Hezbollah

• Israeli warplanes conducted targeted strikes against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on April 9, resulting in significant structural damage to militant infrastructure, prompting retaliatory rocket fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border into northern Israel. • The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported 12 cross-border missile launches from Lebanon and three Israeli air sorties within a 24-hour period, marking the most intense exchange since last month's ceasefire agreement. • Regional diplomatic channels convened emergency talks through US and French intermediaries, with UN Secretary-General expressing concern that "uncontrolled escalation could trigger wider Middle Eastern conflict" involving additional state and non-state actors.

Beirut residents and officials say thousand-pound-bombs mainly hit civilians in mission dubbed ‘Operation Eternal Darkness’Middle East crisis – live updatesIt took Israel only 10 minutes to carry out one of the worst mass-killings in Lebanon since the end of the country’s civil war in 1990.Omar Rakha heard the war planes but did not feel the explosions; it was only when he woke up face down on the street, bleeding, that he understood what had happened. The building next to his in the Barbour neighbourhood of central Beirut had been destroyed by two Israeli bombs – he then ran through the flaming wreckage to find his sister, screaming. Continue reading...

• US and Israeli forces launched expanded 'Juniper Oak' drills on April 4, 2026, involving 12,000 troops simulating multi-front attacks near the Lebanon border. • Drills feature F-35 joint operations and Iron Dome intercepts, responding to 150 Hezbollah rocket launches since March 15. • Exercise underscores US commitment with $3.8 billion annual aid, amid warnings from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of 'deterring wider escalation.'

• The IDF issued warnings on April 2, 2026, of potential coordinated rocket attacks by Iran and Hezbollah toward Israel as rocket sirens sounded across the country on Passover eve. • Hezbollah reported a top commander killed in a Beirut strike, escalating tensions amid broader Middle East conflict. • This development heightens risks of multi-front escalation, directly impacting US ally Israel and regional stability critical to American interests.

War shows little sign of easing despite Donald Trump claiming Iranian leadership ‘just asked’ for ceasefireIsrael unleashed two waves of attacks on Tehran and said it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Wednesday with little sign of the war easing up despite Donald Trump repeating a claim that Iran’s leadership was seeking a ceasefire.The US president, writing on social media, said that Iran’s president had “just asked” for a ceasefire, and that American troops would be “out of Iran pretty quickly”, as he sought to extricate the US from the war. However, he confused the picture by incorrectly describing the president as a “new regime” leader. Continue reading...

Ayman Ghazali, naturalized US citizen from Lebanon, often consumed content linked to Lebanese group onlineThe assailant who attacked a synagogue in Michigan earlier this month was inspired by Hezbollah, the FBI said on Monday.Jennifer Runyan, head of the FBI’s Detroit field office, announced during a press conference that Ayman Ghazali, 41, had frequently consumed Hezbollah-related content online before the attack. In a video recorded before he drove his truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township – a north-western suburb of Detroit – on 12 March, Ghazali said he wanted to “kill as many of them as I possibly can”. Continue reading...

IDF is attempting to gain control of border towns, in particular the strategic hilltop city of KhiamMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesIsrael and Hezbollah are engaged in intense ground clashes in at least three strategic areas in south Lebanon as Israel pushes on with its ground invasion of its neighbour, according to a Lebanese security source and residents of the affected towns.Much of the fighting was concentrated around the strategic hilltop city of Khiam, with the Israel Defense Forces carrying out an air and artillery campaign against Hezbollah fighters dug into the city. Fighting escalated there after days of clashes, with a Hezbollah spokesperson acknowledging there were “heightened clashes” on the eastern and northern outskirts of the city. Continue reading...

• Israel announces ground operations targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, escalating the multi-front conflict. • Iran launches a new wave of drone and missile strikes across the Gulf, including damage to Iraq's Al-Rasheed Hotel and attacks on Kuwait and Qatar. • U.S. President Trump receives regular options to end the Iran war, per sources, amid concerns of wider regional involvement.

• The Israeli Defense Forces' 91st "Galilee" Division conducted raids in eastern southern Lebanon, killing several Hezbollah operatives as Israel prepares for potential ceasefire negotiations and discussions on Hezbollah's disarmament. • Military operations are designed to reduce missile and drone fire toward Israel and continue systematic destruction of the Iranian regime's ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle infrastructure. • The raids occur amid parallel diplomatic preparations for Lebanon ceasefire talks, signaling Israel's dual-track military and negotiation strategy in the broader regional conflict.

Israeli military also says on social media brother of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was ‘eliminated in airstrike last week’Israel’s military claimed on Sunday that the brother of the recent Michigan synagogue attacker was a Hezbollah commander responsible for managing weapons in a unit that has launched “hundreds of rockets toward Israeli civilians”.In a statement posted on X, the IDF claimed that Ibrahim Mohamad Ghazali – brother of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali – was a Hezbollah commander within a specialized branch of the Badr unit. Continue reading...

• Israel has expanded its ground operations in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah as the air campaign has already displaced more than one million people in the country. • The escalating military operations mark a significant expansion of the conflict beyond direct Iran-Israel exchanges and represent humanitarian consequences of unprecedented scale in the region. • The displacement crisis threatens to create a major humanitarian emergency while expanding the geographic scope of the conflict beyond the Iran-U.S. military confrontation.