Hamas says commander killed in Israel Lebanon strike
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the dawn strike killed one person.
Hamas named him as Khaled Ahmed al-Ahmed and said he was on his way to pray.
"As we mourn our heroic martyr, we pledge to God Almighty, and then to our people and our nation, to continue on the path of resistance," the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
The Israeli military confirmed that it killed Ahmed, adding that he was "the head of operations in Hamas's Western Brigade in Lebanon".
It alleged he had been engaged in weapons smuggling and advancing "numerous" attacks against Israel.
Israel has continued to launch regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah including two months of full-blown war.
Under the deal, Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon's Litani River, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.
Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five positions that it deems "strategic".
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Hezbollah had withdrawn fighters from south of the Litani and dismantled most of its military infrastructure in the area.
Lebanon says it has respected its commitments and has called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw from the five border positions.
Last week, Lebanon's top security body the Higher Defence Council warned Hamas against using the country for attacks on Israel.
The group has since handed over several Palestinians accused of firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in March.
str-jos/nad/kir
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
No 10 decline to say if Palestine will be recognised with Hamas in power
The prime minister's spokesman has refused eight times to confirm whether recognition of Palestine could go ahead if Hamas remain in power and the hostages are not released. Keir Starmer's spokesman was questioned by journalists for the first time since the announcement last week that - unless Israel meets certain conditions including abiding by a ceasefire and increasing aid. The policy has been criticised by the families of UK hostages, campaigners and some Labour MPs, who argue it would reward Hamas and say it should be conditional on the release of the remaining hostages. A senior Hamas politician, Ghazi Hamad, speaking to Al Jazeera, said at the weekend that major nations' decision to recognise a Palestinian state "is one of the fruits of 7 October".The PM's spokesman said on Monday: "The PM is clear that on 7 October, Hamas committed the worst act of terror in Israel's history. That horror has continued since then. "As the foreign secretary said over the weekend, Hamas are rightly pariahs who can have no role in Gaza's future, there is a diplomatic consensus on that. Hamas must immediately release all hostages and have no role in the governance of Gaza." But asked whether removing Hamas from power and releasing hostages were conditions for statehood, he said a decision on recognition would be made at the UN General Assembly meeting in September, based on "an assessment of how far the parties have met the steps we have set out. No one side will have veto on recognition through their actions or inactions." He added: "Our focus is on the immediate situation on the ground, getting more aid in to end the suffering in Gaza and supporting a ceasefire and a long-term peace for Israelis and Palestinians based a two-state solution." Starmer, who recalled his cabinet for an emergency meeting last week before setting out the new position, is following the lead of French president Emmanuel Macron, who first pledged to move toward recognising Palestinian statehood in April. Read more: Canada has also backed recognition if conditions are met, including by the Palestinian Authority. The prime minister had previously said he would recognise a state of Palestine as part of a contribution to a peace process. In his announcement last Tuesday, he said: "We need to see at least 500 trucks entering Gaza every day. But ultimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement. "So we are supporting the US, Egyptian and Qatari efforts to secure a vital ceasefire. That ceasefire must be sustainable and it must lead to a wider peace plan, which we are developing with our international partners. "I've always said we will recognise a Palestinian state as a contribution to a proper peace process, at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution. With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act." Adam Rose, a lawyer acting for British families of hostages in Gaza, has said: "Why would Hamas agree to a ceasefire if it knew that to do so would make British recognition of Palestine less likely?"
Los Angeles Times
17 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Videos of emaciated Israeli hostages in Gaza increase pressure on Netanyahu for a ceasefire
JERUSALEM — New images of emaciated Israeli hostages held in Gaza have horrified Israelis and added pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, even as his government considers another expansion of the nearly 22-month war. The videos released late last week by militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad show two skeletal hostages pleading for their lives. In one, Evyatar David says he is digging his own grave and speaks of days without food. In the other, Rom Braslavsky writhes in agony on a dirty mattress and says injuries in his foot prevent him from being able to stand. The Associated Press does not normally publish videos of hostages filmed under duress, but is publishing brief excerpts after receiving consent from their families. The videos led tens of thousands of Israelis to take to the streets on Saturday night and demand a ceasefire deal, in one of the largest turnouts for the weekly protests in recent months. 'In this new video, his eyes are extinguished. He is helpless, and so am I,' Braslavski's mother, Tami, said in a statement. The videos were released as warnings about famine among Palestinians are growing in Gaza. Images of starving Palestinians have drawn international condemnation of Israeli policies limiting aid deliveries into the territory. Families of the hostages fear that the lack of food threatens the remaining hostages, too. Fewer than half of the 50 hostages are believed to be alive. Netanyahu said he was shocked by the images of the two hostages and met with the Red Cross to ask that it bring hostages food and medicine — access that the organization says it has never been granted by Hamas. 'When I see these, I understand exactly what Hamas wants,' Netanyahu said on Sunday. 'They do not want a deal. They want to break us using these videos of horror.' Netanyahu said the videos renewed his determination to release the hostages and eliminate Hamas. He added that the militant group is starving the hostages 'like the Nazis starved the Jews.' The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was 'appalled by the harrowing videos' and called for access to the hostages. Hamas' military wing said it was ready to respond positively to Red Cross requests to deliver food to hostages, if humanitarian corridors for aid deliveries are opened in a 'regular and permanent manner' in Gaza. It also asserted that the hostages 'eat the same food as our fighters and the general public' and denied any intentional starvation of them. Israel's mission to the U.N. said it requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the hostages, which will take place Tuesday. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said he will travel to New York for the meeting. The videos were being used by Hamas 'to force upon us their conditions on remaining in power in Gaza,' Sa'ar asserted. Netanyahu on Monday said he will convene the Cabinet this week to instruct Israel's military on how to achieve the goals of defeating the enemy, releasing the hostages and assuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel: 'all of them, without exception.' The videos of the hostages emerged as experts warn that Gaza faces 'a worst-case scenario of famine ″ because of Israel's blockade. No aid entered Gaza between March 2 and May 19, and aid has been limited since then. The United Nations says at least 850 people have been killed attempting to access aid near chaotic and dangerous distribution sites set up by Israel and the United States in May. Gaza's Health Ministry said Monday that five more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours. A total of 87 adults have died of malnutrition-related issues since the ministry started counting such deaths in late June, it said. Ninety-three children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war in Gaza began, the ministry said. Israel's government has denied that people are starving to death in Gaza. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the war, and another 251 were abducted. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,900 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead, is part of the Hamas government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable casualty count. Israel has disputed the figures but hasn't provided its own. Lidman writes for the Associated Press.
Washington Post
18 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Israel euthanizes crocodiles after repeated escapes and inhumane treatment
PETZAEL, West Bank — A bask of crocodiles brought to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank decades ago is meeting its end, as authorities euthanize the aging reptiles after years of their repeated escapes from a long-neglected farm. Israeli authorities said Monday that government veterinarians had culled the crocodiles because they threatened the area's residents and were themselves suffering from inhumane treatment. The exact number of crocodiles euthanized and the method of culling were not immediately clear.
