Hezbollah confirms Israel strike killed potential Nasrallah successor Hashem Safieddine

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that failure by Israel to safeguard civilians in Gaza could create a generational backlash and create more anti-Israel insurgents in the future.

Speaking to reporters in Rome, Austin said he raises the need to address the humanitarian needs of civilians in every call he has with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.

In each call, Austin said he cites the need for Israel to be more precise during military operations against Palestinian militant group Hamas to limit civilian casualties, and cites the need to get humanitarian assistance to the civilian population.

"Failure to do that will create a generation of Palestinians that really will continue to resist cooperating with Israel in the future. So you're actually increasing the numbers of insurgents ... if you fail to do that," Austin said.

"It's a strategic imperative in my view."

Hamas-led fighters rampaged through Israeli towns on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and capturing around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 42,500 Palestinians, with another 10,000 unconfirmed dead thought to lie under the rubble, Gaza health authorities say.

Israel has intensified an assault on the northern edge of Gaza since killing Hamas' leader last week. Health authorities reported on Wednesday at least 20 people killed in fresh Israeli strikes, most in the north.

Aside from mass destruction, Gazans face severe shortages of food, water, fuel, medicine and proper medical care.

The United States is Israel's closest ally, and it has supported Israel's effort to go after Hamas, which is backed by Iran.

But a confidential letter from Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israeli officials last week demanded concrete measures to address the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, or face potential restrictions on US military aid.

Austin has declined to publicly discuss the letter.

"The ability to accomplish your goals militarily in terms of achieving the objectives and protecting civilians in the battle space ... you can do both of those things. They're not mutually exclusive," Austin said.

Leaders from BRICS countries on Wednesday called for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza Strip and the release of hostages from "both sides", while denouncing Israel for its military offensive that has led to "mass killings" of civilians in that territory. The escalating conflict in West Asia figured prominently in the Kazan Declaration, adopted by the leaders who participated in the 16th summit of the group in this Russian city.
BRICS includes Iran which faces possible retaliation from Israel after it launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at the Jewish nation on October 1.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were the initial members of the group, which has now expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The declaration specifically condemned the Israeli airstrike on Iran's consulate in Syria in April that killed officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, among others.

"We reiterate our grave concern at the deterioration of the situation and humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in particular the unprecedented escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip and in West Bank as a result of the Israeli military offensive, which led to mass killing and injury of civilians, forced displacement and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure," the Kazan Declaration said.

Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah official and heir apparent to the group’s secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday. Safieddine had been managing the group alongside deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah's assassination and was expected to be formally elected as the next leader. A relative of Nasrallah, he was a member of Hezbollah's Jihad Council, overseeing military operations, and headed its executive council, managing financial and administrative affairs. His death significantly impacts Hezbollah's leadership as Israeli strikes continue to target its strongholds in Lebanon.

More than 42,792 Palestinians have been killed and 100,412 injured in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday as he renews his bid to broker diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

"There remains, despite everything that's happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction," he said before leaving Tel Aviv.

"Saudi Arabia would be right at the heart of that, and that includes potentially normalisation of relations with Israel," he added.

Blinken's visit to the region is his 11th since the start of the war in Gaza and his first since Israel-Hezbollah violence escalated into all-out war late last month.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel on Wednesday to use the opportunity to end the war in Gaza created by the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the destruction of much of the group's capacity during more than a year of conflict.

Blinken said Israel had achieved many of its goals including largely destroying Hamas as a military force and eliminating most of its leadership, including Sinwar, and should be looking to bring home the remaining Gaza hostages and end the fighting.

"Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success," he told reporters as he prepared to leave for Riyadh on the next stage of his visit to the Middle East.

"The focus needs to be on getting the hostages home, ending this war and having a clear plan for what follows," he said.

What comes next in Gaza will be critical and there needs to be "clear and concrete plans" for the future of the coastal enclave, which would not be controlled either by Hamas or Israel, he said.

"We have to end the war in a way that keeps Hamas out and makes sure that Israel doesn't stay. Israel does not want to stay," he said.

