War clouds hover over Israel as Hezbollah launches barrage of rockets

Tensions mount even as US rushes warships and fighter jets; Western governments urge their citizens to leave Lebanon

Beirut: The tension in the Middle East escalated as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas’ political leader, blamed on Israel, sparking fears of a regional war, media reported.

Israel’s ally, the US, said it would move warships and fighter jets to the region, while Western governments called on their citizens to leave Lebanon — where the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement is based — and airlines cancelled flights, AFP reported. The killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the so-called “axis of resistance”.

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Israel on Saturday again traded fire with Hezbollah, carried out a deadly raid in the occupied West Bank, and struck a school compound in Gaza City in an attack that the Hamas-ruled territory’s civil defence agency said killed at least 17 people. Iran-backed groups from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria have already been drawn into the nearly 10-month war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

Numerous schools turned into displacement shelters have been hit across Gaza in recent weeks, with Israel insisting the facilities had been used by militants. Hamas denied using civilian infrastructure for military activities. Haniyeh was buried on Friday in Qatar, where he had been based.

Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of carrying out the attack, has not directly commented on it. Iran said on Saturday that it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets. The Pentagon said it was bolstering its military presence in the Middle East to protect US personnel and defend Israel.

It said an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln would be deployed, as well as additional ballistic missile defence-capable cruisers and destroyers and a new fighter squadron. US President Joe Biden, at his beach home in Delaware, was asked by reporters if he thought Iran would stand down. “I hope so,” he said. “I don’t know.”

Soon after, Hezbollah announced it had fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at the northern Israeli settlement of Beit Hillel. They said it was in response to an Israeli attack on Kfar Kela and Deir Siriane in southern Lebanon which, it said, had injured civilians. Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah announced the deaths of two of its fighters, including a 17-year-old from Deir Siriane.

Haniyeh’s killing is among a series of attacks since April that have heightened fears of a regional conflagration. His death came hours after Israel struck south Beirut, killing Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr. Both Britain and the US on Saturday urged their citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in retaliation for its unprecedented October 7 attack which triggered war in Gaza and resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

Israel’s campaign against Hamas has killed at least 39,550 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths. Haniyeh was Hamas’ lead negotiator in efforts to end the war. His killing raised questions about the continued viability of efforts by Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators to broker a truce and exchange of hostages and prisoners.