dozens of communities in northern Israel near the Sea of Galilee.

Videos posted to social media purport to show interceptions over the area.

אזעקות נוספות בדרום הגולן ובאזור בקעת בית שאן. תיעוד מהירוטים כפי שנקלטו מטבריה pic.twitter.com/xKd6wJaQoe

— זירת החדשות (@ZiratNews) September 22, 2024

Drone alert sirens sounding in dozens of northern communities near Sea of Galilee

Alert sirens are sounding in dozens of northern communities near the Sea of Galilee, amid a suspected drone infiltration from Syria.

Sirens sounded a few minutes ago in the nearby town of Metzar.

The IDF says there are no immediate reports of casualties in the incident.

🔴 ✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [21:25:12] (32):

• גני חוגה
Population: 69,000 pic.twitter.com/BE6TtGhLQl

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Egyptian FM warns fighting between Israel, Hezbollah ‘negatively impacts’ Gaza hostage-truce talks

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty arrives at the Rose Garden for an interview on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York, September 22, 2024. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP)

Egypt’s foreign minister warns of the risk of an all-out regional war as fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah intensified, saying the escalation has “negatively impacted” Gaza hostage-truce talks.

“There is great concern about… the possibility of an escalation in the region leading to an all-out regional war,” Badr Abdelatty tells AFP at UN headquarters ahead of an annual gathering of world leaders.

“But Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has complete determination and commitment to continue” efforts to broker a truce agreement, he says.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States have for months tried to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, which diplomats have repeatedly said would help calm regional tensions.

“All the components of the deal are ready,” Abdelatty says. “The problem is the lack of political will on the Israeli side,” he adds.

Abdelatty also blames Israel’s “provocative policies” for the intensified fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been attacking Israel since October 8 in what it says is a campaign to support Palestinians in Gaza.

Sirens sounding in southern Golan Heights amid suspected drone infiltration from Syria

Sirens are sounding in the northern community of Metzar in the southern Golan Heights, warning of a suspected drone infiltration from Syria.

The alerts come amid an escalation with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon on the northern border.

✈️ Hostile Aircraft Intrusion [21:16:07] (1):

• Southern Golan — Metzar
Population: <500 pic.twitter.com/sir1yKhcmf

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Report: Hamas rejected latest US hostage-ceasefire offer, insists it will only discuss Biden’s May outline

Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar speaks during a rally marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, in Gaza City, April 14, 2023. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)

Hamas has reportedly rejected the latest US draft offer for a hostage-ceasefire deal with Israel, saying that it is only willing to discuss the outline presented by US President Joe Biden on May 31.

Citing American and Israeli officials, Channel 12 reports that the terror group insists it will not consider any changes to that three-stage proposal for a hostage deal and ceasefire to end the Gaza war, which Biden said was approved by Jerusalem at the time.

In practice, the report notes, the message from Hamas chief Yayha Sinwar is a rejection of the latest US efforts to secure a diplomatic solution on the ongoing fighting, sparked by the terror group’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.

Security cabinet to meet tomorrow night amid escalated conflict with Hezbollah

The national security cabinet will meet tomorrow at 7:00 p.m., the office of one of the ministers tells The Times of Israel.

The meeting, which will convene amid dramatic escalations in the conflict against Hezbollah in Lebanon, will take place in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.

Report: Security assessment is that Hezbollah will try to fire rockets at areas even deeper into Israel

Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, September 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

The security assessment is that Hezbollah will try to reach areas even deeper into Israel, after the terror group fired rockets earlier this morning at the Haifa and Jezreel Valley areas, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the border with Lebanon, according to a television news report.

Without citing sources, the Channel 12 news report says that more rockets could be launched at Israel in the coming hours, noting that some 1.5 million Israelis are now in Hezbollah’s line of fire.

Hezbollah claimed that the rocket fire this morning targeted a Rafael defense firm facility in the Haifa area and the Israeli Air Force’s Ramat David Airbase near Yokneam in the Jezreel Valley.

The Channel 12 report also says that Hezbollah has not yet used the precision missiles in its arsenal, out of fears that it could lead to all-out war with Israel, after 11 months of cross-border attacks that the group says are support of Gaza amid the ongoing war there.

Quoting an anonymous source, the report further says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF chief Herzi Halevi are in agreement on the gradual raising of pressure against Hezbollah, which has its risks but avoids sparking a full-scale war.

Other voices in the room, according to the report, have called for a ground offensive in Lebanon and more bombings in Beirut in order to restore security to the northern border.

Gallant: ‘The past week was the most difficult in Hezbollah’s history’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, right, meets with Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin and other senior IDF officers at the Northern Command on September 22, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Galant says “The past week was the most difficult week in Hezbollah’s history, and especially in the last day,” during an operational situation assessment at the IDF’s Northern Command, together with Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin and senior officers.

The defense minister’s comments come after the Lebanon-based terror group fired some 150 rockets deep into northern Israel this morning, and after the IDF carried out extensive airstrikes on Hezbollah targets.

He also commented on an Israeli strike in Beirut on Friday that killed top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and other terror leaders.

“The IDF action in [the Beirut suburb of] Dahiyeh is significant, important and powerful. We have a goal – to return the residents of the north to their homes safely and to do that we will take all the necessary measures,” he vows.

Last week, the security cabinet updated its official goals for the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza to include the objective of allowing residents of the north to return safely to their homes after being displaced by Hezbollah attacks since October.

As our pilots prepare to defend the citizens of Israel, I paid a visit to the IAF's command and control center. Closely followed the precise operations aimed at degrading Hezbollah's ability to attack the State of Israel.

We will bring our northern communities home. pic.twitter.com/mSuxbMxJVE

— יואב גלנט – Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) September 22, 2024

IRGC arrests 12 people for collaborating with Israel — Iranian report

Twelve people have been arrested in six different Iranian provinces for being “operatives collaborating with the Zionist regime (Israel)” and planning acts against the country’s security, the Revolutionary Guards announces, according to Iran’s Student News Network.

There are no further details provided on the alleged spy cell.

In August, Iran reportedly arrested at least two dozen people over suspected connection to the alleged Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran the previous month.

Trump hosts Qatari leaders, hails their desire for Mideast peace

File - US President Donald Trump, right, shaking hands with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, during a bilateral meeting at a hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh, May 21, 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

Former US president Donald Trump met earlier today with Qatari Emir Tamim Al Thani and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

In a Truth Social post revealing the meeting, Trump hails the leadership of Qatar, which has come under attack from many Republican lawmakers over the past year for hosting Hamas and its bankrolling of the Al Jazeera news network.

Qatar argues that the request to open a Hamas bureau in Doha came from the US, which has under Democrat and Republican administrations supported its continued operations. The Biden administration has been particularly complimentary of Qatar’s efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas in the ongoing Gaza war.

“The emir has proven to be a great and powerful leader of his country, advancing on all levels at record speed,” Trump says in his Truth Social post.

“He is someone also who strongly wants peace in the Middle East and all over the world,” the Republican presidential nominee continues. “We had a great relationship during my time in the White House, and it will be even stronger this time around!”

After rocket fire on north, IDF chief vows strikes on Hezbollah will increase ‘until they understand’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks at the IAF's Tel Hanof base in central Israel, September 22, 2024. (Screenshot: IDF Spokesperson, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vows that Israel will return displaced northern residents to their homes, while lauding the killing in Beirut on Friday of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and other terror leaders.

In a video statement recorded at Israeli Air Force’s Tel Hanof base in central Israel, standing in front of an F-15 fighter jet, Halevi says Aqil’s assassination would “shake up” the group, and notes that the terror leader and his commanders had “planned for years to occupy the Galilee, they are responsible for the murder of many Israelis, including soldiers, over the years.”

