The biggest events in Israel-Hezbollah war: From Nasrallah’s killing to attacking Netanyahu’s residence

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
More than a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has witnessed a series of crucial events and escalations that will carry ramifications on the region for years to come.
But the last two months have seen unprecedented developments on the battlefield – not least the escalation on the Lebanon-Israel front, previously opened by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, into full-scale war.
The National takes a look at six decisive events of the war.
On September 17, thousands of hand-held pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah – secretly manufactured by the Israeli Mossad and sold to Hezbollah through a shell company – detonated across Lebanon and parts of Syria, wounding around 3,000 people and killing at least 12.
Perhaps more shockingly, it happened again the very next day, this time with walkie-talkies.
Over 25 people were killed and hundreds injured. Hezbollah’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, vowed retribution, acknowledging the deadly back-to-back operations as an “unprecedented blow” to his group and calling them an “act of war”.
The lethal attacks killed a total of 37 people and wounded thousands, dealing a significant blow to Hezbollah’s fighting force. In the wake of the attacks, Israel announced that a “new phase” of the war in northern Israel and Lebanon had begun.
Ten days later, on September 27, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli air strike on a residential compound in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah leaders were meeting in underground headquarters.
The raid that killed him also decimated six apartment buildings. The death of the iconic and enigmatic figure who had led Hezbollah for over three decades sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East and dealt a heavy blow to the group.
Days later, Israel also assassinated the person believed to be Mr Nasrallah’s imminent successor, Hashem Safieddine.
It later emerged that Mr Nasrallah had agreed in principle to a 21-day ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later vowed during his speech at the UN that Israel would continue “degrading Hezbollah” until its objectives were met.
Shortly after Mr Netanyahu’s UN speech, powerful explosions rocked Lebanon’s capital as Israel killed Nasrallah in a massive strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, derailing the negotiations.
On October 29, then-deputy leader Naim Qassem was promoted to the role of secretary general of Hezbollah. Mr Qassem is now leading the powerful political party and paramilitary in its war with Israel.
As it had repeatedly threatened to do, on October 1 Israel invaded south Lebanon with US support, waging a ground offensive in the south supported by bombardment from the air across parts of the country.
Israel said it was carrying out the ground invasion to further degrade Hezbollah infrastructure in south Lebanon.
After pummelling much of Lebanon in a series of massive bombardments, wiping out Hezbollah’s senior leadership and detonating the pagers and walkie-talkies, Israeli soldiers backed by tanks and aerial support invaded Lebanon – again. Israel had previously invaded Lebanon on two occasions: In 1978 and 1982, with the second invasion turning into an 18-year occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000.
While Israel has made slow progress, it has advanced several miles into Lebanon’s territory. It has also ordered residents to leave the south and destroyed many Lebanese villages though comprehensive large-scale detonations. Videos have surfaced online of Israeli soldiers filming themselves and expressing joy as they wipe out people’s homes.
But the fighting has been fierce and deadly. On October 2, at least seven elite Israeli soldiers were killed when they were ambushed by Hezbollah fighters, illustrating how tricky it is to wage a war against an enemy that knows the land well.
For the past two months Israel has tried to occupy the strategically important town of Khiam, four miles from the border. But despite an escalation in efforts over the last two weeks, Israel has failed to take the town.
In one of the deadliest days for the Israeli army, on October 13, a Hezbollah drone strike on a base 20 miles south of Haifa killed four soldiers and injured at least 58.
At the time it was described as the biggest attack in a year on an Israeli position. The strike hit a training camp of the Golan Brigade in Binyamina, which has been active in south Lebanon.
Coming days after Hezbollah’s senior leadership was wiped out and a few weeks after the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, the assault with a swarm of drones showed the group was still capable of inflicting severe damage on Israel. It also showed that Hezbollah was able to launch attacks that could evade Israel’s advanced early-warning systems.
Hezbollah said the attack was a response to two Israeli strikes on central Beirut that killed at least 22 people, as well as being part of a series of retaliations for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah.
On October 19, a drone hit the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the seaside town of Caserarea. Days later Hezbollah would claim responsibility for the attack. Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Afif, who has since been assassinated, had hinted at further attacks.
There was only superficial damage to the summer home and Mr Netanyahu was not present, but it signalled that Hezbollah was still able to carry out far-reaching operations despite the series of blows dealt to the group.
Mr Netanyahu had described it as an assassination attempt on him and his wife Sara.
Hezbollah had repeatedly targeted Israeli military bases close to Tel Aviv as well as sites across Israel. Over the weekend, debris fell on houses close to Tel Aviv when the city itself was targeted, leaving buildings on fire and injuring five.
Hezbollah said it fired “a barrage of advanced missiles and a swarm of attack drones” at a “military target” in Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah’s recently appointed secretary general Naim Qassem had threatened to hit Tel Aviv if Beirut was hit. In the last two weeks, central Beirut has been attacked at least four times as Israel has expanded the scope of its attacks, with the casualties including Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.
The escalations from both sides came even as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah seemed reachable.