Syrian air defences intercept ‘hostile targets’ over Damascus

The “hostile targets” were intercepted following an explosion heard in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to state media reports on Tuesday.

At least 3 killed following suspected Israeli attack on Damascus: Reports

At least three people have been confirmed killed and nine injured after a suspected Israeli attack on Damascus, Syrian state media reports.

The Al Mayadeen news outlet reports that local journalist Safaa Ahmad was among those killed in the attack, which hit the Mezzeh neighbourhood in the Syrian capital. Rescue crews are dealing with fires on the ground.

The Israeli military has yet to confirm the attack. We will bring you more information when we have it.

Israeli army announces ground operation in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army says it has begun a “targeted and demarcated ground operation in southern Lebanon” against what it called Hezbollah targets. It said the operation is under way in several villages near the border and that Israeli warplanes are backing the ground troops.

Explosion reported in Tel Aviv area, drone intercepted over sea

Residents in central Israel have reported an explosion in the Tel Aviv area and authorities are investigating the matter, according to Israel’s Channel 12. Unconfirmed initial reports say that Israeli defence systems intercepted a target in the city’s vicinity.

The Israeli military has also announced it has intercepted a drone over the Mediterranean Sea, dozens of kilometres off the coast of central Israel.

At least 5 people confirmed dead following Israeli attack in Sidon

At least five people are now confirmed dead following the Israeli military strike on the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in the coastal city in southern Lebanon, the Al Mayadeen news outlet reports.

Earlier, we reported that the Israeli air attack hit the home of Munir al-Maqdah, a brigadier general with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Lebanon – a coalition of Palestinian armed groups aligned with the Fatah movement.

The attack marks the first Israeli air attack on the overcrowded refugee camp – Lebanon’s largest of several Palestinian camps – since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel began in October last year.

Israeli forces entering Lebanon face very different opponents than in Gaza, occupied West Bank

This is a situation that is escalating on all fronts. Just in the last hour, Israel was striking Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

Israel does not typically comment on its military actions in Syria. But when it comes to Lebanon, the Israelis say they are launching what they call limited, targeted raids into Lebanese territory.

But this is still an invasion into a sovereign country.

The Israeli army says that their focus is on the villages in the south of Lebanon where they say there are Hezbollah targets, Hezbollah military infrastructure and other Hezbollah strongholds.

Tonight, at the cabinet meeting that essentially gave the approval for these plans to go ahead for the Israeli military, there was concern from a lot of ministers within the government who said that this needed to be a very small-scale operation because they are not sure what they are going to be up against once they hit Lebanese soil.

It is different from what they have been facing in Gaza. It’s different from the occupied West Bank.

But the Israeli army has said that this is what they need to do to accomplish their goals. To change the balance of power in the north and return Israelis back to those evacuated towns and settlements along the border.

_{An Israeli tank manoeuvres in northern Israel near the Lebanon border on Monday night}


Israeli soldiers entering Lebanon have Hezbollah special forces in their sights: Analyst

Elijah Magnier, a military and security analyst based in Brussels, said rather than a limited ground operation, the Israeli force on the Lebanon border is growing in size and likely plans to surround and eliminate Hezbollah special forces in southern Lebanon.

“It is not what the Israelis are telling us. From open source [intelligence], we understand that the Israelis have prepared at least 18 brigades. So we are talking about between 70,000 and 100,000 soldiers,” Magnier told Al Jazeera.

“If we look at the composition of the strength of Hezbollah, it is made up mainly of the missile units and the special forces. Israel believes that it has destroyed most of the missile units or at least 50 to 60 to 70 percent. And now, what Israel wants is to surround the special forces that are deployed – two units to the south of the Litani River and one unit to the north of the Litani River,” Magnier said.

“The decision to go after the three units will depend on the first engagement with these forces south of the Litani River. But I don’t think the Israelis are going to start attacking these two units immediately,” he said.

Magnier added: “It is not going to be like Gaza”.