Echoing comments by President Isaac Herzog earlier today, Herzog says the terror leaders were “planning how to carry out the next attack — this may be what they were dealing with in that meeting on Friday afternoon — how to infiltrate the State of Israel, murder civilians, kidnap IDF soldiers.”

Emergency workers clear the rubble at the site of Friday’s Israeli strike on Hezbollah leaders meeting in a basement in a building in Beirut’s southern suburb, September 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

He says that the strike sends a “clear message” to Hezbollah that Israel has the capabilities to “reach anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel.”

“The price that Hezbollah is paying has increased, our attacks will increase,” he vows, noting that IDF fighter jets targeted hundreds of terror sites in Lebanon in the past few days.

“We will safely return the residents to their homes, and if Hezbollah has not understood this yet, it will get another blow and another blow — until the organization understands,” he vows.

The IDF chief also warns that Israel has “many more capabilities that we have not yet activated” and says the country is “at a very high level of readiness both in attack and defense.”

He also mentions efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, which he calls “an urgent task, even when we are fighting in the north.”

Rocket alert sirens sounding in norther border town of Metula

Sirens are sounding in the northern town of Metula near the border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The alerts come amid a peak in cross-border attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon, ongoing since October 8.

In the terror group’s deepest rocket fire since, some 85 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the Haifa area this morning, following overnight launches at the Jezreel Valley.

Rocket Alert [18:53:14] (1):

• Confrontation Line — Metulla
Population: 1,600 pic.twitter.com/m7xaeavWxr

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Report: Sharp rise in Israelis leaving country permanently in 2022-2023 after repeat elections, judicial overhaul

Passengers at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, August 1, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) indicates a sharp increase in Israelis leaving the country permanently in 2022 and in the first half of 2023, according to a Channel 13 report that comes after the mass civil unrest last year over the government’s judicial overhaul plan, which followed societal upheavals that caused a string of successive elections in recent years.

According to the report, some 31,000 Israelis were declared as having left the country in 2021, meaning they left a year earlier (compared to 29,000 who returned), 38,000 were declared as such in 2022 (with 23,000 returning), while 55,300 were determined in 2023 to have moved abroad (27,000 returned), marking a jump of over 50 percent.

In unverified data from the first half of 2023, some 40,400 are said to have left the country, according to Channel 13.

The data doesn’t cover the period since Hamas’s onslaught of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent, still ongoing war in Gaza accompanied by the conflict with Hezbollah on the northern border.

Israeli journalist Matan Hodorov points out that the spike could partially be due to a change in the definition of emigration, which was previously calculated on at least a one-year absence from the country but is now defined as Israelis who stay aboard for at least 275 days in a one-year period.

דרמה בנתוני ההגירה מישראל:
בשורה התחתונה, נתוני למ״ס מ-2023 מציגים זינוק במס׳ העוזבים את הארץ, לנתון חסר תקדים כ-55,300 איש בשנה.
נתונים ראשונים מ-2024 מנבאים קצב של כ-69,200!
הזינוק נובע בחלקו מתיקון מוצדק (שמיד אסביר) בשיטת המדידה עצמה, אך נותר חריג מאוד גם בנטרול השינוי הזה.🧵 pic.twitter.com/cTIJJIIY8R

— מתן חודורוב (@MatanHodorov) September 22, 2024

Hodorov also reports that the data indicates more married, educated Israelis are leaving the country.

“This is an initial confirmation of the prevailing feeling among young people from the middle class, that many around us are leaving,” he writes, adding that “if many of those leaving are doctors, researchers, programmers, engineers, etc. – the damage to GDP and tax revenues will be particularly significant. Here, additional data is missing for an accurate situational picture.”

In July, Channel 12 cited CBS data as showing that the number of Israelis who permanently left Israel spiked after Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the ensuing outbreak of war in Gaza but dropped in the following months and had stabilized.

Report: Netanyahu told MKs half of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are alive

Israelis protest for the hostages, in what is considered the largest-ever protest in Israel on Tel Aviv's Begin Road, September 7, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

In a closed meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told lawmakers that only half of the 97 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since October 7 are alive.

“According to the information we have, half of the hostages in Gaza are alive,” he is quoted as saying by Army Radio.

According to earlier leaks from the same meeting, Netanyahu also denied standing in the way of a hostage deal, blaming Hamas for demanding numerous revisions to the proposed ceasefire outline.

White House: Sinwar isn’t ‘negotiating in good faith,’ especially after murder of six hostages ‘execution style’

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby blames Hamas for the stalling of talks to close a hostage-ceasefire deal, while also calling for a diplomatic solution amid heightening cross-border tensions between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group.

“It doesn’t appear that Mr. Sinwar is prepared at all to keep negotiating in good faith, especially after he murdered six hostages in a tunnel, execution style,” Kirby says on ABC’s “This Week.”

The IDF recovered the bodies of six hostages abducted alive by Hamas on October 7 from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah at the beginning of this month, just days after they were murdered by terrorists.

“It doesn’t appear as if he’s willing to move this forward.”

.@GStephanopoulos: “It appears that the Gaza cease-fire talks have gone cold. Is that right?”

White House's John Kirby: “I would say that we are not achieving any progress here in the last week to two weeks … Not for lack of trying.” https://t.co/D2DfoLK09n pic.twitter.com/xNJwIwBF6T

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 22, 2024

In the interview, Kirby also says that a regional military escalation isn’t in Israel’s “best interest,” adding that the United States was “saying this directly to our Israeli counterparts.”

“The tensions are much higher now than they were even just a few days ago,” Kirby says, though he adds, “We still believe that there can be time and space for a diplomatic solution here and that’s what we’re working on.”

The overnight rocket fire reached Kiryat Bialik on the edge of north Israel’s biggest city Haifa, leaving a building in flames, another pockmarked with shrapnel, and vehicles incinerated.

“We’ve been working since the beginning of this conflict, October 8th and on, to try to prevent an escalation, to prevent a broadening of this conflict there in and around Israel, but also in the region,” Kirby says in the ABC interview.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to return residents of northern Israel displaced by nearly a year of fighting near their homes.

An escalating war is “certainly not going to be in the best interest of all those people that Prime Minister Netanyahu says he wants to be able to send back home,” Kirby says.

Rocket alert sirens sounding in northern town near Lebanon border

Sirens are sounding near the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.

The alerts can be heard in the largely evacuated community of Ma’ayan Baruch in the Upper Galilee.

Rocket Alert [17:50:26] (1):

• Confrontation Line — Ma'ayan Baruch
Population: 767 pic.twitter.com/03NuYKlVLW

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Schools in northern Israel to remain closed tomorrow

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

In light of the ongoing security situation, schools in northern Israel are to remain closed tomorrow, the Education Ministry says.

Classes will be held remotely and no in-person activities will be held, including field trips and afterschool activities.

The ministry is set to reassess the situation tomorrow evening, in conjunction with IDF’s Home Front Command.

Educational facilities were closed across the north today due to rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon. The affected areas include Haifa and areas to the north, including the Golan, the Galilee, the Jordan Valley and communities along the Lebanese border.

Schools in the rest of the country are to function normally, the ministry adds.

Report: Senior Iranian official says Hezbollah pager could have caused helicopter crash that killed Raisi

The helicopter carrying Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi taking off at the Iranian border with Azerbaijan, after the inauguration of the dam of Qiz Qalasi, in Aras, on May 19, 2024. (Ali Hamed Haghdoust/ Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)/ AFP)

A senior Iranian official reportedly says Tehran was involved in purchasing the pagers held by Hezbollah operatives that exploded across Lebanon last week in an attack widely blamed on Israel, and hinted that such a device could have been responsible for the helicopter crash that killed Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in May.

