Israel intensifies offensive in Gaza, Lebanon after Hamas leader's death

Israel said it hit Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in its latest strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday, while officials in Gaza said rescuers were still recovering people from the rubble after an Israeli attack that killed dozens.

At least 87 people were dead or missing following the air strike on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza late on Saturday, the health ministry in the Palestinian territory said, one of the highest death tolls for months from a single attack. Israel said it was investigating reports of the incident.

It marked an intensification of Israel's offensives against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, days after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwarraised hopes of an opening for ceasefire negotiations to end more than a year of conflict.

With U.S. elections approaching, officials, diplomats and other sources in the region say Israel is seeking through military operations to try to shield its borders and ensure its rivals cannot regroup.

Israel is also preparing to retaliate for an Iranian missile barrage earlier this month, though Washington has pressed it not to strike Iranian energy facilities or nuclear sites.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was the subject of an assassination attempt by "Iran's proxy, Hezbollah" on Saturday when a drone was directed at his holiday home. In a call with former U.S. President Donald Trump, the prime minister reiterated that Israel would make decisions based on its own interests, according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.

Israel's government has spurned several attempts by the United States, its main ally and military backer, to broker ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

BEIRUT STRIKES

In Beirut, Israel said its air force had followed strikes on Saturday with an attack on Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters there as well as an underground weapons workshop.

Fighter jets killed three Hezbollah commanders, the Israeli military said.

Reuters witnesses saw smoke rising from Beirut's southern suburbs, once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations.

On a visit near the border, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said forces were dismantling Hezbollah tunnels, weapons stores and infrastructure. "Our goal is to completely 'clean' the area so that Israel's northern communities may return to their homes," he added.

Hezbollah made no immediate comment on the strikes, but said it had fired missiles at Israeli forces in Lebanon and at a base in northern Israel.

Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted a year ago when the group began launching rockets in support of Hamas.

At the start of October, Israel launched a ground assault inside Lebanon in an attempt to stabilise the border region for its citizens who had fled rocket attacks in northern Israel.

On Sunday in southern Lebanon, security and civil defence sources said two aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike on a house being used as a clinic, while the Lebanese military said three of its soldiers were killed in a strike on an army vehicle.

Over the last year, Lebanese officials estimate that more than 2,400 people have been killed and more than 1.2 million people displaced. Fifty-nine people have been killed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights over the same period, say Israeli authorities.

Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in the attack that sparked the war, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military response in Gaza has left more than 42,500 people dead, Palestinian officials say.

EVACUATION ORDERS

A 41-year-old Israeli colonel was killed, and another officer was wounded in combat in northern Gaza on Sunday, the Israeli military said. Israel's Channel 12 and public broadcaster Kan reported an explosive device had gone off under a tank.

Gaza's health ministry said rescue operations following the strike in Beit Lahiya were being hindered by communications problems and by ongoing Israeli military operations.

The strike came two weeks into a major assault around Jabalia, just south of Beit Lahiya, where Israel says its troops backed by tanks have been trying to root out remaining Hamas fighters.

Israel said the strike hit a Hamas target, questioning an earlier death toll of 73 released by the Hamas media office.

As the fighting has continued, two of the three remaining hospitals in northern Gaza have been hit and patients, medical staff and displaced people injured, according to the United Nations. The U.N. has been urgently seeking access.

Israel says militants use civilian areas including schools and hospitals for cover, a charge Hamas denies.

More than 5,000 Palestinians left Jabalia via designated routes, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on social media platform X.

Evacuation orders have fuelled fears among many Palestinians that the operation is intended to clear them from northern Gaza to enable Israeli control of the area after the war.

Israel has denied this, saying it is trying to protect civilians and separate them from Hamas fighters.

Palestinians were also shocked by footage appearing to show people in a street in Jabalia being hit by a strike as they approached to rescue someone who had already been hit. Reuters verified the location of the footage, but not the date. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

The Israeli offensive, triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, has made most of Gaza's 2.3 million people homeless, caused widespread hunger and destroyed hospitals and schools.