Hezbollah fires at Tel Aviv as Israel bombards Lebanon

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People inspect the site of an Israeli air strike in Jiyeh along the highway linking Beirut to the southern city of Sidon on September 25, 2024.

United Nations chief António Guterres has warned that Lebanon is “on the brink,” calling on Israel and Hezbollah to “stop the killing and destruction.” He said the country had been experiencing its bloodiest period “in a generation” since their conflict escalated.

Joining the push to prevent a regional war from erupting, the US and 10 of its allies called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.

Calls for de-escalation ramped up after Israel’s military said it was preparing for a possible ground incursion into Lebanon and had called up two reserve brigades “for operational missions in the northern sector.”

Here’s what to know:

People look at a damaged house that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, near Safed, northern Israel, on September 25, 2024.

The United States and 10 of its allies have called for a 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border in a diplomatic push to prevent a regional war from erupting.

The “immediate” ceasefire across the border would “provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement,” a Wednesday statement from the countries read.

“The situation between Lebanon and Israel since October 8th, 2023 is intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation. This is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon,” a statement from the countries, which include the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron said in a separate, joint statement that they had come to an agreement on calling for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah “to give diplomacy a chance to succeed and avoid further escalations across the border.”

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Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon, on Wednesday.

France has been working with the US to secure a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to allow negotiations, the French foreign minister said.

Jean-Noel Barrot told the UN Security Council Wednesday night that details would be made public soon. He said he was counting on both sides to accept the proposal without delay to protect civilians and allow diplomatic negotiations to begin.

“A diplomatic solution is indeed possible,” he said, adding that he would travel to Beirut at the end of the week to work with local stakeholders.

Sources familiar with the matter have told CNN that American officials are working with counterparts from France and other nations to try to reach a diplomatic agreement that would pause fighting along Israel’s northern border while also resuming talks on a ceasefire-for-hostages deal for Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will land in New York Thursday morning and address the UN General Assembly on Friday, Israel’s ambassador to UN Danny Danon told reporters ahead of a UN Security Council meeting Wednesday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned world leaders Wednesday that “hell is breaking out in Lebanon” and it is “on the brink.”

Speaking at an emergency session of the UN Security Council, Guterres said Lebanon had been experiencing its bloodiest period “in a generation.”

Guterres emphasized that military escalation was in no one’s interest and called on both sides to do what they could to avoid all-out war.

“To all sides let us say in one clear voice: stop the killing and destruction, tone (down) the rhetoric and threats, step back from the brink. An all-out war must be avoided at all costs. It would surely be an all-out catastrophe. The people of Lebanon as well as the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to be another Gaza,” he said.

Israel Defense Forces opened fire near the Lebanese border after identifying suspicious movements, it said in a short statement in the early hours of Thursday local time.

“A short while ago, following the identification of suspicious movements in the area of the Lebanese border, IDF soldiers opened fire in their direction,” the IDF said.

“The soldiers are currently conducting searches in the area,” the IDF added, without providing additional details.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for more details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the United Nations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would not remain indifferent in the event of a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Speaking in New York ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday, Araghchi said Iran supports Hezbollah in what he called the group’s “just cause to defend Lebanon” against Israel.

The foreign minister urged the council to intervene and restore security in the region, warning that if it doesn’t act, the region risks a full-scale conflict.

Context: Araghchi’s remarks come as Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Wednesday killed more than 80 people according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Israel’s military said it struck 70 Hezbollah intelligence facilities in its latest round of strikes and more than 2,000 targets over the past three days.

The Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground incursion in Lebanon, the army chief told troops. It comes after Israel and Hezbollah have traded waves of airstrikes and rocket attacks, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Meanwhile, the United States is working urgently on a plan to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, sources say. President Joe Biden and key officials in his administration have been discussing the details with other world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

Here are some of the key headlines from the region, broken down:

The details behind a possible ceasefire deal

Paving the way for a possible ground incursion

Hezbollah launches missile

Tens of thousands displaced

A man sits on the edge of a crater caused by an overnight Israeli air strike in the area of Jiyeh, Lebanon, on Wednesday.

As Israeli airstrikes impact civilians in Lebanon, Project Hope, an international global health and humanitarian aid non-governmental organization, says it is mobilizing medical supplies and basic living materials to address the needs of the displaced people. It also says it is increasing its reserves of medical supplies to prepare for possible further escalation in the area that could require a heightened emergency response.