In a post on X, Europe-based Iranian journalist Mohamad Ahwaze reports that Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that Hezbollah had been hacked and confirmed that Raisi had one of the compromised pagers.

At least 30 people were killed and thousands injured when pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, in a coordinated attack widely blamed on Israel after months of cross-border fire.

Earlier this month, Iran’s official investigation into the May crash determined that it was caused by bad weather, after the helicopter carrying Raisi and his entourage came down on a fog-shrouded mountainside in northern Iran, killing the president and seven others, and triggering snap elections.

UK calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ between Israel, Hezbollah amid ‘worrying escalation’

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy calls for an “immediate ceasefire” after a “worrying escalation” between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as heightening cross-border tensions lead to fears of an all-out war.

“Our message to all parties is clear: We need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security,” Lammy says in a speech at the Labour party’s annual conference.

His comments come after Hezbollah launched some 85 rockets from Lebanon at the Haifa area in northern Israel this morning, following overnight launches at the Jezreel Valley, the terror group’s deepest rocket fire into Israel since the beginning of the war in October.

Israel carried out a new wave of strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after the major rocket barrages.

Netanyahu said to tell MKs: Military pressure on Nasrallah may bring Sinwar to the table; ICC arrest warrants coming soon

Addressing a closed session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu states that Hamas does not currently want a ceasefire deal and argues that putting pressure on Hezbollah in the north could help force Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to the table, Channel 12 reports.

Netanyahu also reportedly denies standing in the way of a hostage deal, blaming Hamas for demanding numerous revisions to the proposed ceasefire outline. According to Hebrew press reports, the prime minister slams “fake reports” that he was responsible for preventing an agreement with the terrorist organization that would have freed Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. Instead, Hamas declined all American proposals, which he accepted, he asserts.

In addition, he says that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is likely to soon issue arrest warrants for him and for Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hebrew media reports.

At commander’s funeral, Hezbollah deputy leader says fight with Israel is now ‘open-ended battle of reckoning’

Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem says that the terror group has entered a new phase of its battle with Israel, speaking during a funeral for a top commander killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.

The fight with Israel is now an “open-ended battle of reckoning,” he says.

Photos and videos from the funeral for Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah’s military operations and acting commander of the Radwan Force, show thousands of attendees, many wearing uniforms and carrying flags of the terror group.

At Ibrahim Akil's funeral, there is not a single Lebanese flag, only #Hezbollah flags. Hezbollah are not Lebanese and do not care about #Lebanon, they are an Iranian army in the service of the imperialist ambitions of the Iranian regime. https://t.co/kubogoRBZC pic.twitter.com/FdiVlJJOQM

— Ori Miller🇮🇱 (@orielishamiller) September 22, 2024

Ben Gvir’s driver charged with reckless driving that caused an injury in April car crash

The car (left) of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir that was in an accident in Ramle. April 26, 2024. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

An indictment is filed against the driver of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Moshe Eichenstein, for running a red light while driving the minister which, according to the indictment, caused an accident in which another driver was badly injured.

Eichenstein is charged with driving through a red light, reckless driving, and behavior that caused actual bodily harm, after the minister’s vehicle hit that of Idan Domatov, severely injuring his knee, after leaving the site of a terrorist attack in Ramle in April.

Ben Gvir, who himself has a long history of traffic offenses and has been repeatedly criticized for filming himself in transit as a minister while not wearing a seatbelt, has maintained that Eichenstein was not responsible for the accident.

Haaretz reported in May that security guards for Ben Gvir said his drivers continue to break traffic laws under the minister’s instruction, even after the accident in Ramle, including driving at excessive speeds, running red lights and driving on the hard shoulder of the road when there is no operational need to do so.

Hamas lauds Hezbollah attacks, says they thwart Israel’s war goal of allowing northern evacuees to go home

Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, September 22, 2024. (Baz Ratner/AP)

Hamas hails the massive rocket barrages launched by Hezbollah this morning, praising the Shiite group’s “steadfastness and courage in confronting the Zionist war machine and its determination to continue fighting in support of the Palestinian people.”

In a statement, Hamas further stresses that Hezbollah’s attacks testify to the failure of the Israeli plan to isolate Gaza from the Lebanese war front, and increases the number of displaced Israelis from the north, in contrast to the recently added war objective of returning northern evacuees to their homes.

Hamas also praises the support of Iran-backed “resistance” groups in Iraq and Yemen.

Hezbollah launched some 100 rockets from Lebanon at the Haifa area this morning, following overnight launches at the Jezreel Valley, the terror group’s deepest rocket fire into Israel since the beginning of the war in October.

Two men in their 70s and a 16-year-old girl, the granddaughter of one of the men, were injured in the Haifa attacks.

The IDF said it intercepted two cruise missiles and two drones fired from Iraq, none of which hit Israeli territory. A group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Netanyahu tells lawmakers he’s considering ‘Generals’ Plan’ to lay siege to northern Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on September 15, 2024. (screen capture: GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells lawmakers that he is weighing the so-called Generals’ Plan to lay siege to northern Gaza, promoted by a group of senior IDF reservists.

Speaking to members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in a closed session, Netanyahu indicates that the plan is one of several being examined and brought to the cabinet for further discussion in the coming days.

Addressing the committee last week, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Giora Eiland said that the plan, which is not backed by the United States, would “change the reality” on the ground in Gaza.

Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland, former IDF planning and operations chief and ex-head of the National Security Council. (Courtesy)

“We have to tell the residents of north Gaza that they have one week to evacuate the territory, which then becomes a military zone; [a zone] in which every figure is a target and, most importantly, no supplies enter this territory. A siege is not only an effective military tactic; it is also compliant with international law. What matters to Sinwar is land and dignity, and with this maneuver, you take away both land and dignity,” Eiland explained at the time.

According sources familiar with the discussion, Netanyahu declines to address MK Gideon Sa’ar’s announcement yesterday that he had declined the prime minister’s offer of Yoav Gallant’s post as defense minister amid the significant escalation of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Netanyahu also denies standing in the way of a hostage deal, insisting that Hamas demanded 29 revisions to a proposed ceasefire outline.

Haifa woman whose house was hit by Hezbollah rocket: ‘It’s a miracle’ I was in the safe room

Zehava Sofer, a resident of Kiryat Bialik, in the Haifa area, describes the Hezbollah rocket attack that hit her home, on September 22, 2024. (Channel 12 screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

A Haifa woman whose home sustained a direct hit in a Hezbollah rocket attack early this morning says she “hates to think what might have happened” if she wasn’t able to take cover in her safe room during the impact.

“It’s a miracle,” Zehava Sofer tells Channel 12.

Sofer says she could hear loud explosions from inside the safe room in her home in Kiryat Bialik, a suburb of the northern coastal city, and that she stayed put until rescue workers arrived to extract her.

“Everything in the two upstairs rooms was burned,” she said. “The rest of the house I’m not sure, I haven’t checked yet.”

“We can’t live like this anymore. It’s enough. It’s just lucky I didn’t have small children at home,” she adds.

Hezbollah launched some 85 rockets from Lebanon at the Haifa area this morning, following overnight launches at the Jezreel Valley, the terror group’s deepest rocket fire into Israel since the beginning of the war in October.

Two men in their 70s and a 16-year-old girl, the granddaughter of one of the men, were injured in the Haifa attacks and taken to Rambam Medical Center for treatment.

קרית ביאליק בשעות הבוקר
מי היה מאמין
ממשלת נתניהו 2024
pic.twitter.com/HcEdEnCQrV

— Yoram Kraus יורם קראוס (@yoramkraus) September 22, 2024

Aid group opens new field hospital in central Gaza

A new field hospital opened in central Gaza in a picture released on September 22 2024 (Israel Defense Forces)

A new field hospital is opened in the Gaza Strip by the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) organization, in coordination with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COCGAT) unit of the Defense Ministry and the IDF, COGAT says.

