Israel carries out deadly strikes on Lebanon’s capital

Our live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East has moved here.

About 10 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel Saturday morning, the Israeli military said.

“Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the Upper Galilee area, approximately ten projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “Some of the projectiles were intercepted.”

Hezbollah has not issued any statements claiming responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, a CNN team in Beirut saw smoke rising from the city’s southern Dahiyeh neighborhood as the sun rose over Lebanon’s capital.

It was 3 a.m. and southern Beirut was under the most intense bombardment it had seen in nearly 20 years. A CNN team drove past a sea of people camped out on sidewalks, mostly on the seaside boardwalk that hugs the coast in the still untouched western parts of the city.

These were the displaced from neighborhoods being pummelled by Israeli warplanes. Some were chatting on the curb, a few lay asleep on benches and on the ground. Women cradled sleeping babies and toddlers. Children wandered the streets, snaking through double-parked cars aimlessly in their pyjamas.

On the city’s commercial Hamra Street, a crowd outside an abandoned building forced the traffic to a near stop. A man knocked down the iron gate, allowing a flood of displaced people in for shelter. A fresh wave of arrivals pulled up. Visibly exhausted women emerged from the cars hauling their kids, blankets and mattresses.

Most people were carrying little more than the clothes on their backs as they rushed out in search of safety. Many tried to put on a brave face, the anxiety lying under the thin veneer of bravado. “We’re OK! I’m sure our home is OK. There’s nothing to worry about,” one women in her early 60s told a group of people around her.

This is a sleepless night in the Lebanese capital. The streets were busier than usual in the early hours of Saturday morning. Restaurants and cafes were open, serving food and coffee as the images of the explosions lighting up the night sky, just a few miles away, flashed on TV screens.

As we crisscrossed the city in our car, the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders for the residents of not yet struck parts of southern Beirut. One of the listed neighborhoods was Bourj el Barajneh, a densely populated area that includes a Palestinian refugee camp and where many poorer migrants live. Less than 30 minutes later, Israeli forces began strikes there.

Whether many of those residents managed to make it out on time is unclear. Meanwhile the people of Beirut wait for the sun to rise, to see what has become of their homes, their city and its civilians.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Saturday, September 28.

The pace of Israeli airstrikes is now continuous in Beirut after being intermittent earlier in the night, according to CNN’s crew in the Lebanese capital.

The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for residents of Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb but left little time between the orders and the commencement of additional strikes.

Hundreds of families have gathered on the Beirut waterfront to escape the bombardment.

Israel’s military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, according to a statement on Saturday.

“Over the past hour, the IDF has struck additional terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beqaa,” the statement said.

The announcement came as dozens of explosions rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

The Beqaa valley, located in the east of the country along the border with Syria, has come under repeated Israeli airstrikes over the past week.

On Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that humanitarian needs in the area were outpacing the capacity of aid agencies to respond with residents forced to flee their homes and shelters struggling to house them.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israeli military issued another evacuation order for residents of Al-Barajneh and Al-Hadath neighborhoods to leave specific locations indicated on maps in Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh.

“You are present near Hezbollah facilities and for the safety of you and your loved ones, you are obliged to evacuate the buildings immediately and move away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on Saturday.

Those buildings include some near a school in the Al-Barajneh neighborhood, a densely populated Palestinian refugee camp that is also home to Syrian refugees and migrant workers. Adraee also ordered residents to evacuate the buildings in front of and near another school in Al-Hadath.

Shortly after the evacuation order was issued, a CNN team in Beirut saw at least four airstrikes hit multiple locations in the southern suburbs.

The evacuation order comes after an earlier one in which Adraee also told residents in several buildings in the Al-Laylaki neighborhood to evacuate, as well as in Al-Hadath.

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it is currently striking buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, that it alleges are used by Hezbollah as command centers and weapons production and storage sites.

“Following precise IDF intelligence, the IAF (Israeli Air Force) is currently conducting strikes on strategic terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beirut. Among the targets struck are weapons production facilities, buildings used to store advanced weapons and key command centers of the terrorist organization,” the IDF said in a statement.

The statement comes hours after the IDF began striking buildings in the Dahiyeh neighborhood in southern Beirut.

Hezbollah has denied that its weapons are being stored in civilian buildings targeted by Israeli strikes.