Blinken also said Israel needed to do more to ensure that adequate humanitarian supplies reached people living in dire conditions, most recently in the northern section of Gaza where Israel has been pressing people to evacuate.

"We've seen progress but it's not enough," he said.

Israel began striking on Wednesday in the historic Lebanese port city of Tyre according to Reuters witnesses.

Concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East have prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the region or to avoid affected air space.

Below are some of the airlines that have cancelled services to and from the region:

AEGEAN AIRLINES

The Greek airline has cancelled flights to and from Beirut until Nov. 6 and to and from Tel Aviv until Nov. 5.

AIR ALGERIE

The Algerian airline has suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice.

AIRBALTIC

Latvia's airBaltic has cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until Nov. 30.

AIR FRANCE-KLM

Air France has extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv flights until Oct. 29 and Paris-Beirut flights until Nov. 30.

KLM has extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of the year at least.

The Franco-Dutch group's low-cost unit Transavia has cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut until end-March.

AIR INDIA

The Indian flag carrier has suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.

Secretary of state, Blinken who is in Israel, sees 'progress' with Israel on Gaza aid but not enough. Blinken also urged Israel to avoid 'greater escalation' in Iran response

The Israeli army called on residents of parts of the south Lebanon city of Tyre to evacuate on Wednesday ahead of military operations targeting Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The army's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted a map of the affected streets in Tyre on social media platform X, saying: "You must immediately move out of the area marked in red and head north of the Awali River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities and combat equipment is putting his life in danger."

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said it fired rockets at an Israeli military intelligence base in the Tel Aviv suburbs Wednesday, following a night of strikes on the group's south Beirut bastion.

Hezbollah fighters launched "a rocket salvo" at "the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit... in the Tel Aviv suburbs," the group said in a statement, referring to a base targeted several times in recent days. It said the rocket fire was "in response to attacks and massacres committed by the Zionist enemy".Hezbollah says struck army intelligence base near Tel Aviv

The Israeli military intercepted two drones that were launched from the east and crossed into Israel's waters in the area of Eilat, the army said in a statement on Wednesday.

The FBI said Tuesday that it is investigating the unauthorized release of classified documents on Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the Biden administration is still not certain if the classified information was leaked or hacked but that officials don’t have any indication at this point of “additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain."

At the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has spoken with his counterpart, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, about the release of documents. But Ryder, who is press secretary, said he could provide no details or say when the conversation took place.

The Associated Press reported Saturday that U.S. officials were investigating the release. The FBI confirmed the investigation for the first time on Tuesday and said in a statement that it is “working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community." It did not comment further.

Israel announced on Tuesday that it had killed Hashem Safieddine, a high-ranking Hezbollah official who was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike outside Beirut three weeks ago.The Israeli army released a statement confirming the deaths of Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's executive council, and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah's intelligence directorate, along with other Hezbollah commanders.

Israel’s security forces have arrested 7 Jerusalem residents over allegations they were planning to assassinate Israeli officials and carry out other attacks on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service, Shin Bet and police said Tuesday.

The incident is the fifth case involving attempted assassinations directed by Iranian intelligence that Israeli security services have thwarted in the past month. The suspects, residents of the mainly Palestinian neighbourhood of Beit Safafa, were planning to assassinate a senior Israeli scientist and the mayor of a major city in Israel, the statement said. The probe also established that the suspects were also tasked with blowing up a police vehicle and throwing a grenade into a house.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Tuesday met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged him to "capitalise" Hamas leader Yahaya Sinwar's death to work towards a Gaza ceasefire.Blinken also pressed Netanyahu to let the aid enter the Palestinian territory amid concerns over tens of thousands of civilians trapped due to the ongoing war in the hard-to-reach north.

Israel says a Hezbollah official expected to be the group's next leader was killed in an airstrike earlier this month. There was no immediate confirmation from the militant group about the fate of Hashem Safieddine.