The agency says the new field hospital, located in the central city of Deir al-Balah, is the 13th such facility to be established since the outbreak of war in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 invasion and massacres.

According to COGAT, the hospital is expected to expand from a capacity of 20 beds to some 110 beds and will include an emergency room, a maternity ward, and a surgical ward.

COGAT says the humanitarian mission to establish the field hospital was “coordinated under the direction and approval of Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.”

The new MSF field hospital is the second such facility it has opened in less than a month, having established one also in Deir Balah at the end of August.

The organization, which is highly critical of Israel, said at the time that “field hospitals are not a solution, only a last resort,” and that they are designed to support larger, permanent hospitals, many of which have ceased operations in Gaza due to the fighting.

“Without an immediate and sustained ceasefire there can be no meaningful humanitarian response,” MSF said at the end of August.

Levin told he’ll be in contempt of court if he doesn’t announce Supreme Court president candidates today

Justice Minister Yariv Levin at the Knesset in Jerusalem on September 9, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

MK Karine Elharrar writes to Justice Minister Yariv Levin telling him that he will be “in contempt of court” if he does not announce the names of candidates for president of the Supreme Court in the official state gazette by the end of today, as ordered by the High Court of Justice two weeks ago.

“Any steps different from accepting the [court] ruling and carrying it out would constitute an irresponsible abuse of your position, will contravene the law, and lead to anarchy,” Elharrar tells Levin.

Elharrar is the opposition’s representative on the nine-member Judicial Selection Committee, which Levin chairs and which is responsible for all judicial appointments, including the president of the Supreme Court.

A spokesperson for Levin declined to say whether the minister would publish the candidates’ names by the end of the day.

On September 8, the High Court ruled in a petition against Levin that he was obligated to convene the committee and select a new president, after the minister refused to do so for 11 months owing to his desire to have a conservative justice appointed to the position instead of Justice Isaac Amit, a liberal, who is next in line for the position in accordance with the traditional seniority system.

There is currently a liberal majority on the committee, while appointing a president only requires a simply majority on the panel. Levin has therefore refused to hold a vote since the three coalition representatives on the committee are in the minority, and insisted that the position only be filled with “broad agreement.” The High Court rejected this position, saying it gave him a veto over appointments, which was not the intention of the legislature when the Courts Law was passed.

Levin declared after the ruling that he would boycott the incoming president, although did not say that he would defy the court’s order. Sources close to him have suggested that he is considering legislative workarounds to the ruling.

FM Katz discusses with Ukrainian counterpart combating Russian-Iranian partnership

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha attends a joint press conference with his Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu on his first visit abroad after being appointed, in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Foreign Minister Israel Katz and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha speak for the first time by phone in a conversation initiated by Katz.

Israel had no specific requests from Kyiv, the Ukrainian side tells The Times of Israel.

According to Kyiv, Sybiha thanks Katz for his support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and formula for ending the war.

Most of the conversation centers on the threat from the Russian-Iranian collaboration, especially keeping ballistic missiles from terrorists. The sides discuss threats from Russian-Iranian cooperation and efforts to counteract any possible supply of ballistic missiles to the terrorist states.

Sybiha was interested in meeting Katz at the United Nations this week, but Israel’s top diplomat will not be making the trip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky were supposed to meet there, but with Netanyahu shortening his trip, that meeting is not yet finalized.

Israeli and Ukrainian officials met last week to discuss the upcoming Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman on Rosh Hashanah, which is expected to be even bigger than last year, when over 30,000 pilgrims made the journey.

Ukraine asked Israel to erect temporary bomb shelters for the worshipers and to bring more Israeli police officers than last year. According to a Ukrainian official, Israel responded positively to both requests.

Hezbollah leaders killed in Friday strike were meeting on Oct. 7-style Galilee invasion plans

An IDF infographic shows senior commanders in Hezbollah's Radwan Force killed in a September 20, 2024, strike in Beirut. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Hezbollah source tells the Al-Monitor news site that the senior Hezbollah leaders killed in an IDF strike on Friday were meeting to discuss plans to invade Israel in an October 7-style attack in response to the pager explosions.

President Isaac Herzog said much the same in a British TV interview earlier today.

The members of the elite Radwan Force were studying “plans for a ground invasion at the heart of the occupied territories,” the source tells Al-Monitor. (Hezbollah seeks to destroy Israel and sees all of its sovereign territory as “occupied.”)

Thousands of Hezbollah pagers and other communications devices blew up last week in an attack blamed on Israel. Israel has not commented.

The Israeli airstrike killed two of Hezbollah’s top leaders  —  Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi — and at least 14 others, many of them senior Radwan Force commanders, as they met in the basement of a Beirut residential building.

Speaking to Sky News earlier today, Herzog also said the meeting was aimed at cementing plans for an invasion of Israel.

“All of these leaders came together in order to launch the same horrific, horrendous attack that we had on October 7th by Hamas, by burning Israelis, by butchering them, raping their women, abducting and taking hostage people and little babies,” Herzog says.

“This is exactly the same plan they have been planning for years under the plans of the Empire of Evil of Iran,” he says.

Herzog says that Hezbollah leaders killed on Friday were planning their own October 7-style attack in the north pic.twitter.com/7yneYhyw8S

— Sam Sokol (@SamuelSokol) September 22, 2024

The comments echo those of IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Friday after the strike.

“Aqil and the Radwan Force commanders who we attacked are the commanders who drew up and led the Hezbollah terror group’s plan, to be carried out on the day the order was given, to attack into the northern territory of the State of Israel — what they called ‘The plan to conquer the Galilee,’” Hagari said.

In this planned invasion, said Hagari, “Hezbollah intended to raid Israeli territory, occupy the communities of the Galilee, and murder and kidnap Israeli citizens — similar to what Hamas did on October 7.”

He added that “the commanders who we eliminated today” had been overseeing attacks on Israeli citizens since October 8, and planned to carry out more such attacks.

Lebanon health ministry says Israeli strikes killed three

Lebanon’s health ministry says three people were killed in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon today, as Israel said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

In separate statements, the health ministry said one person was killed in “Israel enemy” strikes in each of three south Lebanon villages.

Hezbollah announced one fighter had been killed, without specifying where they died.

Communications Ministry taking steps to safeguard phone, internet connections amid rocket fire

The site where a missile fired from Lebanon hit a house in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, September 22, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Communications Ministry announces that in light of the security situation it is working closely with telecommunications firms to “ensure the continuation of landline, cellular and internet connections everywhere” in the country.

“As part of the ministry’s preparations for an emergency, and under the direction of Communications Minister [Shlomo Karhi], the ministry distributed about 440 satellite phones to the heads of [local] councils and security officials,” the ministry says in a statement, promising that it is “prepared for an emergency and will continue to conduct regular situation assessments.”

The move comes as more than 150 rockets, drones and missiles were fired at Israel, some of them hitting civilian areas.

Gallant says Hezbollah ‘beginning to feel some of our capabilities’

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (left) speaks with IAF chief of staff Brig. Gen. Omer Tischler at the IAF's command room, September 22, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that Hezbollah is “beginning to feel some of our capabilities,” vowing that Israel will continue to operate against the Lebanese terror group in order to allow displaced residents of northern Israel to return to their homes.

“Hezbollah has begun to feel some of the capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces… and we are seeing the results,” Gallant says during a tour of the Israeli Air Force’s command and control room this morning.

“These moves will continue until we reach a situation where we safely return the residents of the north to their homes. This is the goal, this is the mission, and we will do everything necessary to meet it,” he adds.

