Israel-Hamas war latest Israel turns its focus north toward Lebanon and Hezbollah

Jerusalem, Sep 19 (AP) Israel's defense minister has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
     Two waves of explosive attacks hit Syria and Lebanon: an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah that killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000 on Tuesday, and exploding walkie-talkies and other electronics Wednesday across Lebanon that killed at least 20 people and injured 450 others.
     “We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Wednesday.
     The head of Hezbollah's Executive Council promised the group would respond to Tuesday's pager explosion attack with “special punishment.”
     Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas' October 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.
     Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas' October 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
    
     Here's the latest:
    
     Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls for restraint after receiving the Palestinian President in Madrid
     MADRID - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for restraint following the wave of explosives attacks in the Middle East, after he received the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Madrid.
     “Today the risk of escalation has again dangerously increased. President Abbas and I have been talking about it in Lebanon, so we have to make a new and strong call for restraint, for de-escalation, for peaceful coexistence between countries. In short, to peace,” said Sanchez after a 45-minute meeting with Abbas.
     This was the first meeting between the leaders since Spain recognized Palestine as a state on May 28, in a coordinated action with Ireland and Norway. Sanchez mentioned the strong importance that his government gave to the advisory opinion given by the International Court of Justice, which established the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
     Abbas, for his part, called for a Middle East Peace Conference to be held in Madrid, like the one that took place 33 years ago in the Spanish capital.
    
     Second day of device explosions in Lebanon killed 25 people and wounded more than 600 others
     BEIRUT — Lebanon's health minister says 25 people were killed and more than 600 wounded during the second day of exploding device attacks that were blamed on Israel.
     Firass Abiad told reporters on Thursday that the injuries were more severe in Wednesday's attack, since the walkie-talkies that exploded then were bigger than the pagers used a day earlier.
     Of the 608 people wounded on Wednesday, 61 remain in intensive care, Abiad said, adding that 141 surgeries were performed.
     The number of dead in the first day of attacks, on Tuesday, remained 12, the minister said, noting that more than 1,300 people suffered injuries ranging from mid-level to severe.
     Abiad said 226 people wounded on Tuesday remain in intensive care and 955 operations have been performed.
     The latest death toll raises the number of people killed by exploding devices to 37 since Tuesday, while the number of injured is above 3,000.
     Many of those killed and wounded were members of the militant Hezbollah group.
    
     Iranian ambassador injured in Lebanon device attack is transferred to Tehran
     TEHRAN, Iran — The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, who was injured in the exploding device attacks this week, has been transferred to Tehran, the Iranian Embassy said Thursday.
     Ambassador Mojtaba Amani's general health is “very good," the embassy said in a statement. Amani along with some 90 injured Lebanese citizens were transferred to Tehran on Wednesday night, it added.
     Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Amani in a Tehran hospital, state media reported.
     Iran is the main supporter of Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese group that Israel sees it as its most direct threat. Many of the group's fighters were killed and injured in the explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
    
     Turkish foreign minister alleges that exploding device attacks are Israeli strategy to expand war to Lebanon
     ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has described the waves of exploding communication devices as a strategy by Israel to expand the war in Gaza to Lebanon.
     Fidan, in an interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency on Thursday, also voiced concerns over a wider regional conflict.
     “We have seen that (Israel) has, step by step, started to escalate (the conflict) toward Lebanon,” he said.
     Pagers and walkie-talkies used mainly by members of the militant Hezbollah group exploded in different parts of Lebanon over the past two days, killing dozens and wounding 3,000 people.
     “The escalation in the region is really worrying,” Fidan said. “We have reached the point where these operations being carried out by Israel are increasingly turning more provocative and in return, Hezbollah, Iran and other elements that are close to them are being faced with no other option than to respond.”
    
     Hezbollah says it struck military positions in northern Israel, wounding at least 8 people
     JERUSALEM — Hezbollah has struck what it says are military positions in northern Israel as part of its ongoing attacks in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, wounding at least eight people.
     The militant group has vowed to continue such operations after several of its members were killed and thousands wounded when their personal devices exploded, in what appeared to be a sophisticated attack by Israel.
     Hezbollah claimed to have struck three military positions near the border on Thursday, two of them with armed drones. The Israeli military said the drones crashed near communities and did not report any casualties.
     Sharon Koren, a spokesperson for Ziv Hospital, said two people were undergoing orthopedic surgery and four were lightly wounded in the attacks. Avi Weissman, the deputy director of Rambam Hospital, said one person was undergoing surgery and another was in moderate condition.
     Hezbollah began striking northern Israel shortly after Hamas' October 7 surprise attack ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both close allies of Iran.
     Israel has responded to the near-daily fire with escalating strikes of its own and in recent days has warned of a wider military operation.
     The military said early Thursday that it had struck several militant sites in southern Lebanon overnight.
    
