Israel braces for Hamas rockets; Beirut faces heavy bombardment

In the dark days after the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel and the ensuing military assault on Gaza, some dared hope the carnage could, in some way, become a catalyst for peace.

“Crises can create opportunities,” veteran Israeli peace negotiator Yossi Beilin told NBC News last year. The world had given up on the Israel-Palestinian question, he said, but the horror of Oct. 7 and its aftermath “changed everything,” provoking a worldwide cry that this should never happen again.

“There’s definitely room for hope,” Omar Dajani, a former legal adviser to Palestinian negotiation teams, agreed. “So long as we bear in mind that hope and optimism are different things.”

One year later, those glimmers of hope have been shredded.Israelis remain enraged and deeply shaken, with families of Hamas’ remaining hostages suffering the gut-wrenching anguish of not knowing if their loved ones are even alive. The people of Gaza, meanwhile, have endured an unmitigated humanitarian catastrophe as Israel carries out one of the most intensive bombing campaigns in history. It has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them women and children, and reduced much of the strip to ash and rubble.

In the past three weeks, Israel has turned its attention north, and airstrikes and a ground invasion have killed around 1,800 people in Lebanon and driven 1.2 million from their homes.

Read the full story here.

Friends, family members and other loved ones gathered Monday at the site of the Nova music festival in Re'im, in Israel's Negev region, where Hamas militants killed an estimated 364 people as they stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The festival grounds had some of the usual festival accoutrements, including stacks of loudspeakers and an area where DJs would otherwise use digital turntables and a sound mixer to play trance music. But this event was solemn, filled with a low hum of voices as people remembered those who lost their lives.

Photos of victims were presented on the edge of a stage used by the event's speakers, who addressed their memories and sorrow in Hebrew. One man wept as he read from a sheet of paper and spoke into a microphone.

Those gathered stood or sat in white plastic chairs, swaying and singing along to music played between the times when people took the stage to offer words about the fallen.

The Israel Defense Forces early Monday local time marked the first anniversary of Hamas' deadly attack on Israel.

"One year ago today, our country’s history was forever changed," the IDF said in a post on X that linked to an IDF post from last year that warned residents to stay in their homes because "[t]errorists have infiltrated Israel from Gaza."

Monday's post went out at 6:29 a.m. local time, which was when Hamas launched its deadly attack.

Israeli hostage rally attendee asks: ‘How are we still here a year later?’

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More than 200 people took to the pathways of Central Park in New York this morning for a “Bring Them Home” rally and run ahead of tomorrow's anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.

Rally organizers called on both the U.S. and Israeli governments — as well as other governments in the Middle East — to do more to bring home the more than 100 hostages taken a year ago.

Yael Alexander, whose son Edan Alexander was taken hostage on Oct. 7 last year, told NBC News this week that it is “very hard” for her and her husband. She added that when they see Edan again, she is going to hug him and is "not going to let go."

“We are marking one year now without Edan, and I’m feeling still stuck on Oct. 7," she said. "I still have all this anxious and adrenaline in my body that I’m fighting for my son’s life.”

"We both are," said her husband, Adi Alexander.

Dana Cwaigrach, one of the organizers of the rally, said none of them thought the hostages would still be in captivity a year on from the attack.

"None of us thought that we would reach this day," Cwaigrach said. "None of us thought that we will still be here fighting for them a year later."

A clip of Lebanese actor and singer Hiba Tawaji performing a famed ballad about Beirut in front of French President Emmanuel Macron made the rounds on social media this weekend.

"Li Beirut" is a song released by singer Fairuz in the 1980s mourning the destruction in the country's war-torn capital. Her lyrics paint a portrait of a beautiful city by the sea built on the spirit of the people suddenly turned to a “glory of ash.”

It’s a song that has become synonymous with Lebanese nationalism, and it is often played during times the country is under strife. Danny Hajjar, a Lebanese music journalist, wrote today on X that the song is a beautiful ode, as well as “incredibly triggering.”

IDF soldiers have worked to dismantle Hezbollah booby traps, tunnels and weapons caches in southern Lebanon, the military said today.

