On Saturday, October 5, the Israeli military carried out airstrikes on the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing a leader of the Hamas militant group al-Qassam Brigades, named Saeed Atallah, along with several armed individuals. According to a report from the New York Post citing Hamas media, the targeted airstrike took place in a refugee camp in Tripoli controlled by Hamas.
In the past week, the Israeli military has engaged in ground operations in Lebanon while conducting a series of pinpoint airstrikes within Lebanese territory. The Israeli military has stated that the objective of these actions is to eliminate military strongholds of the Islamic militant organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Last week, Israeli forces launched an airstrike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, targeting the organization’s leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel has not yet issued any comments regarding the airstrikes in Tripoli.
However, the Israeli Defense Forces shared on social media their military achievements over the past week. According to their statement, they have destroyed over 2,000 military targets and eliminated 250 Hezbollah terrorists, including commanders at various levels.
Reports from Reuters indicate that on Thursday night, Hashem Safieddine, another leader of Hezbollah and Nasrallah’s cousin with close ties to Iran, was also targeted in an airstrike by the Israeli military. His fate remains unknown at the moment.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz posted photos of Safieddine and Nasrallah on social media, urging Hassan Nasrallah to “leave Lebanon with your proxies.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to retaliate against Israel with ongoing airstrikes. On Friday, Hezbollah launched over 200 rockets towards Israel, and on Saturday, the northern regions of Israel were under continued alert for further airstrikes.
Lebanese officials have reported that in the past year, over 2,000 individuals have lost their lives in conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah, with the majority of casualties occurring in the past two weeks. More than 1.2 million Lebanese people have been displaced from their homes to escape the violence.
The Israeli government maintains that their military actions are solely targeting Hezbollah’s military installations and have taken measures to minimize civilian casualties. However, Israel has accused Hezbollah and Hamas fighters of using civilians as human shields, a charge vehemently denied by the militant groups.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated last year on October 7 when Hamas militants launched a terrorist attack against Israel, sparking a war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The following day, October 8, Hezbollah began rocket attacks on Israel, leading to continued hostilities between the two sides.
According to Israeli official statistics, the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 last year resulted in 1,200 deaths, with around 250 individuals being taken as hostages. Over 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, and it’s estimated that a third of them have died in captivity.