'Nasrallah's son-in-law killed in Israeli raid in Damascus,' report claims

Yemen's Houthi rebels launched an explosive-loaded drone that crashed into one ship Tuesday in the Red Sea and a missile that exploded against another.

The attacks are the rebels’ first assaults on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict.

They come as Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top officials, and earlier explosions of sabotaged electronic devices used by the Shiite militia. The Houthis threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel on Monday after they apparently shot down a US military drone flying over Yemen.

The first attack took place some 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeida and targeted the Panama-flagged oil tanker Cordelia Moon, the multinational Joint Maritime Information Center said. A captain on a ship saw four “splashes” near the vessel, the center overseen by the U.S. Navy said. That likely would have been missiles launched at the vessel that missed.

The drone boat later damaged the Cordelia Moon, which sustained a puncture to one of its ballast tanks in the attack. Those tanks control a ship’s buoyancy. Houthi strikes in the past have targeted ships at their waterline to disable the vessels.

Drone boats have been increasingly used by the Houthis. The ship had been heading north to the Suez Canal with armed private security guards aboard, the private security firm Ambrey said.

Another attack with a missile targeted a separate ship also heading north to the Suez Canal with armed security on board, Ambrey said.

Turkey is ready to carry out a possible evacuation of Turks from Lebanon via air and sea, and is working with around 20 countries on preparing for a possible evacuation of foreign nationals via Turkey, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

It said the security conditions in Lebanon could deteriorate, as Israel launched a ground incursion into south Lebanon, and added a coordination centre had been set up to handle evacuation requests in line with the plans made by Turkish institutions.

"The guidelines for the evacuation of foreign nationals via our country have also been set, the necessary preparations are being carried out with around 20 countries that have requested support so far," it said.

Top European airlines Lufthansa, KLM and Swiss announced Tuesday they were extending their suspension of flights to the Middle East, as tensions spiral throughout the region.

The moves come as Israel launches strikes on Beirut and a senior White House official warned Iran was preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack "imminently" against Israel.

KLM has pushed out until the end of the year the suspension of its once-daily flight to Tel Aviv "given the situation in the region," spokeswoman Elvira van der Vis was quoted as telling AFP.

The Dutch airline had already announced in August that it was suspending flights to Israel until October 26.

Earlier Tuesday, German airline group Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to Beirut up to and including November 30.

Lufthansa group flights to Tel Aviv will be cancelled until October 31 while trips to Tehran remain cancelled until October 14.

"We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers," the group said.

The Lufthansa group -- whose carriers also include Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines -- has repeatedly modified its flight schedule in recent months due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, as have other airlines.

Following the example of its parent company, Swiss said the extension of its flight suspensions was "intended to provide more predictability for both our passengers and our crews".

The US embassy in Israel on Tuesday directed all US government employees and their family members in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza to shelter in place until further notice, a post on the mission's website said.

The Israeli military warned several southern Lebanese communities near the border to leave their homes Tuesday, shortly after starting what it called a limited operation against Hezbollah targets.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning Monday to Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas. “There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach," Netanyahu said, just days after an airstrike south of Beirut killed the leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which is backed by Tehran.

Hezbollah’s acting leader, Naim Kassem, promised the group will fight on following the death Friday of its long-time chief Hassan Nasrallah. Israel has also assassinated several of the group’s top commanders in recent days. Kassem said the group’s fighters are ready and the slain commanders have already been replaced.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since Oct. 8, the day after Hamas sent fighters into Israel and sparked the war in Gaza. It's been almost a year since some 250 people were abducted from Israel, and friends and family are worried about their loved ones as attention turns away from hostages and north toward Lebanon.

Russia urged Israel to "immediately" pull its troops out of southern Lebanon on Tuesday, after the Israeli military began what it called "limited" raids against Hezbollah militants in the area.

"Russia strongly condemns the attack on Lebanon and calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately cease hostilities, withdraw their troops from Lebanese territory and engage in a real search for peaceful ways to resolve the Middle East conflict," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

China said on Tuesday it was "highly concerned" after Israel said it launched a ground offensive into neighbouring Lebanon, escalating the conflict after a week of air strikes that killed hundreds.

"China is highly concerned about the current situation between Lebanon and Israel and is deeply concerned about the further escalation of regional tensions due to related military actions," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday condemned Israel's ground operation in Lebanon and urged the United Nations and other international organisations to stop Israel without "wasting any more time".

"Whatever it does, Israel will be stopped sooner or later," Erdogan told the Turkish parliament at the opening of the legislative year.

"All state and international organisations, especially the UN, must stop Israel without wasting any more time," he added.

The Israeli army said it launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes Tuesday, escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.

Erdogan said "the terror and genocide" Israel has carried out in Gaza has reached Lebanon and warned if not stopped, the Israeli leadership would set its sights on Turkey.

"I openly say that the Israeli leadership, acting with the delirium of the promised land and with a purely religious fanaticism, will set its sights on our homeland after Palestine and Lebanon," Erdogan said, again comparing Prime Minister Netanyahu to Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler.

"Just as Hitler, who saw himself in a giant mirror, was stopped, Netanyahu will be stopped in the same way," he said.

The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel, a senior White House official said on Tuesday.

The United States is actively supporting preparations to defend Israel against this and a direct military attack on Israel by Iran would carry severe consequences for Iran, the official said.

Israel carried out two attacks on Beirut on Tuesday afternoon, striking the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital and the city's southern entrance.

A high-rise building was hit in the city's Jnah area.

The Israeli military said it was targeting the Lebanese capital and had carried out a "precise strike."

Iran is preparing an imminent ballistic missile attack against Israel, the United States said on Tuesday, warning that any such assault would have "severe" consequences for Tehran.

The warning came as Israel said it had launched a ground offensive in Lebanon to target the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah, whose leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike last week.

"The United States has indications that Iran is preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel," a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack."

The United States and other western allies stepped in to help defend Israel against a combined Iranian missile and drone attack in April, which Tehran launched in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.

The US official added: "A direct military attack from Iran against Israel will carry severe consequences for Iran."

However, Israel army says not detected 'aerial threat' from Iran 'for now'.

Hezbollah said it targeted an air base in Tel Aviv in retaliation for attacks on civilians in Lebanon, in the second operation Tuesday it dedicated to its slain leader.

The Iran-backed group said its fighters launched "a salvo of Fadi-4 rockets at the Sde Dov air base in Tel Aviv", adding the attack came in defence of Lebanon and "in response to the targeting of civilians and the massacres that the enemy carried out".

The group dedicated the attack on the disused base to its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had not detected an incoming aerial strike from Iran "for now", after a US official said there were indications of an imminent missile attack.

"For now, we have not detected any aerial threat launched from Iran," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said, adding that the Israeli army was "prepared to defend and attack" Iran in the event of a strike launched from the Islamic republic.