Netanyahu: ‘We hit Hezbollah with a string of strikes that it didn’t imagine’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a video statement on September 22, 2024 (Screen grab/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises that the Hezbollah terror group will “get the message” after a series of dramatic Israeli operations.

“Over the past few days we hit Hezbollah with a string of strikes that it didn’t imagine,” he says in a video statement.

“If Hezbollah didn’t get the message, I promise you, it will get the message,” he says.

“We are determined to return our [displaced northern] residents safely to their homes. No country can tolerate [rocket] fire at its residents, [rocket] fire at its cities,” the premier says. “The State of Israel cannot tolerate it either.”

As he has in recent days, Netanyahu promises that Israel “will do everything necessary in order to restore security.”

On Friday, Israel assassinated top Hezbollah commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi, along with other top members of the terror group, in an airstrike on a residential building in Beirut. The IDF said Aqil was overseeing a planned operation to invade the Galilee.

The strike came after 30 members of Hezbollah were killed in pager and walkie-talkie blasts in Lebanon last week. The attack was attributed to Israel, which has not commented.

Israel has also carried out hundreds of airstrikes in recent days, which the military said targeted Hezbollah rocket launchers primed to be fired.

3rd outbreak of bird flu diagnosed in north Israel’s Jezreel Valley

Illustrative -- Birds seen flying above a stack of hay in Nahalal in the Jezreel Valley, November 11, 2019 (Anat Hermony/Flash90)

The season’s third discovery of bird flu is made at Moshav Nahalal in northern Israel’s Jezreel Valley, just 600 meters (a third of a mile) from the first outbreak earlier this month on the same moshav.

The first outbreak was traced to a nine-building poultry coop containing 8,700 14-week-old turkeys in Nahalal, and the second was at Moshav Ram-On, south of the Jezreel Valley.

The disease has now broken out in two large poultry sheds at Nahalal housing 34,000 hens used to breed chickens for meat.

Bird flu outbreaks have been reported overseas in recent weeks, in countries including France, Germany, Poland and the US.

Between September and December last year, there were five cases of bird flu — starting in Moshav Sde Ya’akov in the north. Four kibbutzim were affected.

Since March 2006, when the first cases of bird flu were discovered in Israel, bird flu has been discovered almost every year during the bird migration season.

IDF: 150 rockets, drones and missiles fired at Israel since last night, most intercepted

A sapper carries a piece from a rocket fired from Lebanon that hit a home in Kiryat Bialik on September 22, 2024. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)

The IDF says that since last night, some 150 rockets, cruise missiles, and drones were launched at Israel.

The rocket attacks came from Lebanon and were aimed at Israel’s north, while the drones and cruise missiles were launched from Iraq.

The military says the Israeli Air Force’s air defense array had a high interception rate amid the attacks, with only a handful of cases of direct impacts and falling shrapnel causing injuries and damage.

“The air force is ready in defense and attack,” the IDF adds.

Hamas condemns closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau, says Israel trying to cover up losses

Pictures of slain al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh hang on the facade of the building housing the television station's office in Ramallah in the West Bank, after Israel issued a 45-day closure order on September 22, 2024. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq condemns Israel’s decision to close Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau.

In a press statement, the official says the measure is a “violation of the freedom of the press… retaliation against [Al Jazeera’s] professional role in exposing the crimes of the occupation” and “an attempt to cover up the actions of the resistance in Gaza, and Hezbollah’s targeting of military bases deep inside [Israeli territory].”

Al-Rishq adds that Hamas “stands in solidarity with Al Jazeera.”

The Qatari channel’s Ramallah bureau was raided this morning by IDF troops, who presented staff with a military closure order for 45 days.

Israel took the network off the air and blocked its broadcasts from inside Israel for 45 days for violating national security in May, following an emergency law passed in April. The ban was renewed four times, subject to court approval by the Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court. In a June ruling, the court found that there was a direct and causal connection between individuals who have carried out terror attacks inside Israel and the consumption of Al Jazeera content.

It also determined that there was a “close connection” between Al Jazeera and Hamas, that some Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza had become “assistants and partners” to the Palestinian terror group, and that some of them had even carried out terror attacks.

IDF says airstrike hit Hamas operatives at former school in Gaza City

The IDF says it carried out an airstrike against a group of Hamas operatives operating out of a former school in Gaza City a short while ago.

The Kafr Qasim School in the Shati Camp of Gaza City has been serving as a shelter for displaced Gazans. Palestinian media report several casualties in the attack.

The IDF says it took “many steps” to mitigate harm to civilians in the strike, including using precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and other intelligence.

“The Hamas terror organization systematically violates international law, brutally exploiting civilian institutions and the population as a human shield for terror activity,” the military adds.

In recent months, dozens of airstrikes have been carried out against Hamas sites embedded within schools and other sites used as shelters for civilians, according to the IDF.

Germany’s far-right AfD on track for another state election win

A voter casts a ballot in the ballot box during the state elections in Brandenburg in Forst on September 22, 2024. (Photo by RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)

Polls opened in the German state of Brandenburg, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is projected to finish first, aiming to build on recent successes in other eastern states and surpass Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats in this traditional stronghold.

The AfD became the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since World War Two, in Thuringia, on Sept. 1 and just missed first place in Saxony.

It is one of several far-right groups in Europe capitalizing on worries over an economic slowdown, immigration and the Ukraine war – concerns that are particularly strong in formerly Communist-run eastern Germany.

The party, which is unlikely to be able to govern because it is polling short of a majority and other parties would refuse to work with it, is also seeking to gain from discontent over infighting in Scholz’s three-party federal coalition.

Hans-Christoph Berndt, the AfD candidate for Brandenburg state premier, cast his ballot in the town of Golssen, south of Berlin, expressing optimism about his party’s prospects with increased support compared to 2019.

“If we continue to receive the same level of support we’ve seen in recent weeks and months, things in Germany will start to improve,” Berndt says, adding that while the election was important, Brandenburg’s future won’t be decided solely by Sunday’s outcome.

An AfD victory in the state election would be a particular embarrassment for the Social Democrats (SPD), which has won elections in Brandenburg and governed the state of 2.5 million people since reunification in 1990.

Hezbollah rocket fire now targeting areas with some two million inhabitants

Israeli rescue workers at the site where a missile fired from Lebanon hit houses and cars in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, September 22, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Hezbollah terror group expanded the range of its rocket attacks overnight to include the greater Haifa area and the Jezreel Valley, putting some two million Israelis in range of their strikes.

“Hundreds of thousands of people had to take refuge in bomb shelters” across northern Israel, military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani tells AFP after the strikes overnight and early in the morning.

The IDF said that rockets had been fired “toward civilian areas,” pointing to a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.

One rocket struck near a residential building in Kiryat Bialik, a community near Haifa, wounding at least three people and setting buildings and cars on fire.

Avi Vazana raced to a shelter with his wife and 9-month-old baby before he heard the boom of the rocket hitting in Kiryat Bialik. Then he went back outside to see if anyone was hurt.

“I ran without shoes, without a shirt, only with pants. I ran to this house when everything was still on fire to try to find if there are other people,” he says.

Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets into Israel since October 8. It has also launched hundreds of drones. But the terror group has largely aimed its fire at the Galilee and Golan Heights areas of northern Israel.

The terror group is believed to have rockets and missiles capable of hitting almost all of Israel.

Death toll from Iran mine blast rises to 51

In this photo released by Iranian Red Crescent Society, rescue personnel, police officers and some other people gather around the site of a coal mine where methane leak sparked an explosion on Saturday, in Tabas, some 335 miles (540 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Iranian Red Crescent Society, via AP)

A mine blast in eastern Iran has killed 51 people, state media says, revising an earlier toll of 30 dead.

