The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and a visiting Hamas official on Wednesday discussed the latest round of cease-fire talks but vowed to keep up attacks and pressure on Israel. The Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV said the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas’ Khalil al-Hayya also talked about so-called “backup fronts” — a reference to Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border, as well as strikes and attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels toward Israel.
Quick Read
- Leaders of Hezbollah and a Hamas official have vowed to continue their attacks and maintain pressure on Israel despite ongoing cease-fire discussions.
- During a meeting broadcasted by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, they discussed maintaining “backup fronts” along the Israel-Lebanon border and coordination with Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
- The discussion affirmed their commitment to the objectives initiated by Hamas’ attack on October 7, which sparked the current conflict.
- Concurrently, a recent Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon killed a Hezbollah commander, leading to retaliation from Hezbollah with rocket and artillery fire towards Israel.
- These developments underscore the escalating military actions by both sides and the broadening of conflict dynamics with involvement from regional allies of the groups.
The Associated Press has the story:
Leaders of Hezbollah & Hamas official vow to keep attacks and pressure on Israel
Newslooks- BEIRUT — (AP)
The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and a visiting Hamas official on Wednesday discussed the latest round of cease-fire talks but vowed to keep up attacks and pressure on Israel.
The Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV said the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas’ Khalil al-Hayya also talked about so-called “backup fronts” — a reference to Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border, as well as strikes and attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels toward Israel.
The TV station said the two pledged to keep up the pressure in order “to achieve the honorable goals” set out by Hamas’ unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war.
ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE IN SOUTHERN LEBANON KILLS A HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER
BEIRUT — An Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon has killed a local Hezbollah commander, the militant group said Wednesday.
The Israeli military released a video of the strike along a main road near the southern port city of Tyre, saying that the Hezbollah commander had planned and carried out several attacks against Israel.
Hezbollah said 55-year-old Hussein Makki was killed late Tuesday without giving further details. Lebanon’s emergency responders said the strike also wounded two people who were taken to a hospital. They said a fire that broke out as a result of the strike was extinguished and that the body of one person was recovered at the scene.
Hezbollah said on Wednesday it fired dozens of Katyusha rockets, heavy rockets and artillery shells toward the air traffic control base on Mount Moron in Israel’s north earlier in the day in retaliation for Makki’s killing.
The Israeli military said it identified 60 launches from Lebanon, “a small number” of which were intercepted. It was one of the largest barrages since the start of the war in Gaza.
Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7, Hezbollah has launched near-daily attacks on Israel, drawing return fire. Israel’s military has managed to kill a number of local Hezbollah commanders.
Israeli airstrikes and shelling, mainly in southern Lebanon, have killed nearly 400 people, most of them militants, but also more than 70 civilians and noncombatants. In Israel, the violence has left at least 15 soldiers and 10 civilians dead.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a speech on Monday reiterated his group’s stance that it would keep up its strikes until Israel ends the war in Gaza.
TURKEY’S ERDOGAN MARKS PALESTINIAN NAKBA WITH A PLEDGE TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING HAMAS
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday commemorated the mass expulsion 76 years ago of Palestinians from what is now Israel and vowed to keep supporting Palestinians and the militant group Hamas.
Erdogan’s remarks came as Palestinians across the Middle East and beyond marked the anniversary of Nakba, the Arabic for “catastrophe,” when 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of what today is Israel before and during the war surrounding its creation in 1948.
In a speech to the ruling party’s lawmakers, Erdogan compared Israel’s actions to the Holocaust, and said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials would “pay the price” for the attacks in the war in Gaza.
“Even Hitler did not carry out the Holocaust, which went down as dark stain in history, so openly. He wasn’t that bold,” Erdogan claimed. “Humanity will not let these murderers go free. Even if humanity lets them go, we will chase these murderers, this genocidal network of killers.”
A long-time supporter of Palestinians, Erdogan further stiffened his stance against Israel after his ruling party lost votes to a small Islamist party in the March local elections. His government has severed trade relations with Israel and is seeking to join a legal case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.