_{A picture taken from northern Israel, along the border with southern Lebanon, shows a fire following Israeli bombardment on an area of south Lebanon on Monday night}


Israel turns ‘deaf ear’ to US’s calls for ceasefire, protection of civilian life

There has been no reaction since this ground operation actually began from the White House or the State Department.

However, earlier in the day, the State Department made very clear that it was aware of such Israeli plans. The nature of these plans it would not discuss, saying that it could not reveal the contents of diplomatic exchanges between allies.

The State Department intimated that it had some knowledge of the impending operation by Israel but the details were not forthcoming.

We heard President Biden saying as well that it was time for a ceasefire. He’s been calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon for a period of time and for months in Gaza and yet, Israel, despite these calls, continues its operations.

The US administration has been constantly stating that Israel must take care to preserve civilian life, that it must try and avoid humanitarian disaster. At the same time, even in these particular cases, this is not followed by Israel on many an occasion.

Quite clearly, the Netanyahu government is just turning a deaf ear to what the US is saying to it.

Palestinian leader survives Israeli assassination attempt in Lebanon, son killed: Report

Munir al-Maqdah has reportedly survived an Israeli military attack on his home in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp in the Lebanese city of Sidon earlier tonight, the Al Mayadeen news outlet reports, citing a Palestinian source.

Al-Maqdah’s son, Hassan al-Maqdah, is reported to have been killed in the bombing, which has taken the lives of at least five people and injured several more.

Al-Maqdah is a brigadier general with the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Lebanon, a coalition of Fatah-aligned Palestinian armed groups, according to reports.

People ‘still under the rubble’ after Israel bombs Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

The attack [was] on the Palestinian refugee camp in Ein al-Hilweh, which is just to the south of the city of Sidon, in south Lebanon. For now, there are reports of several casualties.

It’s the most densely-populated refugee camp in Lebanon with more than 130,000 Palestinians living there. It’s described as the capital of Palestinian refugees and the attack, as we understand from witnesses there, has destroyed several buildings with many people under the rubble.

Rescue teams are struggling to get inside because of the very narrow alleyways.

This attack, according to reports from there, was targeting a Palestinian faction leader… but he survived, as per the sources there. We will need to follow up on this story to confirm he survived.

But what we know now is there are several people killed, many are still under the rubble, and it comes in parallel with the attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs, where around eight attacks [took place] and four buildings were flattened. There were also attacks in several areas in south Lebanon.

We have several developments happening simultaneously with the Israeli ground operation or the invasion of Lebanon for the fourth time in 50 years.

Israeli incursion to ‘probe’ Hezbollah strength to determine level of resistance: Analyst

Omar Rahman, a fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, said Israel’s deployment of a limited number of special forces soldiers inside southern Lebanon “makes perfect sense” for the moment, and ahead of a possible full-scale ground invasion.

“Obviously, Israel would be making a fatal mistake to send in, at the start, a massive ground invasion given what has happened in the past fighting Hezbollah,” Rahman told Al Jazeera, referring to Israel’s two earlier invasions of Lebanon in 1982 and 2006, which ended in withdrawal amid Hezbollah’s growing attacks.

Israel’s ground operation is likely an attempt to measure the strength of remaining Hezbollah forces ahead of a larger offensive, Rahman said.

“It’s bombarded the whole of the south. Now it is sending in these special forces, which are a sort of expeditionary force to probe and see the landscape, see the level of Hezbollah resistance that remains in light of both the bombardment and the confusion that must be existing within Hezbollah’s ranks as a result of the assassinations, the killing of Hassan Nasrallah and a lot of the senior leadership,” he said.

_{Israeli soldiers prepare tanks and armoured personnel carriers near the border with Lebanon in northern Israel on Monday}

Israeli military announces three rocket launches from Lebanon

Israeli defence systems intercepted two rocket launches in the Upper Galilee region after crossing into northern Israel from southern Lebanon, while a third rocket fell into an open area in the Baram region.

US defence chief says Iran will face ‘serious consequences’ if it attacks Israel

In a call with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant, the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Washington supported Israel in the “necessity of dismantling [Hezbollah] attack infrastructure along the border” with Lebanon in order to prevent “October 7-style attacks on Israel’s northern communities”.

