Israel-Hezbollah Conflict Timeline: Dozens of Iranian missiles could be seen flying towards Israel's main coastal cities Tuesday evening, with footage from Tel Aviv showing how these ballistic missiles caused huge explosions. In what looks like another sharp escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, Iran fired nearly 180 missiles towards Israel, claiming hours later that its attack was over unless there was "further provocation", media reports said.


A year since the unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas, which prompted Israel to launch a full-fledged war against the militant group operating from Gaza, the Jewish nation seems to be fighting a two-front war now, which started with the September 17 pager attack targeting Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria and also saw the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasarallah.  


And the fears of a wider war, with Israel and the US vowing to retaliate against the missile attack by Tehran, here is a timeline of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict that just got escalated.


Israel-Hezbollah Conflict: A Bloody 14-Day Timeline


September 17-18, 2024: At least 13 people were killed, including children, and around 4,000 were injured when thousands of pagers, mainly belonging to Hezbollah members, exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria. Israel has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, was widely given the credit as it came the same day it had announced that it would ensure the return of the Israelis displaced from their homes due to Hezbollah rocket fire near the border with Lebanon for almost a year.


On September 18, communications devices, including walkie-talkies, exploded in another wave of strikes at Lebanon, which killed 14 and injured nearly 450, according to reports. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant issued a statement soon after, mentioning "excellent achievements" and "impressive results", but not the device attacks.


September 19-22: Israel claimed to have targetted "hundreds of rocket launchers" in southern Lebanon on September 19 and neutrilised them. 


On September 20, Israel announced that it has killed Hezbollah’s military commander Ibrahim Akil, hours after a residential building in a Beirut suburb was attacked during rush hour on September 20 that killed 37 people in all. Akil was wanted by the US for his alleged involvement in an attack on its Beirut embassy in 1983. Hezbollah later confirmed the death of over 15 Hezbollah members, including Akil. 


The Israeli Air Force continued its strikes on September 21, hitting approximately 400 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. On September 22, Hezbollah and Israel exchanged heavy fire all night.



September 23: Israel launched airstrikes hours after alerting residents of southern Lebanon to vacate the area. Over 550 people were killed and nearly 2,000 were injured, media reports said, quoting the Lebanon government. Hezbollah fired around 200 rockets the same day at northern Israel, but the latter's aerial defence system was able to intercept them. Israel targeted Ali Karaki, Hezbollah’s southern front commander, who was staying in a Beirut apartment but he survived the attack, reports said.


September 24-25: The attacks and counter attacks continued even as Israel issued more warnings to residents to flee southern Lebanon, before bombarding the area.


On September 24, Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said in an interview to CNN that Lebanon should not become “another Gaza at the hands of Israel”, while Israel said it had killed the head of Hezbollah’s missile division Ibrahim Kobeissi in a Beirut strike. On September 25, Hezbollah launched a long-range missile towards central Israel for the first time, but it was shot down by Israeli forces. Lebanon said 72 people were people killed and nearly 400 injured in Israel airstrikes across southern Lebanon.


September 26: The US and France, backed by other G7 members, proposed a 21-day cease-fire plan amid the 70th United Nations General Assembly underway in New York. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected it. The strikes continued from both sides, with more deaths being reported. Israel said it killed Hezbollah’s air force commander Mohammed Hussein Sarour in southern Beirut.



September 27: Netanyahu addressed the UNGA, where he said Israel was "winning" the wars it was fighting. He also said Israel would attack "Iran and its proxies" anywhere in the Middle East, and called the UN a "swamp of antisemitic bile" after many delegates left the hall to boycott his address. Israeli airstrikes the same day demolished multiple buildings in southern Beirut, with officials claiming the headquarters of Hezbollah had been razed to ground.
 
September 28: The Israeli military announced that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the Beirut strike the previous day. Hezbollah too confirmed his death later.


September 29-30: Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, a prominent general in Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, died in the Beirut strike that killed Nasrallah, Iranian media reported. Hezbollah also confirmed the death of Nabil Kaouk, a high-ranking official of the group, Associated Press reported. In a first, central Beirut was hit.


October 1: Iran fired at least 180 missiles into Israel in the latest escalation, giving rise to the fear of a region-wide war in the Middle East.