Israeli Military Says it Has Killed 250 Hezbollah Fighters in Ground Operation

Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)
Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)
TT

Israeli Military Says it Has Killed 250 Hezbollah Fighters in Ground Operation

Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)
Smoke and destruction at the site of the airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine late Thursday night (AFP)

The Israeli military estimates it has killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters, including a number of battalion and company commanders, since the start of its ground operation in Lebanon earlier this week, a military spokesperson said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said the military was still assessing the damage caused by airstrikes in southern Beirut on Thursday night, which he said targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.

Hezbollah has not publicly provided any death toll.

The southern suburb of Dahiye came under renewed strikes near midnight on Thursday after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in some areas, residents and security sources said.

The air raids targeted Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, rumored successor to its assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an underground bunker, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing three Israeli officials.

Safieddine's fate was not clear, he said.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
TT

Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.