The Israeli military says it has launched strikes on weapons storage facilities and command centres operated by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in Syria.
A statement posted to social media platform X by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on Thursday confirmed the strikes hit an area near to the city of Al-Qusayr, north of Damascus.
“In recent months, the IDF has been carrying out strikes to reduce the transfer of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon,” the IDF statement said.
“Hezbollah’s Munitions Unit is responsible for storing weapons inside Lebanon and has recently expanded its activities into the town of Al-Qusayr, near the Syrian-Lebanese border.
“The strike on the weapons storage facilities is part of a larger effort targeting the infrastructure of Unit 4400, the Hezbollah unit responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran, through Syria, and into Lebanon.
“This includes recent strikes on several border crossings between Syria and Lebanon used by Hezbollah for weapons smuggling.”
The strikes came hours after the IDF renewed warnings for people to evacuate areas of southern Lebanon ahead of separate strikes also expected to target Hezbollah.
IDF spokesperson Colonel Avichay Adraee said that anyone located in areas outside of Beirut including Al-Hawsh, Al-Bazouriya, the Al-Rashidiya Camp, Al-Barghaliya, Bustiyat, Al-Hamri, Arzi, Mataria Al-Shomr, Al-Kharaib or Ansar should not head further south for their own safety.
“Hezbollah’s terrorist activities force the IDF to act forcefully against it in these areas, and we do not intend to harm you,” Colonel Adraee said.
“Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities or weapons is putting his life in danger.
“You are prohibited from heading south. Any movement south could be dangerous to your life. We will inform you of the appropriate time to return to your homes as soon as the conditions are suitable for this.”
As part of a weekly operational update, the IDF also announced its forces had located and killed Muhammad Khalil Alian in the rural village of Qalaouiyeh north of the Israeli border.
The IDF said Alian was a commander of Hezbollah’s anti-tank missile unit.
Smoke and flames rise in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Sohmor, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, on October 30, 2024. (Reuters: Maher Abou Taleb)
Israel’s warning comes a day after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati revealed he had grown more optimistic about a potential ceasefire agreement with Israel, but said he did not believe it would happen prior to the November 5 US presidential election.
The Lebanese government said 1.2 million people have been displaced by the conflict in its country, while more than 2,800 people have been killed and 12,900 injured since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel.
Israel arrests couple accused of spying for Iran
In Jerusalem, Israeli police said on Thursday a couple had been arrested after being accused of spying on national intelligence sites and gathering information relating to an Israeli academic on behalf of Iran.
The Shin Bet internal security agency identified Rafael Guliev, from the central city of Lod near Tel Aviv.
Authorities accuse Mr Guliev of surveilling Israel’s Mossad spy headquarters for the Iranians and collecting information on an unidentified academic from the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a prominent Israeli think tank.
A statement released by Israeli officials said Mr Guliev was also working to find an assassin and that his wife, Lala, had helped him in his efforts.
Israeli security services said they have uncovered several Iranian spy networks in recent months and that the latest alleged ring was part of efforts by Iran to recruit people who had originated in the Caucasus region.
“These incidents join a series of thwarted attempts, that have been revealed in recent weeks, in which Israeli citizens were arrested for working on behalf of Iranian intelligence agents and performed specific missions on their behalf,” a Shin Bet source said.
The INSS said it was thankful the security services had prevented a planned attack on one of its employees.
Strike hits hospital in north Gaza
At least 30 Palestinians were killed in IDF strikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, mostly in the north.
One of the strikes hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, the region’s health officials said.
Israeli forces had accused the Palestinian terror group Hamas of using Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya for military purposes and said “dozens of terrorists” have been hiding there.
Eid Sabbah, director of nursing at Kamal Adwan — which is in Beit Lahiya — told Reuters some staff had suffered minor burns after the Israeli strike hit the third floor of the hospital.
Displaced Palestinians ordered by the Israeli military to evacuate the northern part of Gaza flee amid an Israeli military operation in Jabalia on October 22, 2024. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
There were no reports of any casualties at the hospital, which Israeli forces stormed and briefly occupied last week.
Israel said it had captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in that raid, while IDF tanks were stationed nearby.
At least three other Palestinians were killed earlier in the occupied West Bank during separate raids by the IDF on an area surrounding a refugee camp, according to Palestinian officials.
The IDF said its forces had targeted militants in the area of the Nur Shams refugee camp and eliminated a Hamas militant involved in planning attacks on Israelis.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Thursday that two Palestinians were killed in that strike, and a third person died in gunfire with the IDF.
A displaced Palestinian boy standing outside a damaged store where he shelters with his family in Gaza City. (Reuters: Dawoud Abu Alkas)
The death toll from more than a year of the conflict between Israel and the terror organisation Hamas in Gaza has passed 43,000, according to Palestinian officials.
The conflict began after Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 others.
Hamas rejects pause in fighting
A senior Hamas official said Thursday that the group rejects any proposal for a temporary halt to more than a year of fighting in Gaza and insists on a lasting ceasefire.
“The idea of a temporary pause in the war, only to resume aggression later, is something we have already expressed our position on,” Taher al-Nunu, a senior leader of the movement, told AFP.
“Hamas supports a permanent end to the war, not a temporary one.”
Mediators seeking to broker a Gaza ceasefire are expected to propose a truce of “less than a month” to Hamas, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP on Wednesday.
Meetings between Mossad head David Barnea, CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha ended on Monday and reportedly discussed an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians in Israeli prisons and increasing aid to Gaza, the source said.
“US officials believe that if a short-term deal can be reached, it could lead to a more permanent agreement,” the source said.
Al-Nunu said Hamas had not received any proposal so far, but said that for months it had pushed for “a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal (of Israeli forces) from Gaza, the return of displaced people, sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza and a serious prisoner exchange deal”.
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