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Four Israeli soldiers were killed and dozens injured, seven of them critically, in a Hezbollah “swarm.” Drones struck a military base near the northern Israeli town of Binyamina in one of the bloodiest attacks on the country since October 2023.

Hezbollah is an armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

The Israeli military said early on October 14 that the attack took place at a military base about 60 kilometers north of Tel Aviv. No further details were initially disclosed.

CNN previously reported that United Hatzalah Ambulance Service said it “provided aid to more than 60 wounded people in varying conditions – some in critical, serious, moderate and mild condition.”

The Magen David Adom National Ambulance Service (AFMDA) said at least 67 people were injured in the attack in Israel's Haifa district.

Hezbollah – which is classified as a terrorist group by the United States although the EU has blacklisted only its armed wing – claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had a “swarm of attack drones” targeting a military training camp in Binyamina fired.

Iran-allied Hezbollah has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, but due to Israel's sophisticated air defense systems, most were shot down or caused little damage and few casualties.

Earlier in the day, angry U.N. peacekeepers said Israeli forces broke into a gate at one of their bases in Lebanon, causing about 15 minor injuries.

“At around 4:30 a.m., while peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of the position and forcibly entered the position in the Ramia area,” the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said added that the Israeli forces left after about 45 minutes.

Israel later claimed the tanks came under fire when they crashed into the base gate.

The action came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said UN peacekeepers must “immediately” withdraw from the combat zone in southern Lebanon and appealed directly to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“It is time for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and combat zones,” Netanyahu said, accusing Guterres of turning UNIFIL soldiers into “human shields” and “hostages of Hezbollah.”

“Mr. Secretary General, move the UNIFIL forces out of danger. This should happen now and immediately,” he said.

UNIFIL is a 9,500-strong mission founded in 1978 whose mission is to monitor a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Forty nations contributing to UNIFIL said in a joint statement on Oct. 12 that they “strongly condemn the recent attacks” on peacekeepers. The leaders of the United States and Europe have called on Israel to cease fire on the peacekeepers. US President Joe Biden said on October 12 that he had “absolutely and unequivocally” called on Israel to stop.

Fears of an all-out regional war grew as signs suggested that Israel could be preparing for a direct attack on Iran in retaliation for Tehran's massive rocket attack on Israel on October 1.

Biden said on Oct. 13 that he had ordered the Pentagon to send a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and troops to Israel as part of U.S. efforts to “defend Israel.”

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said the system will help bolster Israel's air defenses following Iran's missile attacks. The THAADs are similar to the Patriot missile systems but can cover larger areas and require about 95 soldiers to deploy, analysts said.

“It is part of broader adjustments the U.S. military has made in recent months to support the defense of Israel and protect Americans from attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned militias,” Ryder said.

The French presidency said on October 13 that President Emmanuel Macron told his Iranian counterpart Masud Pezeshkian in a phone call that it was Tehran's “responsibility” to support efforts to reduce tensions in the Middle East. Iran's presidency also reported on the call, saying the sides discussed ways to end the conflict but also used strongly bellicose language toward Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on October 13 that Tehran was prepared for a “war situation,” although he said his government wanted peace.

“We are well prepared for a war situation. We are not afraid of war, but we don't want war. We want peace and we will work for a just peace in Gaza and Lebanon,” he said during a visit to the city, Iraq's capital Baghdad.

Israeli warplanes attacked a 100-year-old mosque in a Lebanon village near the border early on October 13, a day after hitting a marketplace in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.

Lebanon's health ministry reported deadly attacks in other parts of the country, including one in a Shiite Muslim village in a predominantly Christian mountainous region.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli forces in Lebanese territory on October 13 as ground troops entered the south of the country.

A Hezbollah statement said it attacked a “cluster” of Israeli forces in the village of Maroun al-Ras “with artillery shells.”

Hezbollah fired hundreds of projectiles from Lebanon into Israel on October 12 as Israelis celebrated Yom Kippur, an important holiday in the Jewish religious calendar.

The escalation comes as Israel is also carrying out new attacks in Gaza and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a rocket attack earlier this month.

Palestinian medical officials said on October 13 that an Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip killed a family of eight and injured seven others.

The attack late Oct. 12 hit a house in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing a couple and their six children aged 8 to 23, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

More than a year into its war with Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, Israel continues to attack militant targets in Gaza on a near-daily basis.

In an Oct. 13 statement, the Israeli army said forces operating across the Gaza Strip had struck about 40 targets and killed dozens of militants in the past 24 hours.

Both Hamas and Hezbollah are allies of Iran. Israel has repeatedly said it would respond to Iran's Oct. 1 rocket attack, which Tehran said was launched in retaliation for Israel's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon and the killing of a number of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Washington believes Israel has narrowed the targets of its possible response to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported Oct. 12, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

There are no signs that Israel will target Iran's nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the NBC report said, adding that Israel has not yet made final decisions on how and when to act.

Araghchi said there will be “no red line” for Iran when it comes to protecting its citizens from possible attacks.

“Although we have made enormous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and our interests,” Araghchi wrote in an Oct. 13 post on X

With reporting from Reuters, AFP and AP