The IDF said that in one of the raids, it identified a plan to ambush soldiers and found "a pit booby-trapped with explosives," which was "located and destroyed."

The IDF also said it raided and dismantled some of Hezbollah's underground tunnel system. Large stockpiles of weapons were destroyed and confiscated, the military said.

The Israeli air force struck "terror targets" belonging to Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut, the IDF said in a statement.

The targets included "intelligence-gathering means, command centers, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites," according to the IDF.

The air force also hit weapons storage facilities near Beirut, the IDF said, noting that it knew the targets were housing weapons because of secondary explosions following the strikes.

Further targets were struck in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area, "including weapons storage facilities, terror infrastructure sites, a command center, and a launcher," the IDF said.

The IDF accused Hezbollah of deliberately embedding command centers and weapons facilities "beneath residential buildings in the heart of the city of Beirut, endangering the population in the area."

A "suspicious aerial target" that was approaching Israel from the east but did not cross into Israeli territory was intercepted by Israel's air force tonight, the IDF said.

Following rocket fire toward Haifa, paramedics are treating a 13-year-old boy with shrapnel injuries to his head and a 22-year-old man who sustained a head injury after he fell from a window because of one of the blasts, a spokesperson for Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical service, said in a statement.

Both are in moderate condition and are being evacuated to Rambam Hospital, the MDA said. Victims in the area are also being treated for anxiety, the emergency service reported.

The MDA said paramedics sent a man in his 20s to the hospital in serious condition with a shrapnel injury to his chest and abdomen after a shooting in the Tiberias sector.

Debris and shrapnel have been reported in two main areas in Israel, a police spokesperson told NBC News. Some buildings have sustained damage, and the police spokesperson said there are "several reports" of minor injuries.

There have been a large number of violations of international humanitarian law during Israel's recent bombardment of Lebanon, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, told reporters today.

Grandi arrived in Beirut yesterday and said Lebanon faces "a terrible crisis," with hundreds of thousands of people "left destitute or displaced" by Israeli strikes.

UNRWA says more than 1,800 children are living in its shelters as a result of Israeli strikes, and Grandi said last week that the conflict had forced more than 200,000 people to flee Lebanon for Syria.

About five projectiles were fired from Lebanon after sirens sounded just before midnight in the HaCarmel and HaMifratz areas in Israel, the IDF said.

Interceptors were launched, and the IDF confirmed that the projectiles fell in the area.

About 15 more projectiles, also fired from Lebanon, were launched in the upper Galilee area of Israel, also following sirens just before midnight. The IDF said that some of the projectiles were intercepted but that others fell in the area.

The airport in Tehran has resumed normal operations, according to Iran's Mehr News Agency.

State media cited Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, which announced that all prior restrictions "are removed and airlines are allowed to operate flights." Iranian state media had reported earlier that the aviation authority abruptly canceled flights until tomorrow morning.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement that it is "deeply concerned" about the threat Israeli military activity poses to its peacekeepers near its post southeast of Maroun El Ras.

"This is an extremely dangerous development," the statement said. "It is unacceptable to compromise the safety of U.N. peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks."

The interim force reiterated the obligation of member states to protect U.N. property and staff members.

Sirens are sounding in Haifa as a warning for people in the city to run for shelter from incoming fire, according to the IDF.

At the same time, the skies over the southern suburbs of Beirut are flashing in what appears to be yet another night of heavy bombing in Lebanon.

At least half of the 10 people injured in the fatal attack in Be’er Sheva sustained gunshot wounds, according to Israel's emergency service, Magen David Adom.

One of them is a 20-year-old woman who is in moderate to serious condition, MDA said. Four other people, all in their 20s, are in moderate condition.

Five additional people sustained non-gunshot injuries, such as glass shrapnel wounds, according to MDA.

A spokesperson for Israel’s emergency services said earlier that a 25-year-old woman had died in the attack.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Flights from all of Iran’s airports will be canceled from 9 o'clock tonight until 6 a.m. local time tomorrow, Iran’s state media said, citing a spokesperson for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization.

