Report: IDF strikes Hezbollah affiliated media building in Beirut

The Israel Air Force struck Hezbollah weapon structures located in Dahieh, south of Beirut, during the early hours of Wednesday morning, the IDF announced.

According to Israel's military, the terrorist weapon structures were located with civilian infrastructure.

The IDF noted that the strike was part of efforts to damage Hezbollah's weapons storage "embedded beneath residential buildings in the heart of the city of Beirut, endangering the population in the area."

It also emphasized that steps were taken to mitigate damage to civilians before the strikes. 

Rocket alarms that blared in Tel Aviv and other areas of central and northern Israel delayed the departure of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CNN reported on Wednesday morning.

Sirens had also sounded in Herzliya and Nazareth.

The IDF announced that it had intercepted two projectiles that had been fired from Lebanon into Israel, adding that the incident was under review.

After rocket sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and other areas of central and northern Israel, including Herzliya and Nazareth, on Wednesday morning, the IDF announced that it had intercepted two projectiles that had been fired from Lebanon into Israel.

The incident is under review, the military added.

The Israel Police later noted that it had received reports of shrapnel falling in Herzliya and Ramat Hasharon and that a vehicle had sustained damage.

Over the past two days, the Hezbollah commanders of the Jibchit, Jouaiya, and Qana sectors were killed by Israeli air force strikes in Lebanon, the IDF stated on Wednesday morning.

The three sector commanders had reportedly overseen many attacks on civilians in Israel, including rocket and anti-tank missile attacks on communities in the North.

Additionally, Khalil Mohammad Amhaz, a terrorist operative in Hezbollah's Aerial Unit, was killed by the IAF on Monday, the IDF added.

The IDF called on residents of Tyre, Lebanon, to evacuate on Wednesday morning ahead of the IDF's planned strikes in the area, Arab Media Spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on X/Twitter.

Adraee emphasized that the residents must move out of the locations marked in red within the graphic posted and noted that they should head "north of the Awali River."

"Anyone who is near Hezbollah facilities and combat equipment is putting his life in danger," he added.

#عاجل بيان عاجل لسكان منطقة صور في لبنان
⭕️الانذار موجهة تحديدًا إلى المتواجدون في المباني بين الشوارع: الحيرام, جعفر شرف الدين, أبو ديب و شارع الاثار

⭕️أنشطة حزب الله تجبر جيش الدفاع على العمل ضده وبقوة حيث لا تنوي المساس بكم

⭕️عليكم بالأبتعاد فوراً الى خارج المنطقة المحددة… pic.twitter.com/5ngkUehGJm

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 23, 2024

Rocket sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and other areas of central and northern Israel, including Herzliya and Nazareth, on Wednesday morning, the IDF announced.

The military stated that two projectiles had been fired from Lebanon into Israel, and the incident was under review.

The Israel Police later noted that it had received reports of shrapnel falling in Herzliya and Ramat Hasharon and that a vehicle had sustained damage.

Israel's emergency medical response service, Magen David Adom, also stated that no casualties were reported.

This is a developing story.

The governance of Gaza the day after the war and the potential for a hostage deal were among the topics raised during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

“The two sides discussed the issue of the governing framework in Gaza on the day after the war,” the Prime Minister’s Office said after the meeting, which it described as “friendly” and “productive.”

The United States and Israel have been at odds over day-after plans for Gaza, although they both agreed that Hamas would not be allowed to rule the enclave of some 2.2 million Palestinians.

The US wants to see a reformed Palestinian Authority govern Gaza as part of a pathway to a two-state resolution to the conflict.

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington on Tuesday that “we want to see governance in Gaza that is unified with the West under what we hope is a revitalized Palestinian Authority.” In addition, he said, “There can be no long-term displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. We don’t want to see territorial reduction in Gaza,” he stated.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during statements to the media inside The Kirya, which houses the Israeli Defence Ministry, after their meeting in Tel Aviv on October 12, 2023. (credit: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“What we want to see are affirmative elements that will get us to a sustained peace. And that, in our view, needs to include the Palestinian people’s voices” and “their aspirations,” he explained.

“That needs to be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza,” he said.

Netanyahu has yet to lay down clear plans for the day after in Gaza or even markers that would determine the end of the war, except to say that Hamas must be destroyed. He has also spoken of local Gaza governance that does not include the Palestinian Authority, even a reformed Palestinian Authority.

No to a Palestinian state

Netanyahu’s government has also opposed the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza or the West Bank.

The State Department said that Blinken spoke with Netanyahu about “the importance of charting a new path forward in the post-conflict period that allows Palestinians to rebuild their lives and provides governance, security, and reconstruction for Gaza.”

Blinken arrived in Israel less than a week after the IDF assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a push to renew the dormant Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

“The Secretary underscored the need to capitalize on Israel’s successful action to bring Yahya Sinwar to justice by securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” the State Department said.

Israel has already begun discussions about new options for a hostage deal, while the United States has assumed it would be resuming talks toward the three-phase deal that was first put on the table in May. No formal resumption of talks has begun, however.

Blinken also arrives at a time of tension between Israel and the Biden administration over the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The US, earlier this month, warned Israel it would constrain military aid unless the situation improved.

“The Secretary emphasized the need for Israel to take additional steps to increase and sustain the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and ensure that assistance reaches civilians throughout Gaza,” the State Department said.

Patel stated, “The Secretary stressed and reiterated with the Prime Minister earlier today that we want to continue to see progress made.”

“We are continuing to press Israel that there is a responsibility to maximize and streamline the existing crossings and open more crossings for more examples of aid into Gaza,” Patel said.

The IDF and the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on Tuesday that as of last week, “237 trucks containing humanitarian aid, including food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment from Jordan and the international community, were transferred to the northern Gaza Strip via the Allenby Bridge and the Port of Ashdod.”

“The IDF, via COGAT, will continue to act in accordance with international law to facilitate and ease the humanitarian response to the Gaza Strip,” the military and COGAT stated. 

The IDF conducted airstrikes on Tuesday overnight targeting terror sites of the Hezbollah terror organization in Beirut, focusing on a key base of the group's naval unit, the IDF reported late Tuesday morning.

The strikes targeted warehouses containing weaponry, command centers, and additional sites associated with the Lebanon-based terrorist group, and were directed by intelligence from the Intelligence Directorate and the Navy.

A view of damage caused by previous Israeli airstrikes, as smoke rises over Beirut's southern suburbs, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, at Choueifat district, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 3, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Among the attacked locations were underground infrastructures, including aerial projectiles and naval vessels used by Hezbollah in its operations against the State of Israel, the IDF noted.

Hezbollah’s central naval base

The central base of Hezbollah’s naval unit was specifically identified as a significant operational hub, used for storing fast boats and managing training and experiments for the unit.

The vessels belonging to this unit are designed to engage Israeli Navy ships and to target strategic maritime objectives in Israeli waters, according to the IDF.

Prior to the airstrikes, the IDF implemented various measures aimed at reducing the likelihood of civilian casualties, including issuing advanced and focused warnings to residents in the vicinity.