The chief spokesperson for Hezbollah, Mohammed Afif, claimed responsibility for the drone attack that occurred over the weekend, aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence.In a press conference held in Beirut on Tuesday, Afif said, "If in the previous attack Netanyahu was not hurt, 'the coming days and nights and the (battle) fields are between us.'"

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he discussed post-war Gaza governance with visiting top US diplomat Antony Blinken on Tuesday, also expressing hope that the killing of Hamas's leader would help hostage release.

"Both sides discussed the issue of governance in Gaza in the aftermath of the war. The prime minister emphasised that the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar could have a positive impact on the return of the hostages" held in Gaza for more than a year, Netanyahu's office said in a statement issued after the meeting with Secretary of State Blinken in Jerusalem. (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he held talks on Tuesday with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jerusalem on joining forces to counter threats from Iran.

"During the meeting, the Iranian threat and the need for both countries to unite forces against it were raised," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, adding that "the prime minister thanked the US secretary of state for the United States' support in the fight against Iran's axis of evil and terror," referring the Iran-aligned armed groups in the region. (AFP)

More than 1,550 people have been killed in bombardment by Israel since it intensified its air campaign on Lebanon last month, according to an AFP tally updated with new figures released on Tuesday.

Lebanon's health ministry reported 63 killed in "Israeli enemy strikes on Lebanon" Monday, raising the death toll from an strike near a south Beirut hospital to 18. The real toll is likely to be higher due to data gaps.

The FBI is investigating the leak of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing Israel's preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

"The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community," the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement cited by the Post. (Reuters)

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement said on Tuesday there would be no negotiations while fighting continued with Israel and it claimed sole responsibility for a drone attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's holiday home.

The group "takes full and sole responsibility" for targeting Netanyahu's house, Mohammad Afif, head of the Iranian-backed militant group's media office, told a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

"If our hands didn't reach you the previous time, then days, nights and the battlefield are still between us," he said.

Israel said a drone was launched at Netanyahu's holiday home on Saturday. Netanyahu was not there at the time, but he described it as an assassination attempt by "Iran's proxy Hezbollah" and called it a "grave mistake".

Hezbollah also for the first time acknowledged that Israel had captured some of its fighters since it launched a ground offensive in south Lebanon, and said that Israel was responsible for their wellbeing.

Hezbollah had not captured any Israeli soldiers but had come close, Afif said. "It won't take long before we have captives from the enemy (Israel).".

He also denied that the group's Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association was involved in financing Hezbollah salaries or weapons and would fulfil its obligations to clients in full even after Israel targeted it with some 30 strikes on Sunday.

Israel and the U.S. say Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which has over 30 outlets across Lebanon, is used by Hezbollah for money laundering and terrorism financing, assertions the group denies. (Reuters)

Israel's army on Tuesday called on residents of a southern Beirut suburb to evacuate ahead of military operations against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah's facilities in the area.

"For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate these buildings and the surrounding ones immediately and move at least 500 meters (yards) away," the army's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X alongside a map showing two specific buildings to be targeted. (AFP)

Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Tuesday that there will be no negotiations while fighting continues, and that it held Israel responsible for the wellbeing of the group's fighters who had been captured.

"Hezbollah takes the full and sole responsibility for targeting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's house," Mohammad Afif, the head of the militant group' media office, told a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israel said a drone was launched at Netanyahu's holiday home on Saturday. Netanyahu was not there at the time. But he described it as an assassination attempt by "Iran's proxy Hezbollah" and called it a "grave mistake". (Reuters)

Lebanon militant outfit Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for the drone attack on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's house. (AFP)

Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel on Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens in the country's most populated areas but causing no apparent damage or injuries, a few hours before US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in the region on a mission to restart stalled Gaza ceasefire talks. The Israeli military said five projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel and said most were intercepted by Israel's missile defense system. One landed in an open area.

The rocket fire came as Israel stepped up its strikes in Lebanon, targeting a Hezbollah-run financial institution, and as the U.S. pushed to resume cease-fire talks in Gaza following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group. Hamas says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners. (AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel Tuesday to push for a ceasefire in Gaza after his administration called for an end to the war in Lebanon "as soon as possible".

