Israel-Lebanon live: Hezbollah drone attack kills 4 Israeli soldiers as US to deploy Thaad missile system

Iran has “no red lines” when it comes to defending its people and interests, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X on Sunday, as the region braces for Israel’s retaliation following Iran’s recent missile attack.

US officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its potential response to Iran’s attack this month to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on Saturday.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in a year of war as Israel battles Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. Tehran, a major oil producer, has threatened Israel with severe consequences if the Islamic Republic is attacked.

Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran’s missile barrage on Oct. 1, which was launched in retaliation for Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killings of a string of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the NBC report said, citing unnamed U.S. officials and adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.

US and Israeli officials said a response could come during the current Yom Kippur holiday, according to the report.

Israeli officials have not publicly commented on the report.

The Lebanese Red Cross said paramedics were searching for casualties in the wreckage of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday when a second strike left four paramedics with concussion and damaged two ambulances.

It said the rescue operation had been co-ordinated with UN peacekeepers, who informed the Israeli side.

Israeli forces have repeatedly fired upon first responders and UN peacekeepers since the start of the ground operation.

The military has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to ferry fighters and weapons, without providing evidence. Lebanon’s Health Ministry denies the allegations.

Israel’s bombardment and ground invasions of Gaza have killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and left much of the territory in ruins.

Palestinian medical officials do not say whether those killed by Israeli forces are militants or civilians, but say women and children make up more than half the fatalities.

Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

In northern Gaza, Israeli air and ground forces have been attacking Jabaliya, where the military says militants have regrouped. Over the past year, Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to the built-up refugee camp.

Israel has ordered the full evacuation of northern Gaza, including Gaza City. An estimated 400,000 people remain in the north after a mass evacuation ordered in the opening weeks of the war.

The Palestinians fear Israel intends to permanently depopulate the north to establish military bases or Jewish settlements.

The military confirmed on Saturday that hospitals were included in the evacuation orders but said it had not set a specific timetable.

Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza, and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, residents said, forcing many families to leave their homes.

Residents said Israeli forces have effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon their permission for families willing to leave the three towns, heeding evacuation orders.

Gaza’s health ministry said the eight-day-old Israeli incursions in the north have so far killed dozens of Palestinians, with dozens of others feared dead on roads and under rubble of their houses, beyond the reach of medical teams.

Many Jabalia residents posted on social media platforms: “We will not leave, we die, and we don’t leave.”

An Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip has killed a family of eight, Palestinian medical officials said.

The strike came as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants and pushed for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from the north of the territory.

Israel is also waging an air and ground campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month, though it has not said how or when.

The strike in Gaza late Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from eight to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.

It said another seven people were wounded, including two women and a child in critical condition. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies and filmed funeral prayers held at the hospital.