The sun was setting on Beirut, casting a warm glow over the city’s coastal skyline. Suddenly, a succession of loud bangs rang out and a plume of smoke rose from the city’s southern suburbs. The images broadcast on local TV later showed a yawning chasm where six buildings had just been, rescuers navigating the rubble dwarfed by the enormity of the crater.

Israel said it targeted Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Shia Islamist militant group Hezbollah. Nasrallah has led the armed group for more than 30 years, presiding over its rise from a guerrilla organization to the best-armed non-state force in the Middle East. His influence extends well beyond Lebanon’s borders – commanding a following from Muslim Shia groups across the region.

The enormity of the strike – which is believed to have involved 2,000-pound bombs – seemed to match the gravity of the moment. This was the doomsday scenario many in Lebanon and across the region feared – both Nasrallah’s admirers, and many of his detractors.

“Would they really do this? Would they really go after him?” one dumbfounded elderly woman, displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, wondered aloud.

While it remains unclear whether Nasrallah was among the victims of the blast, its repercussions have already thrust the Middle East into the unknown.

Hezbollah has neither confirmed nor denied Nasrallah’s killing. Shortly after the massive strike, the Israeli military announced a fresh wave of strikes in southern Beirut. From a rooftop in the west of the city, CNN could see the bright red of explosions light up the night sky, spanning the breadth of the densely populated area where Hezbollah has a strong presence, and where much of its leadership is based.

These explosions are smaller than the strike that targeted Nasrallah. But they have already displaced thousands of people, sending them to shelters in other parts of Beirut. In their desperation, many have taken to sidewalks of the relatively safe western part of the capital, namely the seaside boardwalk known as the Corniche.

For hours, the sirens of ambulances, the rumble of warplanes overhead, and the loud buzz of drones have intermingled. And the cries of those civilians caught in the middle, faced with the specter of a cataclysmic war, rise barely above a whimper.

The Israeli military says it killed Hezbollah commanders during Friday’s strikes in Lebanon.

“Additional Hezbollah commanders and operatives were eliminated alongside them,” the IDF added.

The IDF said Muhammad Ali Ismail was responsible for directing attacks against Israel, including the launch of a surface-to-air missile on Wednesday.

Hezbollah has not confirmed the deaths of these figures.

Israeli strikes hit Lebanon throughout Friday, including in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the IDF said it was conducting “targeted strikes” on Hezbollah weapons stored beneath civilian buildings.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb early on Saturday, September 28.

Hezbollah has denied that its weapons were being stored in civilian buildings targeted by Israeli strikes on the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut on Friday.

Explosions continue to rock the Lebanese capital early Saturday morning local time.

The Israel Defense Forces previously said it was “conducting targeted strikes on weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization that were stored beneath civilian buildings,” and had told residents to evacuate certain areas.

The latest strikes come hours after an initial Israeli attack on what it said was Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on Friday. That operation flattened several buildings in a densely populated area, killing at least six people and wounding dozens of others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Rescuers are still searching for survivors and any further victims, warning the current death toll is not final.

An explosion breifly lights up the sky in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israeli military continues to strike southern Beirut, a CNN team in the Lebanese capital reports.

More than an hour after the Israel Defense Forces began striking buildings allegedly with Hezbollah missiles in them, airstrikes continue to hit the Dahiyeh neighborhood in southern Beirut, CNN can see.

Large flashes can be seen in southern Beirut, and the thuds of impacting Israeli missiles are echoing across the capital.

A crisis management center in Beirut is urging displaced people to contact it for immediate assistance in finding shelter.

The government-run Crisis Management Room published two phone numbers for those seeking shelter to call in a statement by the state-run news agency NNA.

The move comes after the Israeli military warned residents of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut to evacuate, and then began striking buildings in the area that it alleged were being used to store Hezbollah missiles.

The Lebanese government says tens of thousands of people have been displaced due to recent fighting at its southern border with Israel.

US President Joe Biden has been briefed “several times today” by his national security team following a series of Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon, an official told reporters traveling with Biden in Delaware Friday.

Biden has ordered the Pentagon to look at the US force posture in the region and “adjust as necessary” to support US objectives, the official said, adding that the president has also directed embassies to take the appropriate protective measures.

He will continue to receive “regular updates,” they added.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, on Saturday, September 28.

