{"id":385258,"date":"2026-04-10T16:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/385258\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T16:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T16:23:10","slug":"hezbollah-fires-missile-at-southern-port-of-ashdod-as-idf-strikes-launchers-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/385258\/","title":{"rendered":"Hezbollah fires missile at southern port of Ashdod as IDF strikes launchers in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire into Friday, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s announcement of peace talks with Lebanon, which had continued to reel from major Israeli strikes two days earlier.<\/p>\n<p>There was no immediate response to the Israeli announcement from Lebanon, which had repeatedly proposed talks to end the war, or from Hezbollah. Netanyahu said that talks would focus on disarming Hezbollah and \u201cestablishing peaceful relations\u201d between the countries.<\/p>\n<p>Negotiations are expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a person familiar with the plans. The talks are to be handled on the American side by US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by Israel\u2019s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the situation.<\/p>\n<p>A Lebanese diplomatic official familiar with the developments said that the country has not yet appointed someone to lead talks from Beirut. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is keen to have a temporary ceasefire when talks commence in parallel with those between the United States and Iran, mediated by Pakistan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s announcement came hours after it had warned of escalation and said that it had<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/idf-says-it-killed-hezbollah-chiefs-secretary-as-rocket-fire-from-lebanon-persists\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> killed<\/a> an aide and nephew of Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel&#8217;s Daily Edition<br \/>\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/terms\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">terms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Later Thursday, Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, from which the Israel Defense Forces has sought in recent days to clear the Iran-backed terror group\u2019s operatives and infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Hezbollah, in a statement, said it used light arms and RPG fire against Israeli soldiers who were advancing in the town, as well as rocket barrages on other troops in the area.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF did not report casualties among Israeli forces on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/04\/273bf566-3afb-4288-b477-d629aa09cfee.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3798645\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/273bf566-3afb-4288-b477-d629aa09cfee-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tIDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with troops on the outskirts of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, April 9, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n<p>IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured the town\u2019s outskirts earlier in the day, saying, \u201cOur main combat arena is here in Lebanon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe objective defined for you is the removal of the direct threat to the residents of the north, which you are carrying out with determination,\u201d he told troops, according to remarks published by the army.<\/p>\n<p>Following the visit to Bint Jbeil, the IDF said Zamir approved new battle plans for the fighting against Hezbollah.<\/p>\n<p>Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued to target Israel, including firing a missile at the southern port city of Ashdod early Friday morning, one of the deepest attacks attempted by the terrorist organization amid the current fighting.<\/p>\n<p>There were no reports of injuries. The Home Front Command for the first time issued an early warning for the missile attack, around two minutes before sirens sounded in the port city.<\/p>\n<p>Sirens were also activated in Tel Aviv and surrounding towns in central Israel due to the interception of the missile and fear of falling fragments, according to the military.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF had warned in a statement hours earlier that Hezbollah was planning to fire rockets beyond northern Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly before the attack on Ashdod, the military said the Israeli Air Force struck some 10 rocket launchers in Lebanon that were used to fire at northern Israel in the preceding hours, adding that it was continuing to operate to locate and destroy additional launchers.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"iw\" dir=\"rtl\">\u05d1\u05e1\u05d2\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05e2\u05d2\u05dc \u05de\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea: \u05e6\u05d4&#8221;\u05dc \u05ea\u05e7\u05e3 \u05db-10 \u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5 \u05dc\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e6\u05e4\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5 \u05d1\u05e9\u05e2\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea<\/p>\n<p>\u05d1\u05e1\u05d2\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05e2\u05d2\u05dc \u05de\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea, \u05e6\u05d4&#8221;\u05dc \u05ea\u05e7\u05e3 \u05de\u05d4\u05d0\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9\u05e8 \u05d1\u05e9\u05e2\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea \u05db-10 \u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05e9\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5 \u05dc\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8 \u05e6\u05e4\u05d5\u05df \u05d4\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5.<br \/>\u05d2\u05dd \u05d1\u05e8\u05d2\u05e2\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05dc\u05d5, \u05e6\u05d4&#8221;\u05dc \u05de\u05de\u05e9\u05d9\u05da \u05dc\u05d0\u05ea\u05e8 \u05d5\u05dc\u05d4\u05e9\u05de\u05d9\u05d3 \u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05e8\u05d9\u05dd \u05e0\u05d5\u05e1\u05e4\u05d9\u05dd <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UZYOlYBrzQ\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/UZYOlYBrzQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u05e6\u05d1\u05d0 \u05d4\u05d4\u05d2\u05e0\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d9\u05e9\u05e8\u05d0\u05dc (@idfonline) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/idfonline\/status\/2042360846232252870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hezbollah\u2019s rocket fire continued on Friday morning, with one projectile striking a home in the border community of Misgav Am. Local authorities and rescue services said damage was caused, but there were no injuries.\n<\/p>\n<p lang=\"iw\" dir=\"rtl\">\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8\u05d9 \u05de\u05dc\u05d1\u05e0\u05d5\u05df \u05e0\u05de\u05e9\u05da: \u05ea\u05d9\u05e2\u05d5\u05d3 \u05e4\u05d2\u05d9\u05e2\u05d4 \u05d1\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05dc\u05dc\u05d0 \u05de\u05d9\u05d2\u05d5\u05df \u05d1\u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05d1 \u05e2\u05dd \u05e9\u05d1\u05d0\u05e6\u05d1\u05e2 \u05d4\u05d2\u05dc\u05d9\u05dc<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rubih67?