The flights have been canceled because of operational restrictions, state media cited the spokesperson as saying without providing further details.

Iran restricted flights Tuesday when it launched missiles at Israel in an attack to which Israel vowed to respond.

A member of the Lebanese Civil Defense Team told NBC News last week that Israeli strikes had destroyed 40 ambulances in the previous 10 days and that many people had died in the ambulances.

The IDF says Hezbollah uses ambulances belonging to the Islamic Health Authority for what the Israeli military calls “terrorist purposes.”

The city of Tyre has been almost entirely evacuated following heavy Israeli bombardment in the south, but rescue teams have struggled to reach people as they risk Israeli fire.

NBC News' Richard Engel interviews the Lebanese Civil Defense about Israeli strikes

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Baalbek Castle, one of the oldest Roman ruins in Lebanon, was a few hundred meters away from an Israeli airstrike, according to Bachir Khodr, head of the Baalbek-Hermel district.

"The airstrike did not target the Baalbak castle, it is 500 to 700 meters away from it, but strikes near it will have negative repercussions on it," Khodr said in a post on X.

The structure is one of the many colossal ruins left by the Romans in Lebanon that make Baalbek a UNESCO World Heritage site. During the time of the Phoenicians, that area of Lebanon was known as Heliopolis and held several temples including the Temple of Jupiter, the god that the Greeks referred to as Zeus.

Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of Hamas' political leadership, gave a 20-minute video speech on the eve of the one-year anniversary of group's Oct. 7 terror attack.

Al-Hayya did not express remorse for the attack and attempted to glorify the violence that killed innocent civilians in Israel last year. He also blamed Israel for obstructing negotiations to free the remaining 101 hostages who are still in Gaza.

He encouraged youth in the occupied West Bank to act in "resistance" against Israel in the Palestinian territory, a statement that comes as the IDF announces increased security ahead of the Oct. 7 anniversary.

The family members of the 101 hostages who remain in Gaza implored the international community to continue pushing for a cease-fire as the one-year mark of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel approaches tomorrow.

The Hostage Family Forum put out a statement today urging Hamas to accept a deal for the release of all hostages, a move forward that the group says brings "the promise of a better future for both Israelis and Gaza residents." Hamas and Israeli leaders have placed blame on each other for the lack of a deal.

"As we mark this somber anniversary, we urge the world not to grow silent or complacent," the statement said. "Do not forget us. Do not forget the hostages."

Each day brings "unimaginable suffering" to the hostages, the families said, and it is "inconceivable" that their loved ones remain captive all that time later.

Israel's military believes it's likely that Hamas will fire rockets into the country tomorrow at the one-year mark of the group's Oct. 7 attack, according to IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani.

"They like this kind of symbolic event," Shoshani said.

There have been several rockets fired at Israel from Gaza that have fallen into open areas already today, with one intercepted by the Iron Dome defense, Shoshani added.

Extra troops have been assigned to the memorial events in southern Israel, according to Shoshani, so that the tributes can go ahead as planned. Israeli authorities said earlier today that the IDF has bolstered security around the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had call with French President Emmanuel Macron today, just a day after Macron's radio interview criticizing Israel's war tactics aired.

According to a readout from his office, Netanyahu told Macron that “Israel’s friends are expected to stand behind” the country’s fight against Iran and its proxy groups.

Netanyahu also responded to Macron in a video post on his X account, saying “shame” on countries that call for an arms embargo on Israel.

France’s foreign minister was invited to visit Israel and Macron agreed to have a dialogue on the matter during that trip, the readout said.

In an interview with a French public radio station that aired yesterday, Macron urged countries to stop arming Israel, stating that in the effort to fight terrorism, the world is sacrificing innocent civilians. He noted the recent escalations in Lebanon, a former French mandate, adding that "Lebanon cannot become another Gaza."

"I think that today the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop supplying weapons to lead the fighting in Gaza," Macron said. "France does not deliver any."

The start of Lebanon's school year for all primary and secondary schools has been pushed to November, Lebanon's Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced today.