Austin also warned Iran of the consequences should it choose to fight with Washington’s key ally. “I reiterated the serious consequences for Iran in the event Iran chooses to launch a direct military attack against Israel,” he said.

Austin also said the US military is “well-postured” to defend “US personnel, partners, and allies” in the region in the “face of threats from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist organisations”.

Israeli military says commandos, paratroopers part of ground offensive

The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee says elements of Israel’s 98th Division, including the commando, paratrooper and armoured brigades, have begun “targeted and specific activities in the South Lebanon area”.

The units had been preparing for the ground offensive into Lebanon for the past few weeks, Adraee said in a post on social media, which included a video clip of Israeli troops operating at night in apparent preparation for the incursion.

_{Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging area in northern Israel near the Israel-Lebanon border}


‘Heavy fighting’: Israeli army issues warning for Litani River area

The Israeli army says intense fighting with Hezbollah is taking place in southern Lebanon, spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X. He also issued a warning for residents not to move in their vehicles from the northern area to the southern area of the Litani River.

In northern Israel, projectiles were fired at the Metula and Avivim areas, the military said, adding some were intercepted while others fell in open areas.

Israel is ‘going to go all the way with this’

Beirut-based political commentator Jamal Ghosn says Israel is attempting to intimidate Hezbollah into surrendering but “that’s not going to happen”.

“They’re trying to win with a knockout, that’s the Israeli strategy. Starting with the major intelligence coup with the pager attacks and all the way to targeting the top leadership of Hezbollah,” Ghosn told Al Jazeera.

“They’re trying to say ‘we’re more powerful than you, we’re rabid dogs and nobody can control us. The US can’t stop us, Europe can’t stop us. We are going to go all the way with this’.”

Israel is repeating the scenario from Gaza in Lebanon with indiscriminate attacks that are killing civilians, said Ghosn. “It’s a crime of war. In Gaza it’s a genocide, according to international law, and why should we not expect the same thing here.”

Elite Israeli units enter Lebanon but ground war plays to Hezbollah ‘home strengths’

They have sent in their elite paratrooper division, the 98th, which has seen extensive action in Gaza. So they are battle-hardened, albeit exhausted by now, after a year of conflict.

They have also sent in the 7th armoured brigade, which is the cream of their armoured units, as well. They are very well trained, very well backed up. The division is about 12,000 to 14,000 elite troops and it will be backed up by dozens of tanks and, of course, artillery as well.

So a very powerful force. But they have still maintained quite a bit in reserve just in case the operation gets into trouble.

The issue is that they are playing to Hezbollah’s home strengths as well, because now Hezbollah can fight back.

Hezbollah has a special forces unit called the Radwan Force that focuses especially on fighting in the south and they train solely in that location. Obviously the mountainous terrain, rocky terrain, lends itself to ambushes and sniper attacks.

In 2006, this is exactly what happened to what were then inexperienced Israeli units that were caught off-guard by Hezbollah’s training and were ambushed time and time and time again.

Aftermath of Israeli strikes on Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp


<sub>Residents and rescue teams inspect the damage following overnight Israeli air strikes


Ein el-Hilweh is the most densely populated refugee camp in Lebanon with more than 120,000 Palestinians


Rescue teams struggle to get inside because of the narrow alleyways</sub>

Houthi drones target Israeli military positions in Tel Aviv, Eilat

Yemen’s Houthi movement has targeted Israeli army bases in Tel Aviv and Eilat with drones, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree says in a televised speech.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. On Sunday, Israel struck Yemen’s Hodeidah city after the Houthis said they targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport with a missile.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired at Israel and have carried out numerous attacks on Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait since November in what they describe as a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli attack in Gaza.

Warning sirens sound off in central Israel

The Israeli military says hostile fire sirens have been activated in the region. An army statement added the alerts sounded after attacks coming from Lebanon were detected, without giving further details.

An explosion was heard in Tel Aviv, a witness told Reuters news agency.

More on Houthi drone attacks on Israel

We are receiving further details on the recently reported Houthi drone attacks.

