Israeli Military Says it Killed Senior Hezbollah Commander in Beirut

Smoke and flames rise over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Smoke and flames rise over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
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Israeli Military Says it Killed Senior Hezbollah Commander in Beirut

Smoke and flames rise over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Smoke and flames rise over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

The Israeli military eliminated Suhail Hussein Husseini, the commander of Hezbollah's headquarters, in a strike in the area of Beirut, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said Husseini was responsible for overseeing logistics, budget and management of the  group.

The military added that Husseini was involved in the transfer of advanced weapons from Iran and their distribution to different Hezbollah units, and that he was a member of the group’s military council.

On Monday, Iran-backed Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with "Fadi 1" missiles and launched another strike on Tiberias, 65 km away.

The armed group later said it also targeted areas north of Haifa with missiles. Israel's military said about 190 projectiles entered its territory on Monday. There were at least 12 injuries.

Israel's military said the air force was carrying out extensive bombings of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday, taking the Israeli military death toll inside Lebanon to 11.

Israeli airstrikes have displaced 1.2 million people in Lebanon.

Israeli forces issued a warning in Arabic to beachgoers and boat users to avoid a stretch of the Lebanese coast, saying they would soon begin operations against Hezbollah from the sea.

Lebanon's health ministry reported dozens of deaths, including 10 firefighters killed in an airstrike on a municipal building in the border area. About 2,000 Lebanese have been killed since Hezbollah began firing at Israel a year ago in solidarity with Hamas, most killed in the past few weeks.

The Israeli military has described its ground operation in Lebanon as "localized, limited and targeted," but it has steadily increased in scale beginning last week.



Naim Qassem: Hezbollah’s Capabilities Intact, More Israelis Will be Displaced

Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech, from an unknown location, October 8, 2024 in this still image from video. ReutersTV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS
Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech, from an unknown location, October 8, 2024 in this still image from video. ReutersTV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS
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Naim Qassem: Hezbollah’s Capabilities Intact, More Israelis Will be Displaced

Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech, from an unknown location, October 8, 2024 in this still image from video. ReutersTV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS
Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech, from an unknown location, October 8, 2024 in this still image from video. ReutersTV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS

Hezbollah’s acting leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Tuesday more Israelis will be displaced as the group expands its rocket fire deeper into Israel.

In a defiant televised statement on Tuesday, Qassem said Hezbollah's capabilities are still intact despite weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes and that it has replaced slain commanders.

Qassem said that the Iran-backed group's fighters were pushing back Israeli ground incursions, despite the "painful blows" inflicted by Israel in recent weeks.

“We are firing hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones. A large number of settlements and cities are under the fire of the resistance,” Qassem said. “Our capabilities are fine and our fighters are deployed along the frontlines."

He said Hezbollah's top leadership was directing the war and that the commanders slain by Israel have been replaced, saying “we have no vacant posts.”

He said that Hezbollah will name a new leader to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in an underground base in Beirut’s southern suburbs last month, “but the circumstances are difficult because of the war.”

Qassem added that the group supported the efforts of Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by Hezbollah.

"We support the political activity being led by Berri under the title of a ceasefire," Qassem said in the 30-minute televised address.
"In any case, after the issue of a ceasefire takes shape, and once diplomacy can achieve it, all of the other details can be discussed and decisions can be taken," he said. "If the enemy (Israel) continues its war, then the battlefield will decide."

Qassem also said the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel was a war about who cries first, and that Hezbollah would not cry first.