Middle East War: New Hezbollah Leader 'Probably' Killed, Israel Announces

As Israel continues strikes in southwest From Lebanon, the Hebrew State announces the probable death of the potential new leader of Hezbollah and successor to Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine.

The essentials

• According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hezbollah's new leader, Safieddine, was likely killed in last week's attack in Beirut. “Hezbollah is a leaderless organization, Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was likely eliminated as well. That has a dramatic effect on everything that happens. There is no one to make decisions, no one to act,” he said.
• For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fight until the objectives are achieved, including the annihilation of Hamas and the return of all hostages. New Israeli strikes have been launched on Lebanon, notably in the southwest of the country, against Hezbollah targets and ground operations have begun according to the IDF.
• This Tuesday, an Air and Space Force A400M transport plane left Lebanon and will land at the end of the day at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport with more than 60 people on board. 

Live

18:43 – Netanyahu announces "security consultations this evening"

According to Israeli Army Radio, the prime minister of the Hebrew state “convened his cabinet for security consultations this evening”, Tuesday, October 8, 2024. At the same time, Israel's Home Front Command indicated tighten restrictions on civilians in Haifa region, Reuters reports.

18:01 – CIA warns of “real danger of new regional escalation”

On Tuesday, CIA Director Bill Burns told the Cipher Brief conference that “we face a very real danger of further regional escalation.” He said Israel was “evaluating very carefully” how it would respond to Iran's attack last week. According to him, the Hebrew state must develop an “effective strategy that combines the use of force” with “good intelligence and, ultimately, smart diplomacy, to try to obtain a ceasefire in northern Israel, as well as a very difficult ceasefire to obtain in Gaza,” Haaretz reports.

17:36 – Hezbollah claims to have pushed back Israeli soldiers “infiltrated” in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah claims to have pushed back Israeli soldiers “infiltrated” near a UN Finul position in southwestern Lebanon, in the border village of Labboune.

16:54 – “The war must stop” in the Middle East, says Michel Barnier

Prime Minister Michel Barnier spoke to members of the National Assembly on Tuesday: “First, all the hostages must be freed. The war must end, the displaced must be able to return to their homes and humanitarian aid must be able to return to Gaza and be deployed in Lebanon,” he declared. “The pain does not go away, we think of all the victims,” ​​continued the Prime Minister.

Lebanon's transport minister says he has only received “commitments” but no “guarantees” that Israel would not bomb Beirut airport, he told AFP on Tuesday. “There is a big difference between firm guarantees and commitments,” he continued. In Lebanon, the authorities want to “keep land, sea and air terminals operational,” he said. the minister.

16:14 – 2 million Gazans on 11% of the territory

On the day after the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, the landscape in Gaza after the deluge of Israeli army bombings looks like a field of ruins. According to the UN, 95% of the Gaza population has been internally displaced, or more than 1.9 million people. Indeed, the size of the Gaza Strip does not allow its population to flee the fighting, they find themselves crammed into a restricted humanitarian zone, approximately 38 square kilometers. “” Today, the two million inhabitants are located on only 11% of the territory due to Israeli evacuation orders,” indicates Pierre Motin, spokesperson for the Association for Palestine in the columns of France Info.

15:58 – A military plane repatriates 60 people from Beirut to Paris

This Tuesday, an Air and Space Force transport plane, A400M, left Lebanon, and will land at the end of the day at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport with more than 60 people on board. “These are not “evacuations”, according to information from the JDD. “The French Embassy in Beirut invites people to leave, but “it remains everyone's decision”, the media specifies. The Quai d'Orsay also specifies that it will assess “the situation hour by hour” if an “evacuation of nationals” were to be decided, continues the JDD.

15:29 – “Hezbollah is an organization without a leader” launches Israel

“Hezbollah is a leaderless organization, Nasrallah has been eliminated, his replacement has probably been eliminated as well. This has a dramatic effect on everything that happens. There is no one to make decisions, no one to act,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday. Indeed, Nasrallah's potential successor, Hashem Safieddine, has probably been eliminated according to the Hebrew state minister. “The actions we are taking are being seen throughout the Middle East. When the smoke clears in Lebanon, Iran will realize that it has lost its most valuable asset, which is Hezbollah,” he continued, according to The Times of Israel.

15:12 – 17 dead in Gaza after Israeli strike

The spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense, Mahmoud Bassal, announced this Tuesday afternoon the death of 17 people in an Israeli strike on a house in a refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, to AFP. Children were among the victims and several wounded were reported. The bodies of those killed were transported to al-Awda hospital, in the Nuseirat camp, and to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in the town of Deir el-Balah.

14:37 – Nearly 42,000 dead in the Gaza Strip according to Hamas

~6 0~p>The Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip reported a new death toll of 41,965 in the Palestinian enclave since the start of the war with Israel on October 7, 2023. It added that 97,590 people had been injured since the same date. These figures put forward by Hamas are the only ones communicated concerning the human toll in Gaza, but they cannot be verified. by any other organization.

13:29 – Hezbollah says it supports a "ceasefire"

Hezbollah's number two who heads the Islamist movement ad interim, Naïm Kassem, assures that Hezbollah supports Lebanon's efforts to obtain a ceasefire.  “We have confidence in the leadership of Nabih Berry [the speaker of the Lebanese Parliament]  and in his mobilization, at the political level, to achieve a ceasefire. No discussion is important before a ceasefire,” declared the Hezbollah official, quoted by by L'Orient-le Jour. "Once the ceasefire is reached, diplomacy can take care of all other issues and decisions can be taken collectively" insists Naïm Kassem.

Israel is still discussing how it will respond to Iran's attack, which rained missiles against the Hebrew state on the night of October 1-2. While Israel discussed the possibility of striking Iran's nuclear or oil sites with Washington, Iran warned Benjamin Netanyahu: “Any attack on Iranian infrastructure will result in a stronger response.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned, quoted by state television. Revolutionary Guards General Rassoul Sanaáiuml;rad had already indicated Sunday that striking nuclear and energy sites was a “red line” for Iran.

11:30 – Hezbollah claims to be “perfectly organized”

Despite successive Israeli strikes, Hezbollah maintains that its leadership is “perfectly organized” and that its “capabilities are good.” Earlier this morning, the Israeli army announced on X that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah's headquarters, Souheil Hussein Husseini. The latter was involved in in “arms transfer agreements between Iran and Hezbollah,” and “was responsible for distributing smuggled weapons between Hezbollah units,” according to the Israeli military. The IDF added that the Lebanese official was also “involved in the budgetary and logistical management of the organization's most sensitive projects, including the war operational plan.” and in the “terrorist attacks against the State of Israel from Lebanese and Syrian territory”. 

The Israeli strikes against Lebanon continue this Tuesday, October 8. The shots are once again targeting the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. But in parallel, the Israeli army announced this Tuesday on Telegram that it had begun operations in southwest Lebanon. The IDF indicates that it has sent troops as of Monday: “Yesterday, the 146th Division began limited, localized and targeted operational activities against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southwest Lebanon.”