Hamas senior leader Izz-al-Din-Kassab was killed on Friday in an Israeli-airstrike amid ceasefire talks.
Casualties In Airstrikes Amid Ceasefire Talks
Prospects of a ceasefire between Israel and its foes Hamas and Hezbollah ran aground as Israeli airstrikes killed at least 68 people in the Gaza Strip and bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs.
U.S. envoys had been working to secure ceasefires on both fronts ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
But Hamas does not favour a temporary truce, its Al-Aqsa Hamas television reported on Friday.
Announcement By IDF
The Israeli military said it killed senior Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab in an airstrike in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.
In a post on X, the IDF announced elimination of Izz al-Din Kassab, Head of National Relations in Hamas’ Political Bureau.
Izz al-Din Kassab’s Had A Lot Of Power
Kassab was a member of Hamas’ political bureau and was responsible for national relations within the organization, overseeing the coordination and connection between Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza.
The IDF further said that Kassab was responsible for the organization’s strategic and military relations with other factions in Gaza.
He held the authority to direct the execution of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel.
Netanyahu’s Position
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his priority was to enforce security “despite any pressure or constraints”.
His office said he relayed this message to U.S. envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk in Israel on Thursday.
Israel’s Military Offensives
Israel meanwhile pressed on with its military offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon on Friday.
Casualties
Medics in Gaza said about 68 people were killed and dozens injured overnight and into Friday morning in Israeli strikes on the city of Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat camp and the town of Al-Zawayda.
All these are in Gaza’s central area, as well as in its south.
Fourteen people were killed by an Israeli strike at the gate of a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, according to medics at the camp’s Al-Awda Hospital.
Another 10 were killed in a car in Khan Younis, medics said.
Hours later, residents said Israeli tanks advanced on the northern and eastern sides of Nuseirat, and medics said an Israeli airstrike killed four people, including three children.
The Israeli military said its troops killed what it called armed terrorists in central Gaza and the northern Jabalia area.
It had no immediate comment on the reported school strike, although it habitually denies deliberately attacking civilians.
Situation In North Gaza
The heads of U.N. humanitarian agencies said on Friday the situation in north Gaza was “apocalyptic” with the entire Palestinian population there at “imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence”.
Bombardment In Beirut
Israel also pummelled Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday morning with at least 10 strikes, Reuters journalists said.
It was the first bombardment of the area – once a densely packed district and Hezbollah stronghold – in nearly a week.
The strikes came after Israel issued evacuation orders for 10 separate neighbourhoods of the Lebanese capital.
What Do Locals In Beirut Have To Say?
Hassan Saad, speaking on a Beirut street, told Reuters: “This is a brutal war and Israel does not have the right to do this.”
Another Beirut man, Ali Ramadan, said he believed the Israeli airstrikes were a way to put pressure on Lebanon in the ceasefire negotiations.
Hope For A Truce?
The hostilities have undermined hope a truce could be reached before the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday.
Hamas television, quoting a leading source in the group, said the ceasefire proposals did not meet its conditions for a permanent end to hostilities, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of displaced people.
Nor did they address Palestinians’ need for security, relief and reconstruction and the full reopening of border crossings, the source said.
Talks Between Blinken And Dermer
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on Friday discussed a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Lebanon.
They also discussed the issue of ending the war and addressing dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, the State Department said in a statement.
Israel Accused Of Blocking Progress In Negotiations
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday accused Israel of blocking any progress in the negotiations.
Casualties In Baalbek Region
Lebanon’s health ministry said 52 people were killed on Friday in Israeli strikes on more than a dozen towns in the Baalbek region, which has UNESCO-listed Roman ruins.
An Israeli strike on Friday in Syria near northeast Lebanon forced a border crossing to shut, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters.
Firing By Hezbollah
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians a day after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory offensives have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians and reduced most of Gaza to rubble, and killed at least 2,897 people in Lebanon, its health ministry said.
