Israel fights multi-front war

Israel on Monday battled on multiple fronts, intensifying its fight with Lebanon's Hezbollah as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press the "sacred mission" against Israel's enemies, on the first anniversary of the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

Hamas said it will be a long fight, but Netanyahu said both wars would ensure the violence Israel endured last October 7 could never be repeated.

Israel's military said air defences intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, while in the West Bank, Palestinian officials reported a deadly Israeli raid.

Tehran, which arms and finances Hezbollah and backs the Yemeni rebels, hailed Hamas's October 7 attack as Iran awaits what Israel said will be retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage on Israel last week.

"As long as the enemy threatens our existence and the peace of our country, we will continue to fight. As long as our hostages are still in Gaza, we will continue to fight," Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded television address, vowing not to give up on the "sacred mission" of achieving the war's goals.

Pope Francis condemned the "shameful inability" of world powers to end the Middle East conflict, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the region is "on the verge of a complete conflagration".

Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said the movement chooses "to keep up the fight in a long war of attrition, one that is painful and costly for the enemy".

He also said scores of people taken hostage into Gaza last October 7 were enduring a "very difficult" situation.

A senior Hamas official has acknowledged that "several thousand fighters from the movement and other resistance groups died in combat".

When the Gaza war began, Netanyahu vowed to "crush" Hamas, but troops have found themselves returning again to areas to confront signs the movement was trying to rebuild.

Netanyahu has vowed to bring home the hostages, but critics in Israel have accused him of obstructing mediation for a truce and hostage-release deal.

Late last month Israel turned its focus north towards Hezbollah, with intensified air strikes in Lebanon and, since last week, "targeted" ground raids.

Netanyahu says the aim is to ensure tens of thousands of Israelis forced to flee Hezbollah fire can return home safely.

On Monday the military said it would expand its operations against Hezbollah to Lebanon's coast south of the Al-Awali river, and warned people to stay away.

It also declared a "closed military zone" near the coast in Israel's extreme northwest, near Shlomi, after a similar declaration last week to the northeast in the Metula area.

The military said Hezbollah fired about 135 projectiles into Israel Monday and Israeli forces hit back by striking "over 120 terror targets in southern Lebanon within an hour".

Late Monday, Lebanese state media reported more Israeli strikes on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, which has been repeatedly pounded even after a bombing killed Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah.