2 found dead in Kiryat Shmona after Hezbollah rocket fire
Two people have died in northern Israel this morning after Hezbollah targeted the area with rocket attacks, Israeli authorities have said.
The Israeli police said a man and a woman were found "mortally wounded" in the area of Kiryat Shmona and pronounced dead a short time ago.
They said the bodies were found after reports were received about fragments of rockets falling in the area. It was not immediately clear exactly how the two died, though the IDF had said earlier that "approximately 20 projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon."
Police urged Israelis to avoid entering areas where rocket fragments may have fallen and not to "approach or touch the remains of rockets that may contain explosive material" and to report any findings to local authorities.
IDF issues new evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces continues to target Hezbollah in villages in southern Lebanon, Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X today, issuing new evacuation warnings that have covered one quarter of the country.
He ordered the residents not to return to their homes in the south until further notice, saying that doing so will put their own lives in danger.
The IDF has ramped up its assault of the south in recent days, increasingly issuing warnings for villages and towns in the south and the east.
‘We don’t need lectures’: Lebanese bristle at Netanyahu's warning
Fears have grown over Israel's plans for its invasion of Lebanon after Netanyahu issued a warning last night calling on Lebanese people to rise up against Hezbollah if they don't want to face the possibility of the destruction seen in Gaza.
Still, Hisham Karameh, a salesperson at a clothing store, said he "laughed when I heard about Netanyahu's threats."
"This is not the first time," Karameh, 28, told NBC News, noting Israel's past invasions of Lebanon, including its 1982 invasion which resulted in a nearly two-decade occupation of the country's south.
Other residents said they did not need "lectures" from the Israeli leader.
“Even though I agree with all that he said, we don’t need lectures from him about how to behave and what to do," said Marie Khalil, a schoolteacher. "We do not support Hezbollah, but looking at all the Israeli criminal actions, I can’t trust his intentions. Let him go face Iran and Syria that are after our destruction."
Rouba Sleiman, a housewife, agreed, saying there was "no need to remind us. We are already against Hezbollah and what it did to us and to its people. We also don’t want Israel to invade our country."
Iran's Quds Force chief is healthy and to get medal from supreme leader, adviser says
Iran's top military commander, Esmail Qaani, is in "good health" and will soon receive a military medal from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a senior adviser has said, according to the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
Qaani's fate has been the subject of intense speculation as he has not been seen in public since reportedly traveling to Beirut. Iranian officials have in recent days sought to dismiss suggestions he may have been killed in an Israeli strike.
Qaani succeeded slain commander Qassem Soleimani as the leader of the Quds force, the overseas intelligence wing of the Iranian paramilitary force IRGC.
Stabbing attack in Israel injures six, police says
At least six people were injured in a stabbing attack in the northern city of Hadera, Israeli police said, adding it occurred at four different locations.
"The attacker has been neutralized, and this is confirmed as a terror attack," a police spokesperson said. "It is suspected that another suspect fled the scene on a scooter," the police added.
Video shows smoking aftermath of Israeli airstrike on south Beirut
An overnight Israeli airstrike on what appeared to be a residential building in south Beirut left piles of smoking debris. Thousands of Lebanese people have left the area amid Israeli warnings and sustained bombardment.
Biden and Netanyahu to speak today, officials tell NBC News
President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Netanyahu by phone today, an Israeli official and a U.S. official have told NBC News.
The Israeli official earlier said that Netanyahu had called off his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's trip to the U.S. because the Israeli leader wanted a conversation with Biden and because the Israeli Cabinet is due to vote on the response to the Iranian missile attack.
This would be the first call between the U.S. and Israeli leaders since Aug. 21.
Rocket interceptions seen in Haifa
NBC News just witnessed multiple interceptions from our balcony in Haifa.
The IDF said that sirens had sounded in the northern port city, a day after Hezbollah fired more than 130 rockets at the area.
Hezbollah says it pushed back Israeli forces on border
Hezbollah said it repelled two attempted incursions by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon early today.
The Iran-backed militant group said it targeted an IDF unit that was attempting to advance toward the western village of Labbouneh with artillery and rocket weapons and achieved direct hits, "which led to its retreat."
Hezbollah fighters also detonated an explosive device and clashed with Israeli soldiers "when they attempted to infiltrate the town of Blida," in the east, it said.
The IDF has not commented on the claims.
Families living on the streets of Beirut
Displaced families at Martyr's Square in downtown Beirut this morning. Lebanese government figures suggest that more than 180,000 internally displaced people are currently living in approved shelters, but many have been forced to live on the street as a result of Israel's invasion.