Israel tells more south Lebanon residents to evacuate in battle against Hezbollah

BEIRUT ? Israel's military told residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate immediately on Thursday as it pressed on with its cross-border incursion and struck Hezbollah targets in a suburb of Beirut.

The latest warnings took the number of southern towns subject to evacuation calls to 70 and included the provincial capital Nabatieh, suggesting another Israeli military operation was imminent against the Iran-backed armed group.

Hezbollah also carried out new strikes, targeting what it called Israel's "Sakhnin base" for military industries in Haifa Bay on the Mediterranean coast of northern Israel with a salvo of rockets.

As it pushes into Lebanon, Israel is also weighing its options for retaliation against its arch-foe Iran which launched its largest ever assault on Israel on Tuesday.

More: Israel plans 'significant' and swift response to Iran missile attack

Asked on Thursday if he would support Israel striking Iran's oil facilities, President Joe Biden told reporters: "We're discussing that." The comments added to a surge in global oil prices, and rising Middle East tensions have raised traders' worries about potential supply disruptions.

Biden said, "There is nothing going to happen today." The president on Wednesday said he would not support any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

At meetings in Doha this week, Gulf Arab states sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality in the conflict between Tehran and Israel amid concerns that a wider escalation in violence could threaten their oil facilities, two sources told Reuters.

Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza for almost a year after the militant group's Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks involving the United States.

More: Iran's Khamenei warned Nasrallah of Israeli plot to kill him, sources say

Israel says its operations in Lebanon seek to allow tens of thousands of its citizens to return home after evacuating from northern Israel by Hezbollah bombardments during the Gaza war.

More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli attacks, and nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, most of them in the past two weeks, Lebanese authorities said.

The World Health Organization said 28 healthcare workers had been killed in Lebanon in the previous 24 hours. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said flight restrictions meant the agency would not be able to deliver a large planned shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Lebanon on Friday.

Hezbollah says it has repelled several land operations by Israeli troops, including with ambushes and in direct clashes.

More: Spy satellites may have detected preparations for Iran's missile attack on Israel

Lebanese security sources say Israeli troops have entered Lebanese territory and been pushed back several times in recent days, without setting up a permanent presence.

Hezbollah said it killed 17 Israeli military personnel in combat in southern Lebanon on Thursday, citing its field and security sources. Israeli forces did not comment on the claim.

Israel's military on Thursday reported the death of one soldier. On Wednesday it announced its deadliest day in a year of clashes with Hezbollah with the deaths of eight soldiers.

Rocket sirens wailed constantly in northern Israeli towns, sending residents running for shelter, as Hezbollah kept up its cross-border fire.

More: Israel launches ground invasion in Lebanon with 'limited' raids on Hezbollah

The Lebanese army said two soldiers were killed by Israeli strikes in separate incidents in south Lebanon on Thursday, one in an attack on a military post and another in a strike on a rescue mission with the Lebanese Red Cross.

The army said that it returned fire when the military post was struck, a rare development for a force that has historically stayed on the sidelines of major conflict with Israel.

Beirut under attack

In Beirut's southern suburb known as Dahiye, a dense neighbourhood where Hezbollah holds sway, several explosions were heard on Thursday and several large plumes of smoke were rising after heavy Israeli strikes.

Overnight, Israel bombed central Beirut in an attack the Lebanese health ministry said killed nine people.

Israel's military said it struck 15 Hezbollah targets in Beirut on Thursday, including weapons sites and intelligence targets.

Reuters journalists reported hearing a heavy blast after a building in the district of Bachoura was targeted a few hundred meters from parliament, the closest an Israeli strike has come to the central downtown district.

More: Hezbollah leader Nasrallah dies in Israeli strike, upending region

A Hezbollah-linked civil defence group said seven of its staff, including two medics, were killed in the Beirut attack.

Israel also said it struck a municipality building in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, killing 15 Hezbollah members and destroying many weapons.

A number of countries were evacuating citizens from Beirut as governments worldwide urged their citizens to get out.

Iran's warnings

After Iran's missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Iran would pay, and Washington said it would work with its longtime ally to ensure Iran faced "severe consequences."

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in Doha, said on Thursday Tehran would be ready to respond.

"Any type of military attack, terrorist act or crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces," he said.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani urged serious ceasefire efforts to stop what he called Israel's aggression.

The Lebanese border front opened after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel a year ago in support of Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza. Iran's other regional allies - Yemen's Houthis and armed groups in Iraq - have also launched attacks in the region in support of Hamas.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel tells more south Lebanon residents to flee Hezbollah clashes