Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) - Israel’s military said Thursday it killed 15 Hezbollah militants in an air strike on southern Lebanon, as the Iran-backed movement said it thwarted an Israeli advance at the border.

Israel announced this week that its troops had started “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, after days of heavy bombardment on areas across the country where the group holds sway.

The bombing has killed more than 1,000 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in a country already mired in economic and political crisis.

Israel, at war in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 attack, says it shifted its focus to secure its northern border and ensure the safe return of more than 60,000 people displaced by Hezbollah attacks over the past year.

On the Gaza front, the Israeli military said a strike three months ago killed three senior Hamas leaders, including Rahwi Mushtaha, the head of the militant movement’s government in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

“Mushtaha was one of Hamas’ most senior operatives and had a direct impact on decisions relating to Hamas’ force deployment,” the military said.

In Lebanon, the Israeli military said it conducted a strike overnight that killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in Bint Jbeil, an area heavily damaged during Israel’s last war with the militant group in 2006.

Israel told Lebanese people to evacuate more than 20 villages and the city of Nabatiyeh.

“The IDF (Israeli army) does not intend to harm you, and for your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Awali River. Save your lives,” said army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

- Central Beirut strike -

Hezbollah said it fought off a bid by Israeli troops to advance at Fatima’s Gate on the border.

It also said it set off two explosive devices against advancing Israeli forces as it kept up its cross-border strikes, firing a barrage of rockets at the city of Tiberias in what it said was a response to the bombardment of Lebanese “towns, villages and civilians”.

Earlier Thursday, Israel carried out a deadly air raid in downtown Beirut after eight of its ground troops were killed in combat near the border.

Multiple explosions in Beirut overnight were audible from kilometres (miles) away. AFP correspondents said buildings shook and they saw columns of smoke rising into the sky.

The strike in central Beirut hit an emergency services rescue facility run by Hezbollah, killing seven workers, the service said.

“We are peaceful civilians in our homes,” said Hassan Ammar, 82, who had been staying in the high-rise building whose walls were partly blown out by the strike after he fled south Lebanon.

Israel has yet to comment on the strike, but said it had hit about 200 Hezbollah targets “in Lebanese territory”.

- Iran missile attack -

The strike came after Hezbollah backer Iran launched its second, and largest, direct missile attack on Israel, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn that Tehran would pay.

As Israel weighs retaliation for the Iranian missile strike, President Joe Biden said the United States was “fully supportive” of the ally but ruled out supporting a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran, which arms and funds Lebanon’s Hezbollah, said it would step up its response if Israel counterattacked.

Israel’s ground operations and strikes follow the killing in a massive bombing in south Beirut of Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders.

Israel intercepted most of the 200 missiles launched by Iran.

Two people in Israel were wounded by shrapnel and a school building was damaged, while in the Israel-occupied West Bank, a Palestinian was killed.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned that “those who attack the state of Israel, pay a heavy price”, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of a “stronger” response.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said its missiles were fired in retaliation for Nasrallah’s killing alongside that of a general in the Guards’ Quds force, as well as for the killing in July of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

A day after its military said it was launching ground operations in south Lebanon, Israel on Wednesday reported the first death of a soldier in the Israel-Hezbollah war, a toll that later rose to eight dead.

The Israeli military said it had deployed a second division to support the fighting.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 46 people were killed and 85 others injured by Israeli strikes over the previous 24 hours.

The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike killed one of its soldiers during a rescue operation with the Red Cross in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

- ‘Sickening cycle’ -

The impact of the war was also felt in Syria, where the Syrian Observatory for Human Right monitor said an Israeli strike in Damascus killed four people, including Hassan Jaafar al-Qasir, Nasrallah’s son-in-law.

In Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, Liron Yori, 22, said he was worried about “where the war’s going and I don’t feel comfortable with it”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for an end to the “sickening cycle of escalation” in the Middle East, the G7 group of wealthy nations said a diplomatic solution was “still possible”.

Months of similar calls and mediation efforts have so far failed to bring a Gaza truce.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they carried out a drone attack on Tel Aviv, although there was no direct confirmation from Israeli authorities.

Hezbollah began strikes on Israeli troops a day after Hamas staged its October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,788 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.

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