Israeli strikes pound Lebanese coastal city after residents evacuate

TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli jets struck multiple buildings in Lebanon's southern coastal city of Tyre on Wednesday, sending large clouds of black smoke into the air.

The state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike on the nearby town of Maarakeh killed three people. There were no reports of casualties in Tyre, where the Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings prior to the strikes.

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group meanwhile fired another barrage of rockets into Israel, including two that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv before being intercepted. A cloud of smoke could be seen in the sky from the hotel where U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was staying on his latest visit to the region to try to renew cease-fire talks.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes, after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza triggered the war there. All-out war erupted in Lebanon last month, and Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders. Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon at the beginning of October.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that one of its airstrikes in recent weeks killed Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah leader and cleric who was widely expected to succeed Nasrallah.

Tyre, a provincial capital, had largely been spared in the Israel-Hezbollah war, but strikes in an around the city have intensified recently.

The 2,500-year-old city, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Beirut, is known for its pristine beaches, ancient harbor and imposing Roman ruins and hippodrome, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is among Lebanon’s largest cities and a vibrant metropolis popular with tourists.

The buildings struck on Wednesday were between several heritage sites, including the hippodrome and a cluster of seaside sites associated with the ancient Phoenicians and the Crusaders.

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings a couple hours prior for dozens of buildings in the heart of the city. It told residents to move north of the Awali River, dozens of kilometers (miles) to the north.

Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, said on the platform X that there were Hezbollah assets in the area of the evacuation warning, without elaborating or providing evidence.

The city is in southern Lebanon, where the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah has a strong presence, and its legislators are members of the group or its allies. But Tyre is also home to civilians with no ties to the group, including a sizable Christian community.

First responders from Lebanon’s Civil Defense used loudspeakers to warn residents to evacuate the area and helped older adults and others who had difficulty leaving. Ali Safieddine, the head of the Civil Defense, told The Associated Press there were no casualties.

Dr. Wissam Ghazal, a health official in Tyre, said the strikes hit six buildings, flattening four of them, around 2 1/2 hours after the evacuation warnings. People displaced by the strikes could be seen in parks and sitting on the sides of nearby roads.

Over 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict began late last year, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Over a million people have fled their homes since September.

On the Israeli side, attacks have killed around 60 people, half of them soldiers. Near-daily rocket barrages have emptied out communities across northern Israel, displacing some 60,000 people. In recent weeks Hezbollah has extended its range, launching scores of rockets every day and regularly targeting the northern Israeli city of Haifa. Most of the projectiles are intercepted or fall in open areas.

Chehayeb reported from Beirut.

Follow AP’s war coverage at  https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Projectiles fired from Lebanon are intercepted over Haifa, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Projectiles fired from Lebanon are intercepted over Haifa, Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from a building hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Boeing reported a loss of more than $6 billion in the third quarter and immediately turned its attention to union workers who will vote Wednesday whether to accept a company contract offer or continue their crippling strike, which has dragged on for nearly six weeks.

New CEO Kelly Ortberg laid out his plan to turn Boeing around after years of heavy losses and damage to its reputation.

In remarks he planned to deliver later Wednesday to investors, Ortberg said Boeing needs “a fundamental culture change in the company.” To accomplish that, he said, company leaders need to spend more time on factory floors to know what is going on and “prevent the festering of issues and work better together to identify, fix, and understand root cause.”

Ortberg repeated that he wants to “reset” management’s relationship with labor “so we don’t become so disconnected in the future.” He expressed hope that machinists will vote to approve the company’s latest contract offer and end their strike.

“It will take time to return Boeing to its former legacy, but with the right focus and culture, we can be an iconic company and aerospace leader once again,” he said.

The strike is an early test for Ortberg, a Boeing outsider who became CEO in August.

Ortberg has already announced large-scale layoffs and a plan to raise enough cash to avoid a bankruptcy filing. He needs to convince federal regulators that Boeing is fixing its safety culture and is ready to boost production of the 737 Max — a crucial step to bring in much-needed cash.

Boeing can't produce any new 737s, however, until it ends the strike by 33,000 machinists that has shut down assembly plants in the Seattle area.

Ortberg has "got a lot on his plate, but he probably is laser-focused on getting this negotiation completed. That’s the closest alligator to the boat,” said Tony Bancroft, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, a Boeing investor.

Boeing hasn't had a profitable year since 2018, and the situation is about to get worse before it gets better.

Boeing said Wednesday that it lost $6.17 billion in the period ended Sept. 30, with an adjusted loss of $10.44 per share. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research were calling for a loss of $10.34 per share.

Revenue totaled $17.84 billion, matching Wall Street estimates.

Shares were flat before the opening bell.

Investors will be looking for Ortberg to project calm, determination and urgency as he presides over an earnings call for the first time since he ran Rockwell Collins, a maker of avionics and flight controls for airline and military planes, in the last decade.

The biggest news of the day, however, is likely to come Wednesday evening, when the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers reveals whether striking workers are ready to go back to their jobs.

They will vote at union halls in the Seattle area and elsewhere on a Boeing offer that includes pay raises of 35% over four years, $7,000 ratification bonuses, and the retention of performance bonuses that Boeing wanted to eliminate.

Boeing has held firm in resisting a union demand to restore the traditional pension plan that was frozen a decade ago. However, older workers would get a slight increase in their monthly pension payouts.

At a picket line outside Boeing’s factory in Everett, Washington, some machinists encouraged colleagues to vote no.

“The pension should have been the top priority. We all said that was our top priority, along with wage,” said Larry Best, a customer-quality coordinator with 38 years at Boeing. “Now is the prime opportunity in a prime time to get our pension back, and we all need to stay out and dig our heels in."

Best also thinks the pay increase should be 40% over three years to offset a long stretch of stagnant wages, now combined with high inflation.

“You can see we got a great turnout today. I’m pretty sure that they don’t like the contract because that’s why I’m here," said another picketer, Bartley Stokes Sr., who started working at Boeing in 1978. “We’re out here in force, and we’re going to show our solidarity and stick with our union brothers and sisters and vote this thing down because they can do better.”

Koenig reported from Dallas.

FILE - Nadia Milleron, parent of Samya Rose Stumo, one of the victims of the Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia, holds her photograph as she speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill, June 18, 2024, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

In this photo provided by Boeing, CEO Kelley Ortberg is shown during a visit to the Boeing factory on Aug. 8, 2024 in Renton, Wash. (Marian Lockhart/Boeing via AP)

Boeing 737 Max aircrafts are seen behind fences, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, at the company's facilities in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Union machinists wave signs next to company's factory in Everett, Wash., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)

Union machinist Terry Muriekes waves a Halloween-decorated strike sign by Boeing's Everett, Wash., factory on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)

Union machinists wave signs next to company's factory in Everett, Wash., on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)

Union machinist Terry Muriekes waves a Halloween-decorated strike sign by Boeing's Everett, Wash., factory on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)