“The number of dead workers increased to 51 and the number of injured increased to 20” in the explosion at the Tabas mine, the official IRNA news agency reports.

IDF downs drone over Golan Heights apparently launched from Iraq

A suspected drone that entered Israeli airspace from the east was shot down by air defenses over the southern Golan Heights an hour ago, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded in several towns due to fears of falling shrapnel. There were no damage or injuries in the incident.

The drone was likely launched from Iraq. The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed several attacks on Israel today.

Earlier, before dawn, two apparent cruise missiles launched from Iraq were shot down by the military as they headed toward the southern Golan Heights. Both targets were intercepted outside of Israeli airspace, the IDF said.

Later in the morning, another drone from Iraq was intercepted as it headed toward southern Israel, setting off sirens in Be’er Ora, close to Eilat. It too was shot down before managing to enter Israeli airspace, according to the military.

IDF says it hit Hezbollah rocket launchers, buildings in latest round of strikes

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted Hezbollah sites in the the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on September 22, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

After this morning’s Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel, the IDF says it has completed a new wave of strikes against the terror group.

The dozens of strikes carried out by fighter jets hit Hezbollah rocket launchers and buildings used by the terror group in several areas of southern Lebanon, according to the military.

The IDF has vowed to ramp up its strikes against Hezbollah to “dismantle and degrade” the terror group’s capabilities.

It releases footage of the strikes.

מטוסי קרב, בהכוונת אמ"ן ופיקוד הצפון, תקפו עשרות מטרות, בהם משגרים ומבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במספר מרחבים בדרום לבנון הבוקר.

במהלך הלילה, מטוסי קרב תקפו משגרים ואתרים צבאיים של הארגון במספר מרחבים בדרום לבנון.

צה"ל ממשיך לפגוע ולגרוע יכולות טרור ותשתיות צבאיות של… pic.twitter.com/0B0gJ96OU7

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) September 22, 2024

Shares fall further on TASE as Israel-Hezbollah violence soars

Illustrative: View of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, November 29, 2020. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange decline amid overnight rocket barrages by Hezbollah that are stoking fears of an escalation of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese terror group.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index falls 0.8 percent and the TA-35 index of blue-chip companies drops 0.6% amid concerns of a wider regional conflict. The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, slips 0.4%. The TA-Dual Listing index drops 0.7%.

Overnight and into Sunday morning, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel while the IDF bombed hundreds of rocket launchers it said the Iran-backed terror group had primed for fire at Israel.

Last week, the TA-35 and TA-90 indices dropped by 2.8% and 3.9%, respectively, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index in the US rose 1% and 0.4% during the same period.

UN’s Lebanon envoy says fighting puts Mideast on brink of ‘catastrophe’

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Zibqin on September 22, 2024. (Kawnat Haju / AFP)

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon warns of an “imminent catastrophe” in the Middle East amid spiking violence between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, saying a military solution was not the answer.

“With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer,” special coordinator Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert says in a statement on X.

Health Ministry orders northern hospitals to only operate in fortified areas

Medical staff prepare the the Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa following the outbreak of war, October 11, 2023. (Courtesy of Rambam)

The Health Ministry says that it has ordered all hospitals in northern Israel to operate from within their fortified areas only.

The ministry says the order follows instructions from the IDF’s Home Front Command.

The order affects the Carmel, Ziv, Nahariya, HaEmek, Poriya, Bnei Tzion, Italian and English hospitals.

The Rambam Hospital is moving to work in the hospital’s fortified parking garage.

All elective procedures are canceled, the statement says.

Hospitals in north reduce activity amid rocket fire

The Sammy Ofer Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa was prepared for receiving patients following the outbreak of war, October 11, 2023. (Courtesy of Rambam)

Hospitals in northern Israel are reducing activity as Hezbollah rocket fire at Israel increases and expands its range.

Rambam hospital in Haifa, Poriya in Tiberias and HaEmek in Afula all announce the cancellation of elective procedures.

Poriya also says it is discharging those patients who are able to go home.

Rambam says it is shifting its maternity ward to its fortified underground wing.

Lebanon says death toll from Israeli strike on Hezbollah commanders rises to 45

Members of Hezbollah carry the coffins of comrades who were killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier, during their funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 21, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike that targeted Hezbollah commanders in Beirut’s southern suburbs this week has risen to 45, Lebanon’s health ministry says.

“The number of dead has risen to 45 people,” a ministry statement says, updating an earlier toll of 37 from the Friday attack. It says “work continues to remove the rubble for the third day in a row” and that DNA sampling would be used to determine the identities of some of the bodies.

Hezbollah has confirmed that at least 16 of its members, including two of its most senior leaders, were killed in the strike while they were meeting in the basement of a Beirut apartment building.

Death toll from Iran mine blast rises to 30 — state media

A mine blast in eastern Iran has killed 30 people, state media says, revising an earlier toll of 19 dead.

“The number of people killed in the Tabas mine incident increased to 30,” the official IRNA news agency reports.

Pro-Iran groups in Iraq claim drone attack at Israel

An Iraqi coalition of pro-Iran armed groups claim a drone attack at Israel.

Earlier, the IDF said it had intercepted “multiple suspicious aerial targets” coming from Iraq overnight.

“The fighters of the Islamic Resistance of Iraq targeted on Sunday morning a strategic location in the occupied territories using drones,” says the Iraqi coalition in a statement on Telegram, referring to Israel, and adding it was carried out “in support of our people in Gaza.”

17-year-old killed in traffic accident during rocket attack

A 17-year-old was killed in a traffic accident in northern Israel that occurred during a rocket attack from Lebanon, police say.

The accident occurred near Ramat Yishai when a driver veered off the road and hit a wall. A passenger was killed and three others were injured.

Police say the crash happened as rocket warning sirens went off and they believe the driver panicked and lost control of the vehicle.

Security cabinet meeting postponed, entire cabinet to meet at noon

A meeting of the high-level security cabinet set for today is postponed amid a serious escalation in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A meeting of the wider cabinet will be held at noon.

IDF says it’s carrying out new wave of strikes in Lebanon, will intensify attacks

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

The IDF says it is carrying out a new wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The military says it will provide details later.

The statement says that in recent hours the air force downed aerial threats and rocket launches fired by Hezbollah at civilian areas in Israel.

Hezbollah had claimed to have targeted an air base and an arms factory.

The IDF says its air defense remains on high alert and warns that its strikes against Hezbollah will continue and intensify.

At least 19 dead, 30 trapped after Iran coal mine blast, state TV says

A gas explosion in a coal mine in Iran’s South Khorasan Province killed at least 19 people and left 17 injured, state television says, with 30 people still stuck in the mine.

The accident was caused by a methane gas explosion in blocks B and C of the mine run by the Madanjoo company, state TV says.

The total number of workers in the blocks at the time of the explosion was 69, it says.

Iranian state media said the explosion occurred on Saturday at 9 p.m. (1730 GMT).

Rocket hits home in Moreshet, no injuries

Rescue workers at the scene of a rocket impact on a home in Moreshet on September 22, 2024 (Israel Police)

A rocket launched in this morning’s Hezbollah attack on northern Israel struck a home in the Lower Galilee community of Moreshet.

There were no injuries.

Hezbollah claimed to have targeted a Rafael defense firm facility in the Haifa area in its barrage, more than 15 kilometers west of Moreshet.

IDF says 85 rockets launched in morning barrage targeting Haifa area

Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Some 85 rockets were launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at northern Israel this morning, according to the IDF. This follows several barrages overnight.

The military says that some of the rockets were intercepted, while some impacted Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa, and Moreshet, a community in the Lower Galilee.

