AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Israeli military strikes continue this morning in Lebanon as the region approaches one year since Hamas fighters entered southern Israel, killed around 1,200 people and took more than 200 people hostage. The attack sparked Israel's war in Gaza, which has, in turn, killed more than 41,000 Palestinians there. Israeli troops are now operating in Lebanon against Hezbollah, and there's worry the war could lead to direct conflict with Iran. For more, we're joined by NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Hi, Kat.
KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE: Hey there.
RASCOE: Kat, we spoke a week ago. And a lot has happened since then.
LONSDORF: Yeah, it has. I'll try to tick through it quickly. Since we last talked, on Monday, Israel began its ground invasion in - against Hezbollah into southern Lebanon and has also been striking throughout the country from the air, causing massive destruction in places like Beirut. Then Tuesday, Iran launched a missile attack at Israel, firing nearly 200 ballistic missiles, many of which were shot down, but some did hit. Immediately after, Israeli officials began discussing a possible strike back at Iran.
On Friday, Israel carried out one of the deadliest airstrikes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in many, many years, killing 18 Palestinians, including children, and wounding more. Israel said that Hamas officials were the target. And Israel continued to carry out massive strikes in Gaza, too. This - just this weekend, strikes killed at least 56 Palestinians. And the backdrop of this all, like you said, is the Hamas-led attack last October 7, and tomorrow is the one-year mark of that tragedy here.
RASCOE: I mean, that is a lot in just one week.
LONSDORF: Yeah.
RASCOE: I wonder if we could step back. You've been in the region for months now. Can you remind us how this all unfolded?
LONSDORF: Sure. I'll give you the real Cliff Notes version since we have a limited amount of time. The attacks last October triggered Israel's war in Gaza, which Israel said is against Hamas with the goal of getting the hostages back, but has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to health officials there. It's many, many civilians. That war has no end in sight. All cease-fire talks have been put aside at this point, and there are still 101 Israeli hostages in Gaza, at least half of whom are still believed to be alive, according to Israeli officials.
After October 7, Israel and Hezbollah started trading fire across the border with Lebanon. Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed group like Hamas and has been firing rockets at northern Israel in solidarity, which has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes up north for the past year. Israel has also been striking back, leading to this ground invasion that started last week. Israeli strikes in Lebanon, just in the past few weeks, have killed well over a thousand people, injured thousands more and displaced more than a million.
RASCOE: And I should note our colleague, Jane Arraf, is in Lebanon, and we'll hear from her later about...
LONSDORF: Yeah.
RASCOE: ...What's happening there.
LONSDORF: Yeah. And, you know, like I said, Iran has been involved in all of this through its proxy groups. This past week's missile attack wasn't the first time Iran has gotten more involved. It also launched hundreds of drones at Israel back in April to retaliate for Israel striking the Iranian consulate in Damascus. So Iran and Israel have been fighting on the sidelines in many ways, and now there's increasingly talk here in Israel that a strike might happen directly on Iran.
RASCOE: You know, meanwhile, Kat, the one-year commemoration of October 7 is tomorrow. What are you...
LONSDORF: Yeah.
RASCOE: ...Expecting?
LONSDORF: Yeah. Well, there are several events here in Israel - an official one by the government, another one by the families of hostages and a few more local ones. People here are bracing for the emotional weight of it. The last few days have been Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, here. And I've heard from many Israelis that they're just not quite sure how or if to be celebrating right now with everything that's going on. You know, meanwhile, in Gaza, our colleague Anas Baba tells us that people there are also bracing, wondering if Israel might increase attacks on this year mark. Here's a voice note he just sent us today from a morgue in central Gaza as he watched bodies of people killed in the recent airstrikes brought in.
ANAS BABA, BYLINE: We can say that the Palestinians in Gaza, in the meantime, is totally afraid of what's going to be expected in the 7 of October.
LONSDORF: One woman Anas talked to, who had just watched her father die, said, we are tired. By God, we're so tired.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Kat Lonsdorf in Tel Aviv. Thank you.
LONSDORF: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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