Settlers attempt attack on IDF commander • Hezbollah leader allegedly eliminated in airstrike in Syria.
At least four missiles fired in strike that rocked Beirut
This marks the fourth Israeli airstrike this week, targeting a central area of Beirut.
A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut early on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against Hezbollah.
Several powerful blasts shook Beirut at around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT), Reuters witnesses said. At least four rockets were fired in the attack, two security sources said.
Hezbollah leader who planned attack on US soldiers killed in recent Israeli airstrike – report
An American defense official told NBC it was unclear when the strike took place and whether it sought to specifically eliminate Ali Mussa Daqduq.
Senior Hezbollah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq was reportedly killed in a recent airstrike attributed to Israel in Syria, a senior US defense official told NBC.
The defense official told NBC it was unclear when the strike took place, its precise location, and whether it sought to specifically target and eliminate Daqduq.
Daqduq was central in terrorist operations against the IDF in southern Lebanon from 2003-2006 before moving to Iraq and helping to build up terrorist operations against US forces in the region.
Daqduq’s attack on US soldiers
In 2007, he was arrested by US forces in Iraq on charges of orchestrating an attack on US troops in Karbala in which five soldiers were killed, although he was later transferred to Iraqi custody and released in 2012. After his release, he trained Hezbollah’s special forces until he was given command of the Golan File in 2018.
Shortly after being released, Daqduq was among Hezbollah terrorists again, the senior official told NBC.
NBC reported that US officials believed that the terrorists were directly supported by Iran’s Qud Forces within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including coordination, training, and intelligence to plan and carry out the attack.
Syrian media had previously speculated that Daqduq was the target of the airstrike and was eliminated, but the IDF has yet to confirm his elimination.
Tzvi Joffre and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
Hamas denies rumors it would accept hostage deal without a Gaza ceasefire in place – report
Hamas also no longer believes that Hezbollah is committed to the war and worries that a ceasefire in Lebanon would weaken Hamas’s position in the negotiations.
Recent rumors indicating that Hamas might forgo a ceasefire in Gaza in order to reach a hostage deal were untrue, a Palestinian source close to the hostage deal negotiations told Israeli state broadcaster KAN on Friday.
The source said that Hamas would not sign any hostage deal that did not include “guarantees of ending the war,” the same source also said that a ceasefire in Lebanon might influence Hamas’s view on the matter.
Hezbollah fires over 80 rockets at Israeli territory on Friday
Over 80 rockets were fired by the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon into Israeli territory on Friday, the military stated.
Five right-wing settlers arrested after attempted attack on IDF Central Command chief in Hebron
Five settlers were arrested, and the IDF condemned the incident that saw the settlers block military activities and harass the Central Command chief.
Dozens of right-wing settlers harassed and attempted to attack Central Command chief Major-General Avi Bluth on Friday night in Hebron in the West Bank, Israeli media reported.
According to reports, rioters chased Bluth and other officers who were with him and blocked the roads on his way to operational activity. They also shouted insults at him. Five rioters were arrested.
This occurred during the “Life of Sarah” Shabbat in Hebron, Israeli media reported.
- Hamas launched a massive attack on October 7, with thousands of terrorists infiltrating from the Gaza border and taking some 240 hostages into Gaza.
- Over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were murdered, including over 350 at the Re’im music festival and hundreds of Israeli civilians across Gaza border communities
- 101 hostages remain in Gaza
- 48 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says