A rocket impact in Kiryat Bialik injured three people and caused damage.

Hezbollah claimed to have targeted a Rafael defense firm facility in the Haifa area.

Hezbollah claims rocket attack on Krayot area, says it targeted arms facility in ‘initial’ response to pager blasts

Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, September 22, 2024. (Baz Ratner/AP)

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the rocket fire on the Krayot area near Haifa this morning, claiming to have targeted a facility belonging to the Rafael defense firm.

The Lebanese terror group says the rocket fire was “an initial response” to the pager blasts in Lebanon last week, which killed more than 30 members of the terror group and wounded thousands of others.

The blasts were attributed to Israel, which has not commented.

MDA says the 3 people wounded in Kiryat Bialik were hit by shrapnel, being taken to hospital

Medics at the scene of a rocket impact n the Krayot area of northern Israel on September 22, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says three people are wounded by shrapnel following a rocket impact in Kiryat Bialik, near Haifa.

The victims include a man in his 70s in moderate condition, and another man in his 70s and a 16-year-old girl who are lightly hurt.

They are being taken to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, MDA adds.

IDF shoots down suspected drone fired from east, as sirens sound near Eilat

A suspected drone heading toward Israel from the eastern direction was shot down by air defenses, the military says.

Sirens had sounded in Be’er Ora, close to Eilat, amid the incident.

According to the IDF, the apparent drone was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.

Earlier this morning, two drones launched at Israel from Iraq were intercepted by air defenses.

Medics treating three people lightly wounded in rocket attacks on Krayot, Lower Galilee

Medics at the scene of a rocket impact n the Krayot area of northern Israel on September 22, 2024 (Magen David Adom)

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is treating three people who were lightly wounded as a result of rocket impacts in the Krayot and Lower Galilee.

Several others were treated for acute anxiety or falling over while running to shelters, MDA says.

Footage shows one of the rocket impact sites in Kiryat Bialik.

MDA says it is treating three people who were lightly wounded as a result of rocket impacts in the Krayot and Lower Galilee.

Several others were treated for acute anxiety or falling over while running to shelters.

Footage shows one of the rocket impact sites in Kiryat Bialik. pic.twitter.com/MXy2CObapv

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 22, 2024

Sirens sounding in communities around the Sea of Galilee as attacks from Lebanon continue

Sirens are sounding around the Sea of Galilee, warning of incoming rocket fire, as Hezbollah continues to launch attacks on northern Israel.

The alerts are sounding in communities including Ein Gev, Susita Beach, Gofra Beach, Ramot, Almagor and Dugit Beach.

#BREAKING Alerts now for Northeastern Israel around the Sea of Galilee. pic.twitter.com/W0svOfVVTF

— Fast News Network (@fastnewsnet) September 22, 2024

Medics responding to reports of rocket impacts in Lower Galilee, Krayot area after latest barrage from Lebanon

Medics are responding to reports of rocket impacts in the Lower Galilee and Krayot area following the latest barrage from Lebanon.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it will provide an update soon.

Footage circulating online appears to show the site of a rocket impact in the Krayot.

Medics are responding to reports of rocket impacts in the Lower Galilee and Krayot area following the latest barrage from Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/E56iygD7ql

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) September 22, 2024

IDF: All 24 rockets launched by Hezbollah at northern Israel overnight were intercepted

According to the IDF’s latest assessments, Hezbollah only managed to launch 24 rockets at northern Israel overnight, all of which were intercepted by air defenses.

Large pieces of shrapnel fell in the Jezreel Valley following the interceptions, causing damage to a barn in one area and slightly wounding a man in another. The IDF says there were no direct rocket impacts in the attacks, claimed by Hezbollah.

The first barrage at around 1 a.m. included seven rockets, the second barrage shortly before 5 a.m. included 12 rockets, and the third barrage after 5 a.m. included five rockets, according to the IDF.

Hezbollah claimed to have targeted the Ramat David Airbase with dozens of rockets in each barrage.

The military says that its large waves of airstrikes in Lebanon yesterday afternoon and into the night likely foiled the majority of Hezbollah’s planned launches.

The strikes hit hundreds of Hezbollah rocket launchers aimed at northern Israel, according to the IDF.

Suspected drone infiltration sirens sounding in southern community of Be’er Ora, near Eilat 

Suspected drone infiltration sirens are sounding in the southern community of Be’er Ora, close to Eilat.

The alert comes amid a massive barrage from Lebanon on northern communities and after a series of attacks on the Jezreel Valley throughout the early hours of the morning.

🇮🇱 Enemy aircraft penetration: Arava: Be'er Ora pic.twitter.com/PkGFbRR83B

— LevantOSINT (@LevantOSINT) September 22, 2024

Sirens blaring in communities near Haifa bay, northern border with Lebanon

Rocket alert sirens are sounding in several locations in northern Israel, following a series of barrages from Hezbollah in Lebanon throughout the morning.

Sirens are blaring in communities including Even Menachem, Kfar Manda, Shtula, Moreshet, Mitzpeh Aviv and Ibillin and towns in the Haifa bay including Kiryat Bialik and Kiryat Motzkin.

🚨 Rocket Alert [06:24:25] (13):

• Center Galilee — Moreshet, Bir al-Maksur, Dmeide, Kfar Manda, Shekhanya, Kaukab Abu al-Hija, Ibillin, Mitzpeh Aviv
• HaMifratz — Kiryat Biyalik, Kiryat Motzkin
• Confrontation Line — Shtula, Even Menachem
• אזור תעשייה קריית ביאליק pic.twitter.com/qCedHYqwUP

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Police: Several cows killed, injured as Jezreel Valley dairy hit in overnight rocket barrage from Lebanon

Police officers inspect the damage to a dairy in the Jezreel Valley that was directly hit by a rocket fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon, September 22, 2024. (Israel Police)

Several cows were killed and injured when a dairy in the Jezreel Valley sustained a direct hit in a rocket barrage from Lebanon earlier this morning, Israel Police says in a statement.

The property sustained significant damage in the attack, the statement adds.

Police are currently working to secure the area, and add in the statement that civilians should avoid rocket impact sites, which may contain dangerous explosives.

Hezbollah takes responsibility for latest rocket barrages at Jezreel Valley, claims IAF base was target

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the latest rocket barrages at the Jezreel Valley, claiming to have targeted the Ramat David Airbase again with dozens of rockets.

In all, some 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon at the area overnight, the majority of which were intercepted by air defenses, according to the IDF.

IDF orders cancelation of educational activities in northern Israel today, limits gatherings

The IDF Home Front Command has updated its restrictions in northern Israel following Hezbollah’s overnight rocket barrages.

According to the latest guidelines, no educational activities will take place in the Golan Heights, Galilee, Haifa bay area, and northern valleys.

Gatherings will also be restricted to 10 people outdoors and 100 indoors.

Workplaces will be able to operate if an adequate shelter is nearby and can be reached in time.

In-person classes canceled today in several northern cities including Haifa, Nahariya, Acre

Schools in several northern communities have canceled in-person classes today after Hezbollah fired three barrages at the Jezreel Valley overnight and earlier this morning.

Channel 12 News reports that schools in towns and cities including in the Jezreel Valley, Migdal Haemek, the Krayot area, Haifa, Nahariya, and Acre will be closed today amid the ongoing tensions.

The IDF Home Front Command is expected to update its civilian instructions to order all classes north of Haifa to be held remotely today, Channel 12 adds.

Last night, the Education Ministry said that schools in the north would hold classes today only if the locations have sufficient protected areas for students and staff to shelter. Otherwise, classes were set to be held remotely.

Schools in the rest of the country are functioning as usual.

