Israel deploys troops to border as fears of ground offensive in Lebanon grow

Israeli troop build-up on Lebanese border

Israel has deployed troops near the border with Lebanon, a day after the air strikes in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "settled the score" with Nasrallah's death, calling it a "historic turning point".

That troop build-up follows comments from the Israeli military on Wednesday that it was preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon.

Speaking to troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israel's airstrikes were designed to "prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah."

Thousands flee as Israeli airstrikes continue

Lebanon is currently observing three days of mourning following Nasrallah's killing but Israeli warplanes have continued to bombard Beirut with the health ministry reporting 33 people killed across Lebanon on Saturday.

The IDF released footage on Saturday it says showed strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. 

The Israeli military said that "among the targets that were struck are Hezbollah launchers that were aimed toward Israeli territory, structures in which weapons were stored and additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure."

Meanwhile, the number of those displaced by the conflict from southern Lebanon has more than doubled and now stands at more than 211,000, according to the United Nations.

Hundreds of displaced families have been sleeping in public spaces in Beirut as the Israeli aerial assault continues.

Many families took shelter in public squares and beaches or in their cars in the city centre, which has so far been spared from the barrage.

"We just want a safe place, we do not need clothes or aid or food or drink. We just want a safe place so that our children are not afraid, we left the Syrian war for the sake of the children, we came here and the same war happened," said Syrian refugee, Fatima Ziyada.

The wave of displacement comes alongside a rapid escalation over the past week that has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon and culminated with a massive barrage of strikes Friday and overnight that levelled at least six multi-story buildings.

Air sirens sound in Israel

And across the border in Israel, Tel Aviv residents took shelter as sirens sounded throughout the city.

The Israeli military said a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted shortly after the sirens were heard.

There were no reports of injuries.

It was not immediately known if the missile strike was aimed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flight who cut short a trip to the US to return to Israel.

Israel says another senior Hezbollah commander killed

And on Sunday the Israeli military said it killed another high-ranking Hezbollah official in an airstrike.

The military said Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah's Central Council, was killed in an airstrike on Saturday. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

Several senior Hezbollah commanders have been killed in Israeli strikes in recent weeks, including the Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut on Friday.

Four killed in Gaza Strip

Palestinian officials say Israeli strikes have killed at least four people in the Gaza Strip.

Two people were killed in separate strikes early Sunday in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. That’s according to the nearby Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. It said another six people were wounded.

The Gaza Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, more than half of them women and children. It does not say how many of those killed were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Reports of airstrikes in Syria

A number of militants were killed and wounded in eastern Syria early on Sunday near a strategic border crossing with Iraq in apparent airstrikes, pro-government media and an opposition war monitor reported.

Pan-Arab television network Al-Mayadeen cited unnamed sources saying that at least eight Syrians were killed in the strike by the Bou Kamal crossing in Israeli airstrikes.

It was unclear how they confirmed Israeli jets were behind the strikes.

Meanwhile, Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five airstrikes killed at least 15 militants, among them leaders, and wounded at least 20 others. The Observatory said the strikes targeted headquarters and warehouses in the city of Deir al-Zour and surrounding towns.

Pro-government radio station Sham FM said that prior to the blasts heard in Deir al-Zour, explosions were heard at a U.S. military base in north-eastern Syria following rocket and drone attacks.

None of the reports could be independently verified.

The U.S. military’s Central Command, which has launched airstrikes on Iranian military personnel and Tehran-backed militant groups in Syria’s eastern Deir al-Zour province, didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

The Israeli military doesn’t usually acknowledge its strike on Syria. However, when it does so, it says it targets Iran-backed militants.

Protests in Iran

Thousands of people have gathered across Iran to protest the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike.

State TV aired footage of protests in several major cities on Sunday. At Iran’s parliament, lawmakers chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

Iran helped establish Hezbollah in the 1980s and has provided the Lebanese militant group with sophisticated weaponry and training.