Back to homepage / Middle East
🔴 Live: Israeli strike in southern Lebanon kills Hezbollah commander
An Israeli strike on the village of Jouya in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed a senior field commander of Hezbollah and three fighters for the Lebanese armed group, three security sources said. Hezbollah confirmed the death of the commander and said in a statement that he was Taleb Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb. Abu Taleb was the most senior member of the group killed in eight months of fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.
Issued on: 12/06/2024 – 04:26
Modified: 12/06/2024 – 07:45
2 min
Les drapeaux du Hezbollah et d’Israël.
File photo: Hezbollah and Israel flags are seen in this file illustration taken on October 15, 2023. © Dado Ruvic, Reuters
By:
FRANCE 24
Follow
|
FRANCE 24
Summary:
An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday, the Iran-backed militant group said. It named the commander as Sami Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, in a statement reporting his death.
Hamas on Wednesday said its “positive” response to a US ceasefire plan for Gaza opened a “wide pathway” to reach an agreement, but the outlook for a breakthrough was uncertain as neither the Palestinian group nor Israel publicly committed to a deal.
An Israeli official said on Tuesday the country had received Hamas’s answer from the mediators and that Hamas “changed all of the main and most meaningful parametres”.
At least 37,164 Palestinians have been killed and 84,832 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
LIVE
26 minutes ago
Blinken heads to Qatar after Hamas truce deal reply
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, Wednesday after Hamas gave a reply to a US-led proposal for a ceasefire in war-ravaged Gaza.
In Doha, Blinken will meet with both the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who is also the wealthy kingdom’s top diplomat.
Hamas, responding to the plan laid out on May 31 by President Joe Biden, proposed amendments late Tuesday including a ceasefire timeline and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, according to a source familiar with the talks.
The Biden plan calls for an Israeli withdrawal from “major population centres” and a ceasefire for six weeks, which would then be extended as negotiators reach a permanent deal.
The White House said Tuesday that the United States was “evaluating” the reply.
SHARE
3 hours ago
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah says senior commander killed
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced early Wednesday the death of one of its commanders, identified as Taleb Sami Abdullah or “Hajj Abu Taleb.”
The group did not give details on the location and circumstances of his death, but identified him as a “martyr on the road to Jerusalem,” the term it uses for those killed in the current conflict with Israel. Hezbollah published a photo of Abdullah alongside Wissam al-Tawil, another senior commander killed in an Israeli strike in January.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on Abdullah’s death.
Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has intensified in the past month, as Israel launched its offensive into the key southern Gaza city of Rafah. Hezbollah has also stepped up its attacks, striking deeper inside Israel and introduced new and more advanced weaponry.
SHARE
4 hours ago
Hamas responds to Gaza cease-fire plan seeking some changes. US says it’s ‘evaluating’ the reply
Hamas said Tuesday that it gave mediators its reply to the US-backed proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, seeking some “amendments” on the deal. It appeared the reply was short of an outright acceptance that the United States has been pushing for but kept negotiations alive over an elusive halt to the eight-month war.
The foreign ministries of Qatar and Egypt — who have been key mediators alongside the United States — confirmed that they had received Hamas’ response and said mediators were studying it.
“We’re in receipt of this reply that Hamas delivered to Qatar and to Egypt, and we are evaluating it right now,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington.
Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the response included “amendments that confirm the cease-fire, withdrawal, reconstruction and (prisoner) exchange.” Taha did not elaborate.
But while supporting the broad outlines of the deal, Hamas officials have expressed wariness over whether Israel would implement its terms, particularly provisions for an eventual permanent end to fighting and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in return for the release of all hostages held by the militants.
SHARE
Yesterday’s key developments:
The UN human rights office said Tuesday that both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in connection with a deadly raid by Israeli forces that freed four hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians over the weekend.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $404 million in new US assistance for the Palestinians during a summit in Jordan aimed at boosting humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Blinken earlier on Tuesday met with key Israeli opposition figures including Benny Gantz, the former army chief who quit Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government on Sunday.
A floating US military pier off Gaza has resumed bringing humanitarian aid into the enclave after being suspended for two days because of rough seas due to weather, three US officials said.
Hamas said that one of its commanders in the occupied West Bank was killed in a clash with Israeli forces.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN’s counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