Private universities may resume classes as soon as possible with the option of remote learning, Halabi said. The minister said the goal is to save the school year for pupils with the potential of hybrid or remote learning options if in-person education is not possible.

The country's only state-funded college, Lebanese University, closed its campuses in Sidon, Nabatieh and Tyre last month as Israeli airstrikes bombarded the region.

"We also hope that the displacement period will not be prolonged, that stability will be restored, and that alternative centers will be found instead of public schools to receive the displaced until they return to their homes,” Halabi said.

At least 40% of students are displaced in Lebanon, according to LBCI News.

An Israeli proposal to stop the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, from operating has been prepared for a second and third reading in the country's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.

UNRWA is the main provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Israel, which has fostered an increasingly combative relationship with the United Nations and its agencies, accused a dozen its workers of participating in the Oct. 7 attacks.

UNRWA fired nine members of its staff following an internal investigation, while noting that Israel had not provided all the necessary information to support the accusations.

But conservative Israeli political party Yisrael Beiteinu maintains that UNRWA took an "active part" in the Oct. 7 attacks and called for it to be "outlawed." Yulia Malinovsky, an Israeli member of parliament for the party, initiated the bill.

The IDF is marking one year since Oct. 7 with a military display of what they called "items seized from Hamas terrorists."

It says the exhibition will include items taken from Hamas militants who attacked Israel on October 7, as well as during combat in Gaza.

On display are uniforms, intelligence documents, and weapons including anti-tank missiles and explosives. The IDF says Israel's Enemy Assets Confiscation Unit has confiscated "approximately 70,000 items of enemy equipment."

The director of the Al-Hasyaa industrial area in Homs, Amer Khalil, told the state-run SANA news agency that the cars were loaded with medical and relief supplies.

The Lebanese health ministry says 23 people were killed and 93 wounded yesterday by a wave of Israeli air strikes.

Israel heavily bombed Dahiya, in Beirut, and carried out raids on southern Lebanon and in the eastern region of Beqaa and Baalbek.

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said that Iranians "did not touch" the nation's air force capabilities during the missile barrage sent last week, and said Israel would retaliate when ready.

During a visit to Israel's Nevatim Air Force basem Gallant said "not a single" squadron nor aircraft was damaged by Iran's strikes, and that there were no disruptions in operations.

Israel has been weighing up its response to Iran's attack after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate.

"We are powerful in both defense and offense," Gallant said. "This will be reflected in the manner of our choosing and in the time and place of our choosing."

Israel struck central Gaza's Ibn Rusdh school-turned shelter overnight, setting the building ablaze as two journalists made a narrow escape.

Video verified by NBC News showed the school on fire before the sound of an explosion sends Saleh Aljafarawi, who was holding the camera, backwards. He runs to another member of the press, who was hunched in pain and grasping his face.

"It is 2:30 a.m. and the Israeli occupation targets a school that shelters displaced people," Aljafarawi says into the camera, his face lit by the flames. "These are people are peaceful who are displaced in this building."

Uploading the video to social media, Aljafarawi explained he was just a few meters away from the explosion. "Our lives are at risk every moment, and we are constantly facing the threat of death," he wrote.

At least 26 people were killed and dozens wounded after Israeli airstrikes hit the school and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque, which were sheltering displaced Palestinians, local health authorities said.

One person has died and 10 people were wounded this afternoon after a shooting at the central bus station in Be’er Sheva, a city in southern Israel's Negev desert.

An Israeli police spokesperson said preliminary reports suggests a "suspected terror attack," and that the attacker had been killed. It added that numerous police forces were at the scene.

A spokesperson for Israel's emergency services said that a 25-year-old female had died, and that staff were treating ten other casualties, some with gunshot injuries.

Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad was killed by the Israeli military this morning, Hamas' Government Media Office said in a statement today.

The statement said Hamad worked for Media Town Media Company, and that 175 journalists had been killed since the conflict began on Oct. 7.

The IDF has continued its operations in Jabaliya, but Hamas has advised residents not to leave their homes despite Israeli evacuation orders.

