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Monday

Israeli soldiers are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Sunday.

Israeli soldiers are deployed in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Sunday. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Israel launches a 'limited' ground offensive in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military has launched what it called a "limited, localized" ground offensive in southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

A fire engine ladder extends up a building that was hit in an apparent Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024.

A fire engine ladder extends up a building that was hit in an apparent Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. Bilal Hussein/AP hide caption

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Bilal Hussein/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

An airstrike hits a Beirut residential building as Israel expands attacks in Lebanon

The first apparent Israeli airstrike on central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict leveled an apartment building early Monday. It came after Israel hit targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people.

Sunday

A portrait of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah sits amid destruction in a area targeted overnight by Israeli airstrikes in Saksakiyeh on Sep. 26, 2024.

A portrait of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah sits amid destruction in an area targeted overnight by Israeli airstrikes in Saksakiyeh on Sept. 26. Mahmous Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Mahmous Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

From pager blasts to Nasrallah’s killing: 12 days that transformed a bloody conflict

NPR steps back and takes a closer look at the days leading up to the killing of Hezbollah's leader. Experts say this development has transformed an already complex and deadly conflict.

Saturday

Supporters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group raise their fists and cheer as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah appears via a video link, during a Nov. 3, 2023, rally in Beirut to commemorate Hezbollah fighters who were killed in South Lebanon while fighting against the Israeli forces.

Supporters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group raise their fists and cheer as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah appears via a video link, during a Nov. 3, 2023, rally in Beirut to commemorate Hezbollah fighters who were killed in South Lebanon while fighting against the Israeli forces. Hussein Malla/AP hide caption

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Hussein Malla/AP

Analysis

Middle East crisis — explained

Analysis: Hassan Nasrallah’s killing transforms an already deadly regional conflict

With Hassan Nasrallah dead in Israeli airstrikes, the Iran-backed militant group is facing enormous challenges as the region is yet again thrown into uncertainty.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, speaks to the crowd in a rare public appearance during Ashura, that marks the death of Shiite Islam's Imam Hussein, in the suburbs of Beirut, on Nov. 14, 2013. Nasrallah has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, speaks to the crowd in a rare public appearance during Ashura, that marks the death of Shiite Islam's Imam Hussein, in the suburbs of Beirut, on Nov. 14, 2013. Nasrallah has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Bilal Hussein/AP hide caption

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Bilal Hussein/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Who was Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader killed by Israel?

Under his leadership, Hezbollah, funded by Iran, became one of the most powerful militias in the Middle East, boasting a military force stronger even than the Lebanese army.

Friday

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu hold signs as he addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu hold signs as he addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. Pamela Smith/AP hide caption

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Pamela Smith/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Netanyahu defies calls for a cease-fire at the U.N., as Israel strikes Lebanon

In a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli prime minister said his country would is "winning" and would attack Iran and its proxies anywhere in the Middle East.

Thursday

Lebanese who were forced to flee their homes due to Israeli airstrikes have been housed in school buildings in Lebanon's capital of Beirut on Tuesday.

Lebanese who were forced to flee their homes due to Israeli airstrikes have been housed in school buildings in Lebanon's capital of Beirut on Tuesday. Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption

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Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Over 90,000 people in Lebanon had to flee Israel's bombardments this week

With Israel and Hezbollah locked in the fiercest fighting in decades, many Lebanese have taken refuge in schools, hotels and other shelters.

Lebanon displaced

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Tuesday

Vehicles wait in traffic in the town of Damour, south of the capital Beirut on Sept. 24, 2024, as people flee southern Lebanon. Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Tuesday, a day after more than 490 people, including dozens of women and children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Vehicles wait in traffic in the town of Damour, south of the capital Beirut on Sept. 24, 2024, as people flee southern Lebanon. Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Tuesday, a day after more than 490 people, including dozens of women and children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006. Ibrahim Amro/AFP/Getty hide caption

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Ibrahim Amro/AFP/Getty

Middle East crisis — explained

Israel and Hezbollah continue to trade fire as residents in Lebanon look for safety

The trade of cross-border missiles came after the deadliest day of conflict in Lebanon since 2006. Lebanon’s health ministry said on Tuesday that 558 people have been killed.

Thousands flee Israeli airstrikes in south Lebanon as fighting intensifies

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Monday

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike in the Lebanese village of Khiam, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on September 23, 2024. The Israeli military on September 23 told people in Lebanon to move away from Hezbollah targets and vowed to carry out more "extensive and precise" strikes against the Iran-backed group.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese village of Khiam, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on Monday. Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Lebanon counts nearly 500 killed in a day of Israeli strikes, with over 1,600 wounded

Analysts say it's Israel's largest aerial strikes against Hezbollah since 2006. Lebanon's Health Ministry say dozens of women and children are among the casualties.

Sunday

First responders and Israeli security forces gather amid debris and charred vehicles in Kiryat Bialik in the Haifa district of Israel, following a strike by Lebanon's Hezbollah on Sunday.

A man looks at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday. Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Hezbollah vows a war of 'reckoning' as exchange of fire with Israel escalates

The Israeli military said 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones were launched toward Israel. Earlier, exploding electronic devices and an airstrike in Beirut killed dozens and wounded thousands.

Friday

A man holds an Icom walkie talkie device after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024.

A man holds an Icom walkie-talkie after he removed the battery during a funeral of people killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 18. Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East crisis — explained

Did exploding pagers attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon violate international law?

The series of explosions that rocked Lebanon this week, killing dozens and wounding thousands, has prompted debate among legal experts on international humanitarian law.

People and members of the military inspect the site of an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday.

People and members of the military inspect the site of an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday. Mohamed Azakir/Reuters hide caption

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Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

Middle East crisis — explained

Hezbollah says top commander, several officers killed in Israeli strike on Beirut suburb

The airstrike follows a deadly week of attacks that have intensified nearly a year of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

Wednesday

Israel rigged pagers and radios to explode across Lebanon

Smoke billows from a house in Baalbek in east Lebanon after a reported explosion of a radio device, on September 18. -/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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-/AFP via Getty Images

Consider This from NPR

Israel rigged pagers and radios to explode across Lebanon

Two unusual attacks against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah come at a time when negotiations over a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas have stalled. What could this mean for the region, and the threat of an all-out war?

Israel rigged pagers and radios to explode across Lebanon

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In this photo, an ambulance believed to be carrying wounded people drives down a street in a southern suburb of Beirut on September 18, 2024. The ambulance is white with a blue light on top that spans the width of the vehicle. Men stand on the sides of the street, which is lined with buildings.

An ambulance believed to be carrying wounded people — after multiple explosions were heard during the funeral of four Hezbollah fighters who were killed Tuesday after their pagers exploded — drives down a street in a southern suburb of Beirut on Wednesday. Bilal Hussein/AP hide caption

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Bilal Hussein/AP

Middle East crisis — explained

Another wave of blasts hits Lebanon, as Hezbollah reels from pager explosions

Following Tuesday's stunning attack via pagers, Lebanon was hit by another deadly wave of exploding communications devices on Wednesday.