Israel targets Hizbullah cells and weapon stores in strikes across south Lebanon

Israel struck Hizbullah targets across south Lebanon on Thursday including militant cells, weapon stores and military infrastructure sites as the Iranian-backed group continued to fire anti-tank rockets at Israeli border communities.

Two days after the assassination of senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, Israeli forces remained on high alert, bracing for a possible revenge attack. Mr Arouri was buried in the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in the south of Beirut on Thursday, amid throngs of mourners launching volleys of gunfire.

The exchanges on the Lebanese border took place as Israel continued its bombardment of the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli shelling killed 14 Palestinians on Thursday in Khan Younis in a coastal area packed with people who had fled attacks in other parts of the enclave, Gaza health ministry officials said. The dead included nine children, an official told Reuters.

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There was no comment from the Israeli military on the attack although it had reported air strikes against Hamas militants in the Khan Younis area on Thursday.

Fierce fighting in the area continued, focused on locations where Israel believes 133 hostages are being held in Hamas captivity.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 22,400 Palestinians have been killed and 57,600 wounded in the war. Israel estimates that about 8,000 militants are among the fatalities. It says 1,200 people were killed on October 7th and 240 seized and taken to Gaza in the Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Israel’s war cabinet and the wider security cabinet was due to meet on Thursday night for the first discussion, after 90 days of fighting, on the “day after” arrangements in postwar Gaza. Ahead of the meeting, a senior Israeli official denied reports that Israel was working to secure the mass emigration of Gaza residents, despite comments from far-right ministers that this would be a desired scenario. US state department spokesman Matthew Miller described the comments as “inflammatory and irresponsible”.

US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is leading diplomatic efforts to avert a war between Israel and Hizbullah, met Israeli leaders on Thursday. Mr Hochstein mediated the Israel-Lebanon maritime deal last year demarcating Mediterranean oil and gas drilling zones and hopes to resolve a number of ongoing border disputes during his shuttle diplomacy.

Defence minister Yoav Gallant told Mr Hochstein that up to 80,000 Israelis had been forced to leave their homes along the entire northern border and Israel was determined to remove the Hizbullah threat so the families could return.

“Israel would prefer to resolve the military conflict with Hizbullah through diplomatic means, but the time span for this is limited,” he said.

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Mayors from northern Israeli councils have been pressuring the government to act to restore security. “[Hizbullah leader Hassan] Nasrallah threatens, Hizbullah attacks, the [Israeli military] responds and we are in the middle, with ghost towns, evacuated residents and another day of tension, high alert and anti-tank missiles,” said Moshe Davidovich, mayor of the Asher region in the western Galilee and chair of the Confrontation Line Forum. “For 80 days, from Metulla to Rosh Hanikra, Hizbullah has been firing and scoring direct hits.”

Also on Thursday, Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, arrived in Washington for emergency meetings with senior officials aimed at preventing escalation.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Antony Blinken is on his way to the Middle East for more talks with regional leaders.

Israeli forces arrested hundreds of residents of the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday, detaining hundreds of people they said were suspected of militant activity. Since the start of the Gaza war the Israeli military has acted aggressively with nightly raids into areas of the occupied West Bank, ostensibly under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

According to the Israeli military, about 2,600 Palestinians have been arrested over the past 90 days, including 1,300 believed to be affiliated with Hamas. – Additional reporting: Reuters