"We urge our steadfast people not to comply with the occupation's threat to leave their homes and move to the southern Gaza Strip," Hamas' Ministry of Interior and National Security in Gaza said in a statement, dismissing the IDF's claims that there were safe areas in southern Gaza.

It said any people in direct danger should instead move to the nearest neighboring residential area.

In a statement today, the IDF said it had "successfully encircled the area," and that it had struck "dozens of military targets."

The IDF says it has increased security around Gaza to deflect the possibility of another attack from Hamas, as the nation prepares to commemorate the anniversary of October 7.

It said the southern command remained at a "a heightened state of vigilance" ahead of events taking place tomorrow, with forces stationed "to defend both the communities and the border area."

Last year, Hamas militants, alongside other affliated groups, stormed communities along Israel’s southern fence with Gaza on Oct. 7. About 1,200 people were killed in the fighting, 790 of whom were Israeli civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The rest were foreigners, attackers and soldiers. At least 250 people were taken hostage into Gaza, where 97 remain. About a third of them are believed to be dead.

The IDF issued "urgent" evacuation orders to more than 20 villages in southern Lebanon today, as it continues its ground invasion in the country.

"For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately," spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X, urging residents to move north of the Awali River.

"Any movement towards the south puts your life at risk," he added.

Israeli bombardment of Dahiya, in Beirut's southern suburbs, is trapping people inside their homes, as a choking smoke wafts through the city.

Tony Najm, 35, told NBC News that the stench kept him awake at night at his home in Hazmiye, a neighborhood overlooking Dahiya. He said the city was shrouded in a graying haze all day and night and the streets were polluted with waste.

"The smoke is continuous," he said. “Garbage is all over the streets.”

Charred cars in Dahiya. Bilal Hussein / AP

Rita Rizallah, 42, added that the buildings in Dahiya were continuously on fire because firemen were unable to reach the area with the roads were blocked due to the bombing.

Professor Raif Reda, Head of Lebanese Medical Social Gathering, said the fumes could be poisonous because Israel had attacked the city using what he beleived to be bombs that released "toxic gases."

Ellisar Kozah, 48, said residents were unable to breathe the air in her neighborhood of Sainte Therese, bordering Dahiya. But she explained that she had to keep her windows open despite the stench and fumes, in case Israel bombardment caused them to shatter.

“What are we supposed to do?” she said, “Where to go? Are we going to deal with this forever?”

Rubble in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs. ANWAR AMRO / AFP - Getty Images

The IDF has expanded central Gaza's Muwasi humanitarian zone, Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said.

COGAT, which is responsible for overseeing civilian policy in the West Bank and Gaza, posted a map on X of the existing area humanitarian zone with more than a dozen areas added east and southeast.

It said the expanded area included field hospitals, tent compounds and supplies of food and water, though current provision for basic services in Muwasi fall far short of the displaced population's health and sanitation needs.

Muwasi has been designated a "safer" humanitarian zone since December, but the IDF has attacked it multiple times, including a deadly July attack that killed 90 people and injured 300 displaced Palestinians. COGAT has also frequently shifted the boundaries of the humanitarian zone, adding to the confusion.

The latest announcement follows evacuation orders issued this morning for most of the northern part of Gaza.

UNICEF says children and still being killed, injured or displaced in Gaza one year on from the start of the current conflict.

In a post on X, it said the average daily volume of humanitarian aid cargo has decreased since April, and that the families of Gaza "need a ceasefire."

At least 26 people have been killed and dozens wounded overnight when an Israeli airstrike hit central Gaza's Ibn Rushd School and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque, which were sheltering displaced Palestinians, local health authorities said.

Other victims remained under the rubble, and ambulances and emergency services could not reach them, the health ministry said.

In the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, an injured man is surrounded by the bodies of those killed at the mosque-turned-shelter in Deir Al-Balah. BASHAR TALEB / AFP - Getty Images

In video seen by NBC News, people searched desperately for survivors in the debris of the Al-Aqsa mosque, many of them bloodied and blinded by the attack and others crushed by the wreckage.

Hamas accused Israel of committing "two brutal massacres" in a statement issued on Telegram, adding that both the school and the mosque were sheltering "hundreds of displaced persons."