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@rubih67<\/a> (\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd: \u05d3\u05d5\u05d1\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05e9\u05d2\u05d1 \u05e2\u05dd) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/j6alcDKQ4I\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/j6alcDKQ4I<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u05db\u05d0\u05df \u05d7\u05d3\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea (@kann_news) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kann_news\/status\/2042479697422921768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2018Searching all day\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, earlier stated that continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon would bring \u201cexplicit costs and STRONG responses,\u201d while insisting that a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war extended to Lebanon. Israel and the US have disputed that claim, although US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had asked Israel to scale back attacks on Lebanon to ensure negotiations between Washington and Tehran are successful.\n<\/p>\n<p>Israeli strikes on Wednesday, without warning, killed more than 300 people and wounded over 1,800 others, according to the Lebanese health ministry, which doesn\u2019t distinguish between combatants and civilians. Several strikes hit densely packed commercial and residential areas during rush hour. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the attacks \u201cbarbaric.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that more than 200 Hezbollah operatives were killed. Among the targets of the strikes, according to the IDF, were Hezbollah command centers and other military infrastructure, including intelligence headquarters and offices used by Hezbollah to plan attacks on IDF troops and Israeli civilians; infrastructure of Hezbollah\u2019s rocket and naval units; and assets of the terror group\u2019s elite Radwan Force and aerial unit.<\/p>\n<p>In Beirut on Thursday, people continued to wait anxiously on the ragged edges of search and rescue work, shielding their faces from the dust. Exhausted firefighters sat on a charred car amid collapsed buildings.<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26099274853739-e1775784233910.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3798829\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26099274853739-e1775784233910-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tLebanese civil defense workers and army soldiers work on the search for victims in the rubble at the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, April 9, 2026. (AP\/Hussein Malla)<\/p>\n<p>Lebanese Civil Defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press that a wounded woman was found alive overnight in the seaside neighborhood of Ain Mreisseh, and a man was found alive in his collapsed apartment building in the southern suburbs.<\/p>\n<p>Mohammad Chehab, a Syrian man from Deir el-Zour, said that six of his 10 family members had been found dead in a destroyed building.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve been searching all day,\u201d for the rest, he said.<\/p>\n<p>At hospitals, survivors and doctors described the carnage, while relatives gathered to identify bodies.<\/p>\n<p>Abdul Rahman Mohammad, a Syrian who lost five relatives in the Hay al-Sellom neighborhood, waited at Rafik Hariri Hospital to retrieve the bodies of his mother, two sisters, brother and brother-in-law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were struck without any warning. This is Israeli brutality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Mohamad El Zaatari, director of the public hospital, said that it had treated 45 wounded people, including 10 cases in intensive care.<\/p>\n<p>At the Makassed hospital, Rabee Koshok lay on a bed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I was dead. What happened?\u201d he recalled. \u201cA big flash of light struck my face and eyes, and I found someone flying over and landing next to me. He was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Koshok had been in the commercial district of Corniche al Mazraa when a strike hit a nearby building.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Wael Jarrosh said that the hospital received around 70 wounded patients within 10 minutes of the blasts. Two people died and five remained hospitalized, including three in intensive care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has destroyed us psychologically,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n<p>Lebanon alleges \u2018blatant violation\u2019 of international law<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu earlier had said that strikes would proceed \u201cwith force, precision and determination.\u201d The IDF accused Hezbollah members of moving out of the terror group\u2019s main areas of influence in southern Lebanon and Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, and blending into civilian areas.<\/p>\n<p>Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that his country would file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council, calling the attacks a \u201cblatant violation\u201d of international and humanitarian law.<\/p>\n<p>In a cabinet session earlier Thursday, the Lebanese government announced a plan to demilitarize Beirut and deploy an increased level of security patrols.<\/p>\n<p>Even before the renewed war, Lebanon\u2019s government had sought Hezbollah\u2019s disarmament. The issue has inflamed tensions among Lebanese who are deeply divided over the terror group and its arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>Melhem Khalaf, a reformist legislator representing Beirut, was critical of Israel\u2019s strikes, but also of Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon back into war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the targeted areas are safe residential Lebanese areas,\u201d Khalaf said, while watching a bulldozer clear rubble. \u201cWhat we are witnessing is a massacre against civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/static-cdn.toi-media.com\/www\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20260408__A76A2G4__v4__HighRes__TopshotLebanonIranIsraelUsWar.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3798039\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20260408__A76A2G4__v4__HighRes__TopshotLebanonIranIsraelUsWar-640x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"375\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\tA firefighter walks past destroyed vehicles as colleagues attempt to extinguish a fire following an Israeli strike at the Corniche al-Mazraa neighborhood of Beirut on April 8, 2026. (Ibrahim Amro \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<p>More than a million people have been displaced by the war, many from the south and Dahiyeh. Israel\u2019s military has issued warnings for the population to leave those areas, followed by heavy bombardment.<\/p>\n<p>Israel has also launched a ground invasion in the border region. The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,739, the health ministry said, with 5,873 wounded.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria returned to service Thursday, five days after the IDF warned of plans to strike it, alleging that Hezbollah was using it to smuggle military equipment. Lebanese and Syrian authorities denied the claim.<\/p>\n<p>More than 200,000 people have fled to Syria from Lebanon since the war resumed.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange fire into Friday, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s announcement of peace talks&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-385258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}