The Israeli military says a top Hezbollah official who had been widely expected to be the group's next leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut in early October. Earlier on Tuesday the Israeli military leveled a building in a suburb of Beirut that it said housed Hezbollah "facilities," sending smoke and debris into the air a few hundred meters from where a spokesperson for the militant group had just briefed journalists about a weekend drone attack that damaged the Israeli prime minister's house. Also on Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinken aims to revive cease-fire efforts after last week's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Israel says it is planning to carry out more strikes in Lebanon against a Hezbollah-run financial institution that it targeted the night before. It says the militant group uses the deposits of Lebanese people to finance rocket attacks against Israel. Israeli forces struck at least 15 branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassana late Sunday. One strike flattened a nine-story building in Beirut. The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes, and there were no reports of casualties. Israel sent ground forces into Lebanon earlier this month, saying it aims to push Hezbollah from the border and stop it from launching rockets into Israel.

Hezbollah has fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, and the militant group's acting leader vows to keep up pressure that has forced thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military says it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday, and that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike. Dozens of rockets fired by Hezbollah were aimed as far south as Haifa, and the Israeli government warned residents to the north of the coastal city to limit activities. The Israeli military says Hezbollah launched more than 170 rockets across the border.

Israelis are holding somber ceremonies to mark a year since the deadliest attack in the country's history. The Hamas-led raid shattered Israelis' sense of security and ignited wars on two fronts with no end in sight. Hamas marked the anniversary of its Oct. 7, 2023, attack by firing a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv, underscoring its resilience after a year of war and devastation in Gaza. Lebanon's Hezbollah vowed to continue firing rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians despite its recent losses. The Israeli military says it will soon launch operations on Lebanon's southern coast, telling residents to stay off the beaches and fishermen off the sea for a 60-kilometer stretch along the Mediterranean.

Israel has carried out a series of punishing airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Strikes have also cut off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment. The overnight blasts in Beirut's southern suburbs sent huge plumes of smoke and flames into the night sky and shook buildings kilometers away in the Lebanese capital. Thursday's strike along the Lebanon-Syria border, about 50 kilometers or 30 miles east of Beirut, led to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa Border Crossing. Israel said it had targeted the crossing because it was being used by Hezbollah to transport military equipment across the border.

The Israeli military says it killed a top Hezbollah commander as part of a two-day bombing campaign that has left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. With the two sides on the brink of all-out war, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, targeting an explosives factory and sending families into bomb shelters. Families that fled southern Lebanon flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach.

The leader of Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for this week's deadly attacks on the group's communications devices. Israel and Hezbollah exchanged strikes on Thursday as he spoke. Nasrallah called the attacks on Hezbollah's devices a "severe blow" that crossed a "red line." Lebanon is still reeling from this week's attacks on electronic devices used by Hezbollah. Hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies blew up at the same time in an operation widely believed to be carried out by Israel. At least 37 people were killed, including two children, and some 3,000 others were wounded. Israel's defense minister said Hezbollah will pay an 'increasing price' as Israel seeks to return residents to homes near the Lebanon border.

Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a young girl. Officials in Lebanon say more than 2,700 were wounded on Tuesday, 200 critically. Hezbollah officials tell The Associated Press that the explosions affected a new brand of pagers used by the militant group. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel. AP has reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.

Hezbollah's leader warned that the militant group's conflict with Israel has entered a "new phase." He made the comments Thursday following the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Hamas' political chief in Tehran. Hassan Nasrallah spoke to a funeral ceremony for the commander, Fouad Shukur, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut this week. In Tehran, Iran's supreme leader prayed over the body of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader. Iran has vowed revenge for the killing of Haniyeh in a blast believed to have been carried out by Israel. The killings have raised fears of a wider war.