Middle East: Israel launches ground operations in Lebanon

An Israeli strike hit a building in a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, Palestinian sources told Reuters and AFP.

The strike reportedly hit a building in the crowded Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the Lebanese city of Sidon.

Palestinian security officials said the strike had targeted Mounir Maqdah, head of the Lebanese branch of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

The group has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and other governments.

At least three people were killed and nine others were injured in Damascus in the early hours of Tuesday morning after Syrian state media reported Israeli strikes.

"The Israeli enemy launched an air aggression with warplanes and drones from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting several points in Damascus," Syria's state-run SANA news agency said.

A television presenter was reportedly among those killed.

Syrian state television said in a statement that it "mourns anchor Safaa Ahmad who was martyred in the Israeli aggression on the capital Damascus."

Israel did not immediately comment on the reports.

Rockets were fired at a military base in Baghdad housing US troops in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to reports.

Multiple Iraqi security sources told the Associated Press, Reuters and AFP that three rockets were fired during the incident.

No casualties were reported.

"The Victory Base at Baghdad Airport was targeted with three rockets, two of which were shot down by the base's special defenses, while the third fell near the headquarters of the Counter Terrorism Service Command," a security source told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Since the outbreak of war in Gaza on October 7, militant factions have targeted bases in Iraq and Syria housing US troops over Washington's military support for Israel.

Syrian state media said air defenses had intercepted "hostile targets" in the vicinity of the capital, Damascus, overnight. 

"Our air defense systems are intercepting hostile targets in the Damascus area," the SANA news agency said after reporting explosions over the city.

Syrian state media typically uses the phrase "hostile targets" to refer to Israeli strikes.

A number of large explosions were seen over Beirut overnight.

Security sources told news agencies Reuters and AFP that they were Israeli airstrikes.

"Six or seven Israeli strikes hit the southern Beirut suburbs," one Lebanese official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The blasts came shortly after the Israel Defense Forces told residents of three districts in Beirut to evacuate.

"You are located near interests and facilities belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah group and therefore the IDF will act against them forcefully," Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a video posted on social media.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced early on Tuesday morning that they had begun ground raids in southern Lebanon.

"The IDF began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon," the Israeli military said.

"These targets are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel."

It added that the raids, known as Operation Northern Arrows, would continue in parallel to the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The announcement comes after weeks of Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon that have killed large numbers of Hezbollah leaders.

Many international backers of Israel had warned against a ground incursion into Lebanon, calling instead for a 21-day cease-fire.

zc/ab (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)