Iran maintains Haniyeh was killed by a projectile, flights to Beirut suspended until Tuesday… News of the conflict in the Middle East on August 3 – Libération

The war between Hamas and IsraelfileThe essential information on the war between Hamas and Israel on August 3.

Iran says it expects Hezbollah strikes ‘deep’ into Israeli territory

Fears and threats of a military escalation in the Middle East are growing after the assassination attributed to Israel of the leader of Hamas and the death in an Israeli strike of a senior Hezbollah official, which Tehran and the Lebanese movement have sworn to avenge. This Saturday, August 3, the Iranian representation to the United Nations even said it expected Hezbollah to strike areas located “deep” in Israeli territory, and “not limit itself to military targets.” Until now, “Hezbollah and the (Israeli) regime had observed certain lines that the attack (on Tuesday evening) crossed,” it continued, quoted by the official Iranian agency IRNA.

Nine dead in two Israeli strikes in occupied West Bank

Two Israeli strikes in the occupied West Bank killed nine people on Saturday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Five were killed in a drone strike. The Israeli army said it targeted “five terrorists” who were preparing to carry out an attack. Later, Wafaa said four Palestinians were killed in another Israeli strike, which hit a vehicle they were traveling in. The IDF confirmed the strike, saying “an additional terrorist cell was eliminated” as part of the counterterrorism operation in the Tulkarm governorate.

Revolutionary Guards say Haniyeh was killed by ‘short-range projectile’

As soon as the death of the Hamas leader was announced on July 31, the Islamist movement, Iran and its allies blamed it on an Israeli strike. Iran maintains the version of a projectile launched from outside the house: “According to investigations and investigations, this terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of approximately 7 kilograms from outside the guests’ accommodation (causing) a strong explosion,” the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Republic of Iran, said on Saturday. Israel was “supported by the United States” in this operation, they added – the Hebrew state has not commented.

On Thursday, however, five Middle Eastern officials reported anonymously in The New York Times that the explosion was caused by a bomb hidden two months earlier under the house where Ismail Haniyeh was staying during his stay.

Air France and Transavia flights to Beirut are suspended until at least Tuesday

“Due to the security situation,” airlines Air France and Transavia France have decided to extend the suspension of their flights to Beirut, at least until August 6 inclusive, announced Saturday Air France-KLM, their parent company. The service to the Lebanese capital by the two companies has been suspended since July 29, amid fears of a military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. “The resumption of operations will be subject to a new assessment of the situation on the ground,” according to the spokesperson for the Franco-Dutch group. Rotations with Tel Aviv “continue to operate normally.”

Gaza Civil Defense reports 10 dead in Israeli strike on school compound

The Gaza Civil Defense announced Saturday that an Israeli strike on a school compound in Gaza City killed 10 people and injured several others, with the army saying the compound was being used as a “hideout for Hamas terrorists.” Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense, reported in a statement that “10 people were martyred and several others were injured following an Israeli bombing of the Hamama school” in Gaza City. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had “struck terrorists operating in a Hamas command and control center” that was previously “known as the Hamama school in the northern Gaza Strip.”

US Embassy Calls on Citizens to Leave Lebanon

The U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Saturday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon on “any available flight,” amid growing fears of an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Despite the suspensions and cancellations of flights to Beirut, “commercial transportation options to leave Lebanon remain available,” the embassy said in a statement. “We encourage those who wish to leave Lebanon to book any available flight, even if that flight does not depart immediately or follow the route of their choice.”