IDF: At least 5 rockets launched from Lebanon in 3rd barrage on Jezreel Valley; no reports of injuries

In the latest barrage from Lebanon on the Jezreel Valley, at least five rockets were launched, according to the IDF.

The military says some of the rockets were shot down by air defenses, and there are no immediate reports of injuries.

Sirens had sounded in numerous communities southeast of Haifa amid the attack.

In all, Hezbollah has fired some 30 rockets at areas deep in northern Israel overnight.

IDF: Barrage of 15 rockets launched from Lebanon at Jezreel Valley; most intercepted; no injuries

A barrage of 15 rockets was launched from Lebanon at the Jezreel Valley at 4:48 a.m., the IDF says.

Most of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, according to the military.

There were no injuries in that attack, which set off sirens in numerous towns southeast of Haifa.

Rocket sirens sounding continuously in northern cities and towns including Nazareth

Sirens are sounding again deep in northern Israel amid an apparent rocket barrage from Lebanon.

The sirens follow an earlier barrage a few hours ago claimed by Hezbollah on the Jezreel Valley area, some 50 kilometers from the border with Lebanon.

🔴 Rocket Alert [05:10:44] (44):

• Center Galilee — Uzeir, Moreshet, Bir al-Maksur, Dmeide, Beit Rimon, Koranit, Hanaton, Shfaram, Kfar Manda, Rumana, Kaukab Abu al-Hija, Rumat al-Heib, Yodfat
Population: 388,000 pic.twitter.com/3snVW3q4gB

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Medics say no immediate reports of major injuries in latest rocket barrage from Lebanon

Magen David Adom medics say they haven’t received immediate reports of injuries in the latest barrage of rockets from Israel at the Jezreel Valley area, a spokesperson tells Channel 12.

The spokesperson adds that a woman was lightly injured running to take shelter while carrying her baby and that both are receiving medical treatment.

Rocket alert sirens sounded in several towns and cities in northern Israel a short while ago, in the second such barrage from Lebanon this morning.

Sirens sounding again in several towns and cities deep in northern Israel

Sirens are sounding again in several northern towns and cities, warning of incoming rocket fire, in what appears to be another major attack from Lebanon.

The alerts are activated in the city of Yokneam and many other communities in the Jezreel Valley, hours after Hezbollah fired 10 rockets at the area, for the first time since the war began in October.

🔴 Rocket Alert [04:48:42] (29):

• תחנת רכבת כפר ברוך
• Wadi Ara — Yokneam Moshava and HaZoreah, Ramat HaShofet, Ein HaShofet
Population: 134,000 pic.twitter.com/bC1WUjo3zf

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

IDF: Several suspected drones launched from Iraq at northern Israel down successfully

The IDF says that several suspected drones launched at Israel from Iraq were successfully intercepted, a short while after sirens sounded in communities in the southern Golan Heights.

The “suspicious aerial targets” did not cross into Israeli airspace, the IDF says, adding that there were no casualties in the incident.

Meanwhile, rocket alert sirens that sounded in Dovev, also near the border with Lebanon, were false alarms, the military adds.

Report: Israeli forces storm Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau with military order to close it for 45 days

Al Jazeera says that Israeli forces have stormed its bureau in the West Bank city of Ramallah with a military order to close it for 45 days.

The Qatari television station posts footage on social media of troops presenting bureau staff with the order.

لحظة اقتحام قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي مكتب قناة #الجزيرة برام الله مع أمر عسكري بغلقه 45 يوما#حرب_غزة #الأخبار pic.twitter.com/EKdkgCRSCT

— قناة الجزيرة (@AJArabic) September 22, 2024

Israel took the network off the air and blocked its broadcasts for violating national security in May, following an emergency law passed in April.

The initial Knesset law allowed Israel to ban the TV station for a 45-day period, with further 45-day renewals subject to court approval. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court has renewed the ban four times since then, mostly recently last week.

In a June ruling, the court found that there was a direct and causal connection between individuals who have carried out terror attacks inside Israel and the consumption of Al Jazeera content.

It also determined that there was a “close connection” between Al Jazeera and Hamas, that some Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza had turned themselves into “assistants and partners” with the Palestinian terror group, and that some of them had even carried out terror attacks.

Rocket, drone sirens sounding in northern communities near border with Lebanon

Sirens are sounding again in northern Israel, warning of incoming rocket fire and drone infiltration, amid razor-sharp tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The alerts are blaring in northern communities including Dovev, Haspin and Ramat Magshimim near the border of Lebanon, and come hours after Hezbollah fired 10 rockets into the Jezreel Valley, some 50 kilometers from the border with Israel.

Rocket Alert [03:47:39] (1):

• Confrontation Line — Dovev
Population: <500 pic.twitter.com/3MsK34bbXA

— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) September 22, 2024

Report: US hopes intensified Israeli military pressure will push Hezbollah to diplomatic solution, not all-out war

Smoke billows at the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Zawtar on September 21, 2024. (Ammar Ammar / AFP)

US officials are hoping that intensified Israeli military pressure on Hezbollah in Lebanon will push the Iran-backed terror group to come to a diplomatic agreement to allow civilians on both sides to return to their homes after almost a year of cross-border fighting, Axios reports.

The report says that while the US officials agree with their Israeli counterparts that recent strikes on Hezbollah aim to reach “de-escalation through escalation,” they are concerned that this is an “extremely difficult calibration” that could easily spark an all-out war.

“One of the key messages was that we want to keep a path open to a diplomatic resolution and therefore don’t want the Israelis to take steps that will close such a path,” one of the US officials is quoted as saying.

Both US and Israeli officials quoted in the report say that the Biden administration has asked Jerusalem to hold off from a ground invasion or airstrikes in civilian areas that are likely to escalate the conflict.

The report comes after a wave of IDF strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon today, including launchers primed for attack, and after the terror group fired at least 10 rockets at northern Israel a short while ago, triggering sirens across the Jezreel Valley for the first time since the beginning of the war in October.

Hezbollah-affiliated media reports more IDF strikes in southern Lebanon

Israeli fighter jets are carrying out more strikes in southern Lebanon, according to Hezbollah-affiliated outlet Al Mayadeen, after the terror group fired at least 10 rockets deep into northern Israel, triggering sirens in dozens of towns and cities.

The IDF says most of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and medics say one man was lightly injured by shrapnel in the barrage.

There is no immediate comment on the reported new strikes from the Israel Defense Forces.

IDF fighter jets carried out a series of strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the afternoon and evening after the military said it had identified preparations by the terror group to launch major rocket attacks against Israel.

Hezbollah takes responsibility for rocket barrage on Jezreel Valley, claiming to have targeted IAF base

Hezbollah takes responsibility for the rocket fire on the Jezreel Valley a short while ago, claiming to have targeted the Israeli Air Force’s Ramat David Airbase, located some 50 kilometers from the Lebanon border.

The terror group claims to have launched dozens of rockets at the airbase, though according to the IDF, only 10 projectiles crossed the border, the majority of which were intercepted.

Hezbollah says the rocket attack comes as a response to recent IDF strikes in Lebanon.

Northern Israel now: Crazy rocket interceptions ongoing.
View appears to be from the bay at Haifa. 🚀
Iron Dome, do your job 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Z5QjidDBQE

— Leslie Young ✡︎ (@AkaLazarus) September 21, 2024

IDF: Majority of 10 rockets fired from Lebanon at Jezreel Valley downed by air defenses

The IDF says the majority of the 10 rockets fired from Lebanon at the Jezreel Valley were intercepted by air defenses.

The military says it is investigating at least one rocket impact in the area.

One man in his 60s was very lightly injured by shrapnel following an interception, according to medics.

The attack marks Hezbollah’s deepest rocket fire into Israel since the beginning of the war in October.