The Israeli military on Thursday warned people to evacuate a city and other communities in southern Lebanon that are north of a UN-declared buffer zone, signalling that it may widen its ground invasion launched earlier this week against the Hezbollah militant group.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities in comments that sent oil prices spiking Thursday just a month before the presidential election.
Israel has told people to leave Nabatieh, a provincial capital, and other communities north of the Litani River, which formed the northern edge of the border zone established by the UN Security Council after the 2006 war, in a resolution that both sides accuse the other of violating.
At least eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start of what it says is a limited ground incursion earlier this week. The region was meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had struck around 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts. It said the strikes killed at least 15 Hezbollah fighters.
Hezbollah said its fighters detonated a roadside bomb when Israeli forces entered the Lebanese border village of Maroun el-Ras, kiling and wounding soldiers. It was not possible to independently confirm the claims made by either side.
So far, ground clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have been confined to a narrow strip along the border.
But hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, as Israel has warned people to evacuate from dozens of villages and towns in the south, telling them to relocate to areas that are around 60 kilometres (36 miles) from the border and considerably farther north than the Litani River.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the monthlong 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the militants were to withdraw north of the Litani, and Lebanon's armed forces were to patrol the border region along with UN peacekeepers.
Neither Lebanon's army nor the peacekeepers were capable of imposing any agreement on Hezbollah by force.
Israel claims Hezbollah defied the resolution and built extensive military infrastructure in towns and villages near the border, while Lebanon has accused Israel of violating other parts of the resolution.
In recent weeks, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several of his top commanders, while a barrage of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon since mid-September has killed at least 1,276 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The vast majority of recent strikes have been in areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, including the southern suburbs of Beirut known as the Dahiyeh. But Israel has also carried out strikes in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, and a strike in central Beirut earlier this week killed three members of a leftist Palestinian militant group.
Biden's comments spark surge in Oil prices
Earlier today, Biden told reporters at the White House that he was not expecting Israel to launch any retaliatory strikes for Tehran's missile barrage on Israel before Thursday at least.
When asked by a reporter if he supported Israel striking Iran's oil facilities, Biden said, "We're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway."
This comes after Biden said on Wednesday that he would not back Israel attacking Iranian nuclear sites.
Oil prices jumped five percent over concerns about the Middle East after Biden spoke.
Rise in oil prices could become damaging for Biden's Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat battles Republican and former president Donald Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.
Biden said he did not expect any immediate action from Israel—even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently paid little heed to calls for restraint as he targets the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
"First of all, we don't 'allow' Israel, we advise Israel. And there is nothing going to happen today," Biden told reporters when asked if he would allow Israel to retaliate against Iran.
Iran launched around 200 rockets in a direct missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, prompting Netanyahu to warn that Tehran would pay.
Iran said it was in retaliation for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel by Iran's Palestinian ally Hamas, and Israel's crushing retaliatory offensive in Gaza. Hezbollah has an armed wing with tens of thousands of fighters but it also has a political movement and a network of charities staffed by civilians.
Israeli strikes kill and wound first responders
The Lebanese Red Cross said an Israeli strike wounded four of its paramedics and killed a Lebanese army soldier as they were evacuating wounded people from the south.
It said the convoy near the village of Taybeh, which was accompanied by Lebanese troops, was targeted Thursday despite coordinating its movements with UN peacekeepers.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Another Lebanese soldier was killed by Israeli fire at an army post in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, according to the Lebanese military, which said it returned fire.
A Lebanese security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations, said the army post was hit by artillery fire.
An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut late Wednesday killed nine people, including seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders.
Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late September but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital.
There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament.
Residents reported a sulfur-like smell following strike in Beirut, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency — without providing evidence — accused Israel of using phosphorous bombs, which would be a violation of international law.
Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(With Inputs from AP and AFP)