     Israeli strikes kill at least 10 in Gaza, including 3 women and 3 children
     KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes have killed at least 10 people in the Gaza Strip, including three women and three children.
     They were laid to rest Thursday after the overnight strikes in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. Records at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis confirmed the toll and an Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.
     Mohammed Abu Huweij said his wife and three children were killed while he was out getting food.
     “The eldest, Mira, was 8 years old and the youngest was 9 months. What did they do?” he said. “I left, and when I came back my entire family had been martyred.”
     Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians in its nearly yearlong campaign against Hamas, which operates in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
     The war began after Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel on October 7 in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 hostage.
     Israel's offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says a little over half were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
    
     Lebanon bans pagers and walkie-talkies on all flights departing from Beirut airport
     BEIRUT — Lebanon's civil aviation authorities have banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.
     The measure announced Thursday comes after such devices, mainly used by members of the militant Hezbollah group, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing dozens and wounding 3,000 people over the past two days.
     The authorities called on all airline companies to inform passengers using the airport that carrying pagers and walkie-talkies onto jets is banned “until further notice.” It added that authorities will confiscate such devices found with passengers.

     Israeli citizen indicted for involvement in Iranian assassination plot, Israeli security officials say
     JERUSALEM — Israeli security officials say an Israeli citizen has been indicted for involvement in an Iranian assassination plot against top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
     A statement from the Shin Bet internal security agency on Thursday said that the citizen was recruited by Iranian intelligence to “carry out terrorist activities” on Israeli soil and “promote assassination attacks” on Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.
     It was unclear how far the alleged plot had advanced.
     The statement did not say whether the Israeli had obtained a weapon or developed a concrete plan.
     The statement said the Israeli had traveled to Iran twice — once in August following the assassination of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Iran's capital that was widely blamed on Israel.
     Israel has not said whether it was involved.
     The Shin Bet said the assassination plot was an attempt by Iran to follow through on its pledge to avenge his death.
     The statement said the Israeli was paid 5,000 Euros (USD 5,575.60) but had demanded a million dollars before doing anything. The Iranians refused the demand but said they would be in touch, according to the Shin Bet.
     Earlier this week, the Shin Bet said an explosion in a Tel Aviv park last September was linked to an attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate Moshe Yaalon, a former military chief of staff and defense minister.
     The Lebanese militant group is closely allied with Iran.
     On Tuesday, the police said they had found and dismantled a similar explosive device fitted with a camera and a mechanism that would allow it to be activated by Hezbollah.
     It was unclear whether the indicted Israeli was linked to either of the alleged bomb plots.

     Bulgaria rejects claims that exploding devices were shipped through its territory
     SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian authorities rejected claims that exploding devices have been shipped through the territory of the Balkan country.
     “No customs operations with communication equipment (pagers) have been carried out through the territory of Bulgaria,” the state agency for national security said in a statement on Thursday.
     It came in response to media reports alleging that a company registered in Bulgaria had supplied the Lebanese organization Hezbollah with the devices, which later exploded in Lebanon and Syria.
     The statement added that the agency was carrying out joint checks with the National Revenue Agency and the Ministry of Interior over the alleged involvement of a Bulgarian-registered company in the supply of communications equipment to Hezbollah.
     The Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd., owned by a Norwegian citizen, has been linked by Hungarian media to the sale of the devices that exploded in Lebanon.
     Norta Global Ltd. was registered in April 2022 as a project management company, but there is no data available that they produce anything, and there are no records available about their financial operations. It is registered at the same address in downtown Sofia as 196 other companies.
    
     Japanese electronics company says walkie-talkie with its logo reportedly used in explosive attacks against Hezbollah was discontinued 10 years ago
     TOKYO — Japanese wireless communication equipment-maker Icom says it cannot confirm whether a walkie-talkie used in the explosive attacks against Hezbollah was related to the company, noting that the production and sales of that device and its battery were discontinued about a decade ago.
     The Osaka-based Icom was responding Thursday to a report that said one of the walkie-talkies used in the attacks a day earlier had a sticker with the company's logo. Icom also noted that the device in question did not have an anti-counterfeit hologram sticker, which all authentic Icom products should be carrying.
     Company executive Yoshiki Enomoto told Japanese television NTV he was “surprised” by the news. He said the company could not confirm if the unit in question was Icom-made.
     “This specific device had a lot of fake copies out in the market,” he said, adding that company officials could only determine its authenticity if they see its circuits.
     Icom said the wireless radio unit IC-V82 was once manufactured for export including to the Middle East from 2004 to October 2014. But the production and shipment of its main unit ended about 10 years ago and batteries for the main units have also been discontinued.
     The company said its export models are only distributed through official sales representatives under rigid export control rules set by the Japanese Trade Ministry.
     All Icom radio equipment is manufactured by its subsidiary, Wakayama Icom Inc., under strict security controls that only allow use of authorized parts. The products are only manufactured at the Wakayama plant in Japan, Icom said. (AP) NPK
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)