Hamas Israel Conflict….Day 361…..Gaza… West Bank…Lebanon….Iran next?

Israel is now carrying out major operations on multiple fronts. The explosions in the area known as the Dahiya, a stronghold of the militant group, came shortly after an Israeli warplane carried out an airstrike in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in which Palestinian health officials said at least 18 people were killed — a high toll relative to Israel’s prior assaults on the territory, which have escalated during its war against Hamas in the smaller Palestinian territory of Gaza.

And while Israel has employed numerous airborne drone attacks in the West Bank since Oct. 7, it has generally reserved its fighters and bombers for Gaza.

In Gaza itself, the Israeli military carried out numerous strikes on Thursday, and local health officials reported in the evening that nearly 100 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours, the highest daily toll in the past three months.

There are signs that Israel may be preparing to intensify the ground invasion into Lebanon that it began this week as it battles Hezbollah. The Israeli military warned residents of more than 20 towns and cities in southern Lebanon on Thursday to leave their homes immediately and not to move south toward the Israeli border. And this week, the military said it was sending a fifth division of soldiers to the border area with Lebanon.

Efforts by Hezbollah to strike Israel continued to be thwarted by the country’s formidable air defenses. The Israeli military said that at least 200 rockets had been launched at Israel from Lebanon on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, according to Israel’s emergency services, Magen David Adom.

Israeli leaders were continuing to weigh a military response to Iran, which on Tuesday launched nearly 200 missiles at targets across Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who has vowed retribution for the missile attack, said on Wednesday that his country was engaged in “a tough war against Iran’s axis of evil.”

President Biden, in an apparent attempt to stem the escalation and broadening of conflicts in the Middle East, said on Wednesday that he would not support Israel striking Iran’s nuclear sites. On Thursday, oil prices jumped after President Biden, asked if he would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s oil facilities, said: “We’re discussing that. I think that would be a little … anyway.”

Here is what else to know:

• Continuing strikes: The Israeli military said on Thursday morning it had struck about 200 sites in Lebanon overnight, including local government offices in Bint Jbeil, a large town near the border with Israel, where it killed 15 people it described as Hezbollah fighters.

• Iran sanctions: Mr. Biden told reporters that leaders of the Group of 7 nations had agreed in a call on Wednesday to impose new sanctions on Iran for the missile strike. He said the other leaders on the call — of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — agreed that Israel had the right to respond but that it must be proportional.

• Hamas losses: The Israeli military kept up its attacks on Iranian-backed Hamas in Gaza, saying on Thursday that it had killed three top Hamas officials in a previously undisclosed airstrike three months ago, including Rawhi Mushtaha, one of the closest confidants of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader. Hamas did not immediately comment on Israel’s claim, but it has generally not confirmed or denied the deaths of its officials in the conflict….

More….

Update…

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued advancing into southern Lebanon on October 3. Geolocated imagery indicates Israeli troop movements around the western axis of advance, specifically around Aitaroun and Yaroun.