Arlan Fuller, director of emergency preparedness and response for Project Hope, said he had met with Lebanese health and emergency officials days before the deadly pager and walkie-talkie explosions to assess the needs of the country’s health system in a scenario of escalations.

Those conversations helped the organization to respond to the waves of explosion while also planning for a possible escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

One of the primary concerns when planning for a possible escalation was having enough medicine and trauma supplies, he told CNN.

“Even what we were seeing in terms of these pager explosions — so many different injuries there that were coming through in the hundreds to the ERs and having to be dealt with. So how quickly you can go through those supplies really is something that would have an equal impact, and certainly something that needs to be mindful of,” he said.

The Ministry of Public Health told Project Hope that their projections showed there were “only maybe a few months” of medicines available across the board, Fuller explained, adding that basic medicines, antibiotics and all aspects of regular day-to-day primary care is “a top priority.”

It would not just be a priority to provide medical supplies when needed, but also to be able to have plenty of them in reserve. That’s because the fear of escalation is very real in the region, he said, and officials have conveyed that in such a scenario, supplies could run out quickly.

Project Hope is currently mobilizing two mobile medical units outside shelters in Lebanon for people displaced by Israeli airstrikes. It has also surveyed 16 schools that have been turned into shelters, to assess the requirement for blankets, mattresses and hygiene and cleaning supplies, according to Fuller.

The death toll from Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday has risen to at least 81 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

At least 403 other people were wounded in the strikes, the ministry said.

The latest Israeli strikes hit the town of Younine, in northeastern Lebanon, killing at least nine people and injuring 11 others, the ministry said. Rescue operations there are ongoing, it added.

Senior United States officials who have been furiously working to hammer out a framework for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah are hoping to announce a proposal as soon as tonight, sources tell CNN.

One of those sources also said that the effort to mediate a ceasefire began in earnest for the Biden administration after President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke on the phone with top Israeli official Ron Dermer on Monday.

The proposed ceasefire plan, when announced, is expected to come from the US and other nations. It would then require agreement from Israel and Hezbollah.

A European diplomat expressed skepticism about the prospects of the efforts succeeding, saying they see “no reason to be optimistic right now.” The diplomat added that ongoing talks are pushing ahead but the “situation is deteriorating and escalating by the hour.”

Biden has been discussing the escalating hostilities in the Middle East with various world leaders this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City. On Wednesday, Biden discussed the matter with French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said.

Syria has put a new system in place to help the thousands of Syrians and Lebanese who have crossed into the country in recent days after fleeing Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Wednesday the Rif Dimashq governorate had formed an “operations room” to assist those arriving from “brotherly Lebanon.” The governorate is in the southwest of the country, bordering Lebanon in the west and Jordan in the south.

Governor of Rif Dimashq Ahmed Khalil said the plan was to provide the “necessary support” to thousands of displaced people and establish “shelter centers” to accommodate them.

Some context: Since Tuesday, at least 6,697 Lebanese and 17,850 Syrians have crossed into Syria through the Jdeidet Yabous crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border, the deputy governor of Rif Dimashq, Jassem Al-Mahmoud, told Damascus-based Sham FM radio on Wednesday.

Many of those fleeing have no concrete plans after they cross, UNHCR Middle East spokesperson Rula Amin warned earlier.

Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre addresses the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

The prime minister of Norway slammed Israel’s attacks in both Lebanon and Gaza, saying the Israeli military actions is “not proportional” and a “breach of what international law sets as limits.”

Støre told CNN they are “dangerous conflicts” that are at risk of escalating. Speaking to reporting that the United States is working on a plan to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, Støre said he welcomes the American’s efforts, but “it is really up to the key parties here” to find a solution.

Støre said Israel launching a ground invasion of Lebanon would be a “major escalation” and countries should work to prevent that from happening.

The prime minister also said world leaders have also been meeting with Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, “to impress upon him that Iran must play the de-escalation card. They are in direct link when many of these groups.”

Some background: Støre previously said he believes there will be “no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution” or “without a Palestinian state” — something Netanyahu has been vocally against. His country moved to formally recognize Plestianian statehood in May.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference in Jerusalem on September 4.

Israeli’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum has harshly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not mentioning those still being held in Gaza in his speech about Lebanon, calling it “a blatant and total disregard for the existence of the hostages” still in the enclave.

On Wednesday, in a televised speech Netanyahu said, “I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing: we are determined to return our residents in the north safely to their homes.”

The Forum said of the speech, “If we needed more proof of the final abandonment of the hostages — we got it tonight.”