It is his 11th trip to the Middle East since Hamas's attack on Israel more than a year ago triggered the Gaza war, and his first since Israel's conflict with Hezbollah escalated late last month.

He is due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials, as Israel weighs its response to Iran's October 1 missile attack. (AFP)

At least 42,718 Palestinians have been killed and 100,282 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Hezbollah said it hit an Israeli tank in south Lebanon on Tuesday, also saying it faced an Israeli infiltration attempt and clashed with troops in the area a day before.

Hezbollah fighters targeted "a Merkava tank as it advanced" near the south Lebanon border village of Taybeh, "causing it to catch fire", the group said in a statement, adding that fighters had clashed with Israeli troops on the village's outskirts on Monday.

At least 13 people were killed and 57 wounded in an Israeli strike on Monday near Hariri hospital, Beirut's main government hospital, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

After more than a year of October 7 attack by Palestine's Hamas that took 251 hostages, Israeli entrepreneurs have started offering financial rewards to free the remaining 97 hostages in Gaza.

Former SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum declared on X that he would give $100,000 in cash or bitcoin to anyone who delivers a living Israeli prisoner from Gaza. His offer expires Wednesday at midnight. Birnbaum reported receiving around 100 calls after his announcement. While many were pranks, threats, or curses, he said that '10 to 20 could be legitimate' and were passed on to Israeli authorities. He noted that most callers were more interested in escaping Gaza than the money.

Hezbollah said on Tuesday it bombed the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit 8200 located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv with a missile salvo.

Sirens sounded in central Israel as a projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon and falling into open ground, the army said on Tuesday. Alerts sounded in the Samaria area and in Modi'in Illit, the Israeli military added in a statement. Israel's multi-layered air defences have intercepted the vast majority of missiles and drones fired at it since the start of the Gaza war.

Sirens sounded in central Israel's Samaria area, the army said on Tuesday in a statement, adding that details were under review.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Israel on Tuesday, the first stop of a wider Middle East tour aimed at reviving Gaza ceasefire talks and discussing the enclave's future following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, but any breakthrough ahead of the looming U.S. election looks elusive. The top U.S. diplomat's latest trip - his eleventh to the region since Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 triggering the Gaza war - comes as the Israeli military has intensified its campaign in the Palestinian enclave as well as in Lebanon against Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia.

Police arrested an unknown number of pro-Palestinian protesters Monday at the University of Minnesota after a group of students briefly occupied an administrative building, protest organizers said. The Monday afternoon protest prompted an alert from school officials: "Protestors have entered Morrill Hall on the East Bank, causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building," the alert said. "If you are currently in Morrill Hall and able to safely exit the building, please do so immediately. Others are advised to avoid this area until further notice."

Hezbollah has stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker built under a hospital in Beirut, Israel's military said on Monday, adding it will not strike the facility as it keeps up attacks against the group's financial assets.

Currently, 600 trucks worth of humanitarian aid for people in Gaza are waiting to be picked up and distributed, the majority by UN aid agencies, reported the Israeli agency COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories: Judea and Samaria and towards the Gaza Strip).

"Other organizations and entities are able to pick up aid from Kerem Shalom [crossing with Israel], yet the UN, despite many measures we've taken to assist with the collection, is still not up to par," charged COGAT.

"We've expanded the Gate 96 option (the new northern crossing for aid to be sent into Gaza) , and we continuously urge the UN aid agencies to use this and upscale the number of trucks entering Gaza through this gate.," it added.

COGAT also said that it has coordinated pick-up at various hours, expanded routes to improve traffic to the crossings, set up a tactical pause along the route leading to and from Kerem Shalom, and much more.

"Aid needs to be picked and distributed to Gazans in need." it declared, adding that over the last 24 hours, 47 humanitarian aid trucks were transferred to northern Gaza, including 41 from the Ashdod Port via the Erez Crossing and 6 tankers of fuel for humanitarian purposes.