Hezbollah's rocket array commander killed in IDF drone strike in south Lebanon
The IDF killed Hezbollah's Shaqif region commander, Mohammad Ali Jamoul, early Saturday morning at around 5 a.m. in Deir al-Zahrani in southern Lebanon, the military announced hours later.
Jamoul was the commander of the terrorist organization's rocket array in the region, the IDF said.
The Hezbollah-affiliated source Al-Mayadeen initially reported that Jamoul was struck in a vehicle in the area. He had "advanced numerous projectile attacks toward Israeli civilians and IDF troops, and was involved recently in efforts to reestablish Hezbollah's terrorist infrastructure in the area," the Israeli military said in their statement.
Hours later, the IDF opened fire at a suspected target in the village of Shouba, also in southern Lebanon.
The IDF struck Jamoul's position because his activities in southern Lebanon violate the ceasefire agreement between it and Israel, the military added.
On Friday night, the IDF earlier struck weapons depots in the Latakia area of Syria, containing surface-to-surface missiles, the military later confirmed.
One civilian was killed in the strike on Latakia, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
Amir Bohbot and Reuters contributed to this report. This is a developing story.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pope renews call for immediate Gaza ceasefire
Pope Leo has renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, asking the international community to respect international laws and the obligation to protect civilians. 'I once again call for an immediate end to the barbarity of this war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,' the pontiff said at the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer from his summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. Leo also expressed his 'deep sorrow' for the Israeli attack on the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, which killed three people and wounded 10 others, including the parish priest. 'I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,' the Pope added. The shelling of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza also damaged the church compound, where hundreds of Palestinians have been sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war, now in its 21st month. Israel expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it is investigating. 'We need to dialogue and abandon weapons,' the Pope said earlier on Sunday, after presiding over Mass at the nearby Cathedral of Albano. 'The world no longer tolerates war.'
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Who are the Druze and who are they fighting in Syria?
Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford is in Sweida in Syria, where she has witnessed mutilated, burned and decomposing bodies after a week of fierce fighting in the region. Government security forces have been redeployed to enforce the first day of a US-brokered ceasefire. Tensions remain high with fears of further violent clashes. Hundreds have died. Here's what you need to know about the conflict and who's involved. Who are the Druze? The Druze religious sect is an offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. About half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria, with most others in Lebanon and Israel, including the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The Druze largely celebrated the downfall of Bashar al Assad in December after an almost 14-year civil war, but were divided over interim president Ahmad al Sharaa, a former militant linked to al Qaeda who led Islamist rebels to overthrow the Syrian autocrat. A few months after the transition, which was mostly peaceful, government forces clashed with pro-Assad armed groups on Syria's coast, spurring sectarian attacks that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority to which the former president belongs. (Assad now lives in exile in Russia). The violence left other minority groups, including the Druze in the south, and the Kurds in the northeast, increasingly mistrustful of the new Sharaa government and worried whether it would protect them. Multiple Druze militias have existed for years, originally set up to protect their communities against ISIS fighters and drug smugglers - and they have been reluctant to lay down their arms. Government supporters often paint Druze factions as potential separatists or tools of Israel, where they are seen as a loyal minority within and often serve in its military. What are the factions?Diana Darke, an author, Arabist and Middle East cultural writer, told Sky presenter Barbara Serra there are three main Druze factions, two of which are keen to ally with the government, but the third is controlled by anti-government leader Hikmat al Hijri. Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford says that that faction feels vulnerable and mistrusts the government, who they see as Islamic jihadis. Why did the violence break out? Deadly clashes broke out last Sunday in the southern province surrounding the city of Sweida between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the conflict started with the kidnapping and robbery of a Druze vegetable seller by members of a Bedouin tribe who set up a checkpoint, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings. Ms Darke says "horrible outbreaks of sectarian violence" are inevitable in a civil war-ravaged country with so many groups - and Sharaa doesn't have "enough manpower" to prevent it. Who else is involved? Hijri called for intervention from Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they would help to protect the Druze. Israel bombed key military installations and carried out airstrikes which killed hundreds of Syrian government troops, who were initially sent to restore order before effectively siding with the Bedouins. Thousands of fighters from Arab tribal groups across Syria also flocked to the area to support the Bedouin tribe. "There has been absolutely brutal mayhem and total anarchy inside the city with mass looting, mass pillaging, and it looks like a substantial number of deaths," says Crawford. She says the tribes claim they "are not against the Druze, that this is