Israel apparently kills another Hezbollah commander. The country is also expanding ground operations in southwest Lebanon. All developments in the news blog.
2:53 p.m.: Because of the escalating situation in the Middle East, Great Britain has taken the relatives of its embassy staff in Israel out of the country as a precaution. This is a temporary measure, according to the British Foreign Office’s updated travel advice for Israel. “Our employees remain on site.”
Relatives of sent German diplomats have also left the region, as the Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Defense announced at the end of September. “The embassies remain operational, but family members of the posted employees and of German intermediary organizations as well as personnel who are not urgently needed are flying out,” it said at the time. This would “in no way restrict the embassies’ and representations’ ability to work and act.”
1:43 p.m: According to its Foreign Ministry, Turkey plans to send two navy ships to Beirut this Tuesday for evacuations from Lebanon. Turkish nationals who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea will be admitted on Wednesday. If necessary, evacuations would continue in the following days. There is space for a total of 2,000 passengers on the ships.
1:03 p.m.: A woman was slightly injured when at least one rocket from Lebanon hit Israel’s third largest city, Haifa. She suffered a splinter wound on her hand, said the Magen David Adom rescue service on the X platform. The Israeli army says a total of 105 rockets were registered, which were aimed at targets in the Galilee and especially in Haifa. Most of the bullets were intercepted, but some also landed in suburbs.
The Times of Israel newspaper speaks of the largest rocket attack on the city of Haifa since Hezbollah began shelling northern Israel a year ago. Videos published by the newspaper show damage to houses and cars in the northern suburb of Kiriat Jam.
12:59 p.m.: According to its deputy chief, the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah is open to a ceasefire with Israel. In a televised speech, the deputy head of the Islamists, Naim Kassim, said he supported a corresponding initiative by the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri. “If the enemy continues his war, the field will decide,” Kassim threatens at the same time. You won’t beg for a solution. “We will continue, we will make sacrifices,” he says.
Most recently, Israel dealt Hezbollah severe blows by killing high-ranking members, including Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Regarding a possible successor, Kassim says that now is not the right time. When negotiating a possible ceasefire, he trusts parliamentary speaker Berri, who is considered an ally of Hezbollah.
9.15 a.m.: Israel is expanding its ground offensive in Lebanon. The Israeli military has now begun ground operations in the southwest of the neighboring country, the Israeli military said. These are locally limited, targeted operations. The military described its actions in the southeastern border area in a similar way, but the scale there continued to increase. Israel says it has set itself the goal of pushing the radical Islamic Hezbollah militia out of the border areas. There are no plans to advance deep into Lebanon.
Israel reports: Hezbollah commander eliminated
6.50 a.m.: The Israeli military says it has killed another high-ranking representative of the radical Islamic Hezbollah militia. The commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters, Suhail Hussein Husseini, was eliminated in an attack in the Beirut area, a statement said.
According to the Israeli military, Husseini played a “crucial role” in arms transfers between Iran and Hezbollah. He was also responsible for “distributing advanced weapons to Hezbollah units.”
