Israel-Hezbollah latest: Netanyahu says would-be Hezbollah leader Safieddine killed in airstrike
Israel has pushed into south-west Lebanon after days of fighting on the south eastern side of the country
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Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli forces have killed the would-be successor of the late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
In a pre-recorded video message, the Israeli prime minister said: “We’ve degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of the replacement.”
Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hashem Safieddine, the man expected to replace the Nasrallah, had probably been “eliminated”.
Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official, has not been heard from publicly since an Israeli airstrike late last week. He has been a prime target for Israel, nurtured as an influential leader and potential heir.
The Israeli military also said on Tuesday that it had killed Suhail Husseini – who was responsible for overseeing Hezbollah logistics, budget and management – the night before.
The claims come as the Israeli military expanded its ground invasion of southern Lebanon by deploying another division of thousands of troops and Hezbollah launched barrages of rockets towards the northern Israeli port city of Haifa on Tuesday for the third consecutive day, injuring 12 people.
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Israel state ceremony performs dramatisation of moment October 7 attack begins
A dramatisation of the moment the October 7 attack began was performed at an official Israeli state memorial on the first anniversary.
Video played during the pre-recorded ceremony displayed the date as 7 October 2023 and the time as 6am.
Women in white dresses danced to heavy music before screaming was heard and gunfire sounds played.
Later in the sequence, the dancers fell to the floor.
On Monday, Israel marked one year since Hamas‘ attack, during which the group killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel state ceremony performs dramatisation of moment October 7 attack begins
A dramatisation of the moment the October 7 attack began was performed at an official Israeli state memorial on the first anniversary. Video played during the pre-recorded ceremony displayed the date as 7 October 2023 and the time as 6am. Women in white dresses danced to heavy music before screaming was heard and gunfire sounds played. Later in the sequence, the dancers fell to the floor. On Monday, Israel marked one year since Hamas' attack, during which the group killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Mother of sole British hostage in Gaza pleas for help and her safe return
The mother of the sole British hostage still in Gaza a year after she was taken by Hamas has pleaded for her safe return, saying: “I need her back with me now, alive, before it is too late for her.”
Mandy Damari’s plea for her daughter Emily, 28, and the other hostages, was made in a recorded message played on Monday at an evening of commemoration and reflection of the October 7 attacks on Israel.
To an audience which included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and former prime minister Rishi Sunak, she said that the recent news of six hostages being murdered in the tunnels beneath Gaza is a “horror beyond imaginable”.
She added: “We have clear photographic evidence of the conditions which Emily and the other hostages are likely living in.
“It is a desperate and living hell.
“I am a mother and it goes against every grain of my being to profess that I need help with the child that I know best, the child that I brought into this world, but I do so desperately need help and I ask you for it now.
“I have always believed in the power of prayer but more importantly, the power of collective prayer.”
Israel ‘endangering’ Irish troops in Lebanon, deputy premier says
Israel has endangered Irish peacekeepers along the border with Lebanon, Ireland’s deputy premier has said.
Micheal Martin made the comments as Irish premier Simon Harris also criticised breaches of the Blue Line by Israeli forces as unacceptable.
It comes amid concern for the safety of Irish peacekeepers involved in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) amid heightened conflict in the region.
Israeli forces have recently breached the Blue Line demarcation between southern Lebanon and Israel, which is observed by the UN peacekeeping unit.
The Irish Defence Forces has said the development raised “significant concerns”, particularly on the breaches which occurred near Irish battalion posts. In a statement, it said sheltering in place remains the “safest option” for Irish troops at this time.
The update follows reports from Lebanese media outlet Al-Mayadeen reported that Hezbollah fighters had been instructed to hold back from engaging with Israeli forces near the Unifil site “to protect the lives of the international personnel”.
The reports also accused the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) of using Unifil peacekeepers as human shields to cover up advances on the ground.
Vigils held for victims of Hamas attack
The victims of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel have been remembered at a vigil in Hove.
Their names were read out to a silent crowd who gathered in Palmeira Square on Monday, a year after the deadly attack and kidnappings.
A prayer was also said for the victims.
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