A deal to bring back Gaza hostages would also result in the return of evacuees, the Forcum argued, “and will allow for the restoration and revival of the State of Israel.”

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in the country, claimed on Wednesday it was behind a drone attack on the southern Israeli port of Eilat.

The group said it did so in support of “our people in Palestine and Lebanon.”

The Israeli military has not confirmed who was behind the attack, but said the drones approached “from the east.”

When asked by reporters about the drones fired from Iraq and whether Israel would strike the country, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said at a press conference on Wednesday: “We are following the threat from Iraq. We are looking at it during our situational assessment, collecting intelligence and we will do whatever is necessary to deal with the situation.”

Some background: Wednesday’s attack on Eilat came after one of the most powerful groups in the Islamic Resistance, Kataib Hezbollah, urged other Iran-backed militias in a statement to increase their attacks on Israel.

Iran-backed militant groups in Iraq have been targeting US sites in Iraq and Israel since October 7, saying the attacks are in support of the people in Gaza. The latest escalation between Israel and Lebanon has prompted those militias to increase their attacks.

Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike as seen from Tyre on Wednesday.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck 2,000 targets in Lebanon over the past three days, amid its intense waves of strikes against Hezbollah, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Wednesday.

That includes 70 Hezbollah intelligence sites in its latest round of strikes on Wednesday, according to the military.

“In today’s strikes, we struck a wide range of targets from the air on the intelligence headquarters system,” Hagari said. “We struck 70 different locations, and that’s how we are making it difficult for Hezbollah to create an intelligence picture.”

This post has been updated with additional information.

Syrians fleeing Lebanon arrive at the Syrian-Lebanese border crossing in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, on Wednesday.

Many of the thousands of Syrians and Lebanese people fleeing across the border to Syria have no concrete plan for after they cross, a top official at the United Nations refugee agency has warned.

UNHCR Middle East spokesperson Rula Amin told CNN many people have crossed over into Syria “without really a specific plan.”

“We have seen in the past three days; thousands of people have crossed. Lebanese and Syrians… They took this decision very quickly,” Amin said.

For any of the 1.5 million Syrian refugees currently in Lebanon who choose to return home, they may find that their former “home has been destroyed,” Amin said. As for the Lebanese choosing to cross, it’s unclear whether they will “stay for one week or stay for a month,” he said.

A journalist working for CNN on the Lebanese side of the main checkpoint from Lebanon into Syria, Al Masnaa, saw long lines of cars stretched along waiting to enter and be processed.

One male Syrian refugee said himself and his family fled the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh after their house was bombed by Israel.

“We tried to escape to Beirut, but there was no housing or anything. We hope that they open the borders so we can go to our people in Syria” the man said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light for his government to engage with US efforts to mediate a ceasefire in Lebanon, an Israeli official told CNN.

The official said that Netanyahu gave his approval with the understanding that any agreement would have to allow the return of Israeli civilians to their homes in northern Israel, later adding that his country “will not rest” until that happens.

“I cannot detail everything we are doing, but I can tell you one thing: we are determined to return our residents in the north safely to their homes,” the prime minister said.

Amos Hochstein, a senior White House adviser, is involved, the source said, adding that the Americans are not speaking to Hezbollah directly.

CNN reported on Wednesday that the United States was working urgently on a plan to deescalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as officials eye with deepening concern the prospects of a widening conflict.

A cloud of smoke erupts during Israeli air strikes on a village south of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The United States was working urgently Wednesday on a plan to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, according to three sources familiar with the matter, as officials eye with deepening concern the prospects of a widening conflict.

American officials were working with officials from France and other nations to try and reach a diplomatic agreement that would pause fighting along Israel’s northern border while also resuming ceasefire and hostage talks for Gaza, the sources said.

The efforts come as Israel’s top general said Wednesday that the Israeli military is preparing for a possible ground incursion into Lebanon.

American officials declined to provide specifics on the proposed plans, but the matter was under intensive discussion among diplomats in New York for this week’s United Nations General Assembly meetings. It was unclear how much progress had been made toward striking an agreement — but it could be a focus at the UN Security Council emergency meeting scheduled for later Wednesday that France called for.

On Monday night, a US official told CNN that the administration was extremely close to finalizing a plan to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Hezbollah and Hamas, but that officials were trying to keep the negotiations as private as possible to avoid upending the fragile talks involving multiple countries.

Speaking on ABC’s daytime talk show The View, US President Biden alluded to ongoing talks to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon that would unlock further peace discussions elsewhere in the region. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said the US was working toward a plan that would allow displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return to their homes.