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Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in Israeli strike
Hamas has said an Israeli strike has killed its leader in Lebanon, while another Palestinian militant group said three of its leaders were killed in a strike on Beirut, the first attack within the city limits.
Hamas said its leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, was killed along with his wife, son, and daughter, in a strike that targeted their house in a Palestinian refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre in the early hours of this morning.
As Israel escalates hostilities against Iran’s allies in the region, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said three of its leaders were killed in a strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district.
The strike hit the upper floor of an apartment building, Reuters witnesses said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Israel’s increasing frequency of attacks against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen have prompted fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and the US, Israel’s main ally.
The PFLP is another militant group taking part in the fight against Israel.
Israel launched airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen yesterday and dozens of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon after earlier killing the Hezbollah leader.
The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah, which Israel said were a response to Houthi missile attacks. In Lebanon, authorities said at least 105 people had been killed by Israeli air strikes yesterday.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians.
The government said a million people – a fifth of the population – have fled their homes.
The intensifying Israeli bombardment over two weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah officials, including its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel has vowed to keep up the assault and says it wants to make its northern areas secure again for residents who have been forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Israeli drones hovered over Beirut for much of yesterday, with the loud blasts of new airstrikes echoing around the Lebanese capital.
Displaced families spent the night on benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront.
Many of Israel’s attacks have been carried out in the south of Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has most of its operations, or Beirut’s southern suburbs.
This morning’s attack in the Kola district appeared to be the first strike within Beirut’s city limits.
Syrians living in southern Lebanon who had fled Israeli bombardment had been sleeping under a bridge in the neighborhood for days, residents of the area said.
The United States has urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon but has also authorised its military to reinforce in the region.
US President Joe Biden, asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, said “It has to be.” He said he will be talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later today.
The Israeli military has said its operations in Lebanon aim to eliminate Hezbollah’s leadership and capacity to attack Israel.
It said the air strike that killed Nasrallah also “eliminated” another 20 Hezbollah members, including senior leaders.
Israel also said another strike yesterday killed Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah’s central council.
Analysts told AFP Nasrallah’s death leaves a bruised Hezbollah under pressure to respond.
Lebanon has begun a three-day national mourning period for Nasrallah, with flags to fly at half-mast on public buildings. Iraq, Iran and Syria also declared public mourning periods.
Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing would bring about Israel’s “destruction”.
World leaders have called for a de-escalation to avoid a wider regional conflict.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot met with Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Lebanon last night – the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since the Israeli strikes intensified – and said Paris sought “an immediate halt” to Israeli strikes.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a statement calling for Lebanon’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity” to be respected.
In Gaza, the territory’s civil defence agency said Israeli strikes yesterday killed several people.
Hamas’s unprecedented 7 October attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,595 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
RTE