A statement by Houthi fighters said its “unmanned air force” struck a military target of the Israeli army in the Jaffa area in Tel Aviv. It also said also four drones attacked military targets in the city of Eilat.

The Houthi statement said the two operations achieved their goals, without giving further details.

“The Yemeni armed forces salute all the steadfast [fighters] in Palestine and Lebanon for their defence of the nation and for confronting the Israeli-American aggression and their plans to subjugate all countries and peoples,” it said.

British maritime security agency reports attack in Red Sea

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received reports of an incident 64 nautical miles (188km) off the coast of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah.

UKMTO said that “four splashes [were] sighted in close proximity to the vessel”, but added that “all crew are safe and the vessel is proceeding”. It advised vessels to transit with caution in the area.

The Yemen-based Houthis have promised to continue attacking Israeli cities and ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden until Israel stops its wars on Lebanon and Gaza.

Vessel hit by sea drone off Yemen’s Hodeidah

A vessel has reported being hit by an “uncrewed surface vessel” about 64 nautical miles (120km) northwest of Yemen’s Hodeidah city.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the ship reported seeing four “splashes” close by indicating missile strikes. All crew members are safe and it is proceeding to its next port of call.

Houthis target ships in Red Sea, Arabian Sea

Yemen’s Houthi forces have carried out three operations targeting the vessels Cordelia Moon in the Red Sea and Marathopolis in the Arabian Sea, according to the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree.

In a separate statement, the multinational Joint Maritime Information Center stated that the first attack took place some 110 kilometres (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeida and targeted the Panama-flagged oil tanker Cordelia Moon.

A drone boat later damaged the Cordelia Moon, which sustained a puncture to one of its ballast tanks in the attack. Those tanks control a ship’s buoyancy.

Houthi strikes in the past have targeted ships at their waterline to disable the vessels. The ship had been heading north to the Suez Canal with armed private security guards aboard, the private security firm Ambrey said.

Another attack with a missile targeted a separate ship also heading north to the Suez Canal with armed security on board, Ambrey said.

Israeli army says it intercepted rockets fired from Lebanon

The Israeli military says “a number of” rockets fired into Israel from Lebanon were intercepted. The army statement said warning sirens were activated in the areas of Gush Dan, Sharon, Yarkon and Samaria in Israel. Details of the incident are under review, it added.

The Israeli media, quoting medical sources, reported that a man in his 50s was moderately wounded in the rocket attack on central Israel.

Hezbollah confirms rocket attacks on Israel

The Lebanese group says it launched a salvo of “Fadi-4” rockets at the Glilot base in Tel Aviv, the headquarters of the Israeli military Intelligence – Unit 8200. A statement on Telegram said the group also carried out an attack on the Mossad headquarters located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military announced the strikes earlier, adding that it intercepted some of the rockets launched.

France sends helicopter carrier to Eastern Mediterranean

A French helicopter carrier will arrive in the Eastern Mediterranean in the next few days in case a decision is taken to evacuate foreign nationals from Lebanon, France’s army says.

Western nations have been weighing their options on how to get citizens out of Lebanon safely if a full-scale war breaks out there, with Cyprus and possibly Turkey seen as offering sanctuary to tens of thousands of people.

France, which has about 20,000 citizens in Lebanon, sent its Dixmude helicopter carrier from the naval port of Toulon to the region on Monday.

UN seeks $400m to help displaced Lebanese

Lebanon’s prime minister and the UN humanitarian agency say they’re launching an appeal for more than $400m to meet the emergency needs of civilians affected by the escalating conflict.

“Prime Minister Najib Mikati and humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon Imran Riza today launched a $426m flash appeal to mobilise urgent resources for civilians affected by the escalating conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Lebanon,” the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said.

UAE expresses ‘deep concern’ over Lebanon escalation, announces $100m relief package

The United Arab Emirates has “reaffirmed its unwavering position towards the unity of Lebanon, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity”, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has also “directed the delivery of an urgent $100m relief package to the people of Lebanon”, according to the statement.

The UAE also called for international support to prevent further escalation and stressed the importance of providing full protection to civilians, according to international law.