not a sectarian fight, although it looks very much like that to outsiders like myself and many others". They have been directing their anger towards Hijri faction, with Khalaf al Modhi, the head of one group called United Tribe, seen telling followers: "We aren't here to fight and kill Druze… we are here to stop that criminal Hijri who asked Israel to bomb our country." Has a ceasefire been negotiated? By Wednesday, a truce had been negotiated, allowing Druze factions to maintain security in Sweida as government forces pulled out, although fighting between the Druze and Arab factions continued. Crawford says she's been talking to doctors, engineers, and architects who've travelled from the cities of Aleppo and Damascus with guns on their backs primarily to provide humanitarian aid, but also to fight Hijri, "who they see as a criminal gang leader who now has the backing of Israel". The US, another key global player, has indicated its displeasure with the Israeli strikes in Syria and with the government for withdrawing its troops from Sweida. US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack announced a ceasefire had been brokered between Israel and Syria on Saturday, hours before Syria's internal security forces began redeploying to Sweida in a bid to restore order. Syrian leader Sharaa said Sweida "remains an integral part of the Syrian state, and the Druze constitute a fundamental pillar of the Syrian national fabric," vowing to protect all minorities in Syria. What could happen next? The situation has calmed, but it could go either way, says Crawford, adding: "I wouldn't describe the ceasefire as anything other than fragile and shaky." Afraa Hashem from the Syria Campaign group said the chain of violence "is not isolated" and is growing beyond southern Syria. "It's spreading in northern Syria and dragging Syria towards civil war," she told Sky presenter Barbara Serra.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Calm returns to south Syria after violence that killed 1,000: monitor
Calm returned to southern Syria's Sweida province on Sunday, a monitor and AFP correspondents reported, after a week of sectarian violence between Druze fighters and rival groups that killed more than 1,000 people. A ceasefire announced on Saturday appeared to be holding after earlier agreements failed to end fighting between longtime rivals the Druze and the Bedouin that spiralled to draw in the Islamist-led government, the Israeli military and armed tribes from other parts of Syria. AFP correspondents on the outskirts of Sweida city reported hearing no clashes on Sunday morning, with government forces deployed in some locations in the province to enforce the truce and at least one humanitarian convoy headed for the Druze-majority city. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that since around midnight (2100 GMT Saturday), "Sweida has been experiencing a cautious calm", adding government security forces had blocked roads leading to the province in order to prevent tribal fighters from going there. The Britain-based Observatory gave an updated toll on Sunday of more than 1,000 killed since the violence erupted a week ago, including 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the minority group, as well as 342 government security personnel and 21 Sunni Bedouin. Witnesses, Druze factions and the Observatory have accused government forces of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses including summary executions when they entered Sweida days ago. Hanadi Obeid, a 39-year-old doctor, told AFP that "the city hasn't seen calm like this in a week". - 'Totally calm' - The interior ministry said overnight that Sweida city was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighbourhoods were halted". The Observatory had said Druze fighters retook control of the city on Saturday evening. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had on Saturday announced a fresh ceasefire in Sweida and renewed a pledge to protect Syria's ethnic and religious minorities in the face of the latest sectarian violence since Islamists overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December. A spokesman for Syria's tribal and clan council told Al Jazeera late Saturday that fighters had left the city "in response to the call of the presidency and the terms of the agreement". Another medic inside Sweida told AFP by telephone on Sunday that "the situation is totally calm... We aren't hearing clashes." "No medical or relief assistance has entered until now," the medic added, requesting anonymity due to the security situation. State news agency SANA published images showing medical aid being prepared near the health ministry in Damascus and quoted Health Minister Musab al-Ali as saying assistance would be delivered to Sweida's main hospital, where bodies have piled up. Inside the city, where around 150,000 people live, residents have been holed up in their homes without electricity and water, and food supplies have also been scarce. The United Nations migration agency said more than 128,000 people in Sweida province have been displaced by the violence. - 'Brutal acts' - US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said Sunday that the country stood at a "critical juncture", adding that "peace and dialogue must prevail -- and prevail now". "All factions must immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal vengeance," he wrote on X, saying "brutal acts by warring factions on the ground undermine the government's authority and disrupt any semblance of order". Sharaa's announcement Saturday came hours after the United States said it had negotiated a ceasefire between Syria's government and Israel, which had bombed government forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier in the week. Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it was acting in defence of the group, as well as to enforce its demands for the total demilitarisation of Syria's south. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday urged the Syrian government's security forces to prevent jihadists from entering and "carrying out massacres" in the south, and called on Damascus to "bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks". strs-mam-lg/smw/ami