The Israel Defense Forces is currently striking buildings in Beirut that it alleges are storing Hezbollah missiles.

“The IDF is currently conducting targeted strikes on weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization that were stored beneath civilian buildings in the area of Dahiyeh in Beirut,” the IDF said in a statement.

The strikes came about 90 minutes after the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson issued a warning on X, formerly Twitter, for residents of several southern Beirut neighborhoods to leave the vicinity of buildings it identified on a map.

From the ground: CNN’s team in Beirut has heard explosions and can see smoke rising over the southern Dahiyeh neighborhood.

At least six people were killed and 91 injured by Israel’s strikes in Beirut Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The casualty count is “not final,” and rescuers continue to search for victims, it added.

Moody’s Ratings cut Israel’s sovereign credit rating on Friday over worries about prolonged conflicts in the Middle East and Israel’s domestic political situation, the second such cut this year.

A country’s credit rating can help investors decide if it’s worth loaning the country money, such as by buying securities like bonds. A lower credit rating can give investors pause and, in turn, demand higher interest rates for their money. Moody’s cut Israel to Baa1 from A2.

Moody’s had already downgraded Israel’s rating in February. This time, however, Moody’s analysts noted that, “Longer term, we consider that Israel’s economy will be more durably weakened by the military conflict than expected earlier.”

The outlook remains negative, which means Moody’s could cut again in the future.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, IDF spokesperson, speaks during a press conference in the early hours of Saturday, September 28.

The Israeli military in the early hours of Saturday morning warned it will not allow airplanes carrying weapons to land at the airport in Beirut, Lebanon.

CNN’s team in Beirut can hear the warplanes in the sky.

“The state of Lebanon, unlike Syria, has behaved responsibly over the years and has not allowed the transfer of weapons through the civilian airports,” Hagari said. “We inform you in advance that we will not allow hostile flights with weapons to land at the civilian airport and clarity: this is a civilian airport for civilian use and must be kept as such.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gives a statement to the media on Friday, September 27.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that his call today with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant happened as the operation targeting Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut was “already underway.”

Austin emphasized that the US is still gathering information on the strike.

He also stressed the need to avoid “an all-out war.”

“Diplomacy continues to be the best way forward, and it’s the fastest way to let displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens return to their homes on both sides of the border,” said Austin.

The defense secretary also said he would be speaking again with Gallant “soon,” and that he would “look to get an update from him when we have that conversation.”

Some context: Sources told CNN earlier Friday that Israel’s last-minute notification of the US about the strikes had added to US officials’ mounting frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

Netanyahu has sent mixed messages this week on a US-led ceasfire proposal for the Israel-Lebanon border, and the Israeli leader made a combative speech at the UN General Assembly today, vowing to continue the fight with Hezbollah.

The Israeli military says it will “in a short time” attack buildings in southern Beirut that it claims are storing Hezbollah missiles.

The Israel Defense Forces used its Arabic-language spokesperson late Friday night to tell residents of several neighborhoods in southern Beirut to leave specific areas.

The buildings surrounding the structures indicated by the IDF are almost entirely residential.

“The way the missiles are stored in these buildings allows them to be moved and launched outside of the buildings within minutes. This poses a real and immediate threat to global shipping routes and Israel’s strategic infrastructure,” Hagari claimed.

The spokesperson said residents “must move as far away from the buildings as possible.”

Iran has condemned Israel’s deadly strikes on Beirut, calling the attack a “war crime” and claiming the US is complicit.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian described the strikes as a “flagrant war crime” that “once again reveals the terrorist nature of the Israeli regime,” the state news agency Press TV reported.

Iran’s foreign ministry also denounced the strikes in Beirut’s suburbs, describing the attack as a “barbaric” act facilitated by American-supplied bombs.

Both the Israeli and American governments should be held accountable, the ministry’s spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.

“The ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestine and Lebanon exposes the hollow nature of Western calls for ceasefire, serving only to prolong Zionist atrocities,” Kanaani added.

What the US is saying: Israel notified the US — which has been pushing for ceasefire deals in both Gaza and at the Israel-Lebanon border — only moments before it carried out Friday’s strikes, the US defense secretary said Friday.

President Joe Biden told reporters the US had “no knowledge of or participation in” the attack.

This post has been updated with additional comments from the Iranian foreign ministry.