Israel’s military expanded its airstrikes into northern Lebanon on Saturday as bombings continued in Beirut and southern cities, and the Israeli military continued its offensive targeting Hezbollah. A Hamas leader and his family were killed in the northern city of Tripoli early Saturday.
The Israeli army issued three warnings to residents of the area, asking them to evacuate immediately. At night, explosions and airstrikes occurred near Beirut’s airport as planes arrived.
The renewed offensive came after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in his Friday sermon that “Israel will not last long” and that “Iran will not back down.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been on the offensive in southern Lebanon for nearly three weeks, killing scores of people and displacing more than 1.2 million Lebanese citizens.
Middle East Crisis | Latest Update | 5 points
1. Saeed Atala, the head of Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, was killed along with three family members in an Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Hamas-affiliated media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.
2. The IDF said an airstrike targeted a Hezbollah headquarters at a mosque in southern Lebanon, from where members of the terrorist group operate. Air Force aircraft under the intelligence guidance of Amman and Northern Command carried out a night-time targeted attack against operatives of the terrorist organization Hizbullah based in a mosque near the ‘Salah Ehandor’ hospital in the south. Lebanon,” the Israeli military tweeted in Hebrew.
3. The fate of Hassan Nasrallah’s successor as Hezbollah chief, Hashim Safeddine, who was reportedly targeted in an Israeli strike on Thursday night, remains unclear. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah has commented. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz tweeted a photo of Safeddine and Nasrallah and called on Khamenei to “take your proxies and leave Lebanon.”
4. Hezbollah said Israeli forces were trying to infiltrate the southern Lebanese city of Odysseh and clashes were continuing. Israeli forces shelled the southern Lebanese city of Khiyam and the outskirts of Kafar Qila.
5. Israel is reportedly considering its options in response to Tuesday’s ballistic missile attack by Iran, which Tehran claims is retaliation for Israel’s military operation in Lebanon and the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. US President Joe Biden has stated that he believes Israel has not yet decided to take action, indicating that if he were in Israel’s position, he would consider an alternative to attacking Iranian oil fields.