The IDF said in a statement this morning that both facilities had been “command and control centers” used by Hamas, and that steps were taken to minimize civilian casualties. It did not provide evidence for either claim.

The IDF has issued evacuation orders for much of northern Gaza as it returned to the area to launch what appears to be a major new offensive.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee told people living in northern Gaza that Hamas established "terrorist infrastructure" in there, using shelters and health facilities.

In a post in Arabic on X, he told residents to use "humanitarian transportation and evacuation routes" to leave northern Gaza for the humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi in central Gaza, which he said had been expanded.

In a separate statement, the IDF said it began operating in northern Gaza's Jabiliya area overnight.

The headlines this morning in Lebanon told us what had kept us up all night: “One of the toughest nights on Dahiya.”

For people outside Beirut; you wake up in the middle of night and you are no longer able to sleep. As for people in Beirut, they’re having sleepless nights. 

A local Lebanese TV channel, MTV, counted more than 30 strikes during the night over Dahiya, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, 7 of them within 1 minute, followed by strong explosions. In Beirut, it felt like an earthquake.

A man rides over the debris buildings destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh this morning. Hussein Malla / AP

Rescuers from the Lebanese Civil Defense and ambulances said on local media this morning said that they were unable to enter parts of Dahiya, with the fires and smoke that from last night's heavy bombing still raging.

Georges Mechleb, who works at the airport in the south of the city, near Dahiya, told NBC that he could not get to work this morning, Israeli airstrikes left large craters on the road to the airport.

The Israel Defense Forces has increased security ahead of the one-year anniversary of the deadly Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, a spokesperson said.

“We are prepared with increased forces in the assumption that towards the anniversary, they will try to carry out attacks on the home front,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in reference to Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces addressed action the country may take in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this week.

The attack, which hit parts of the country and air force bases, did not result in any casualties, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

“The manner in which we will respond to the criminal attack will be in the manner, place and time we decide, in accordance with the guidance of the political echelon,” Hagari said in a statement.

Israel’s soldiers are continuing to fight in Lebanon “to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure in the villages,” he said, adding that the offensive has killed 440 militants, 30 of whom “were commanders of various ranks,” and destroyed more than 2,000 Hezbollah targets.

A man set himself on fire at a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the White House this evening, according to three eyewitnesses and video shared with NBC News.

The witnesses said the person made various pro-Palestinian exclamations as he set himself on fire. In witness video, fire can be seen on the man’s left arm before being extinguished with the help of surrounding bystanders.

Law enforcement monitored activity and remained at the periphery of the demonstration, which had been peaceful, and moved in once the man set himself on fire and a path was cleared for the ambulance that took him from the scene.

“We responded at 5:56pm for a call described as advanced life support injury,” D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Vito Maggiolo said. “The patient has been transported to an area trauma center.”

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said the man’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Witnesses told NBC News they smelled gasoline before seeing the man, who at some point shouted “Free Palestine,” set his arm on fire. The witness video shows law enforcement officers and bystanders quickly put the fire out with water and cloth.

A coalition of pro-Palestinian organizations based in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region held the demonstration with the moniker “One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance,” to mark one year since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war.

More than 20 large flashes were seen over Beirut last night, coloring the skies over Dahiyeh bright orange. The bombing continued all night in what is by far one of the heaviest — if not the heaviest — series of Israeli strikes on Beirut since this most recent conflict began.

Large bomb blasts light up the skies over Beirut

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A thick haze of white and grey smoke is wafting from the Dahyeh area, moving west towards Beirut’s Mediterranean coastline. Lights from homes in the mountains that overlook the southern suburbs, which normally dot the city’s skyline, have virtually all gone dark.

Booms from explosions were heard following the flashes. Between bombings, a Middle East Airlines flight landed at Hariri International Airport in Beirut.

Plumes of black smoke rose from the area where a strike hit. Buzzing Israeli drones were also heard circling over Dahiyeh, with more loud booms.

After two more large flashes, yet another big boom was heard, followed by a flight taking off from the airport seconds later.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was striking Hezbollah facilities and infrastructure.