Israeli Defense Minister: Hamas, Hezbollah No Longer Effective Proxies for Iran

A man inspects the debris and damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Hadath on October 27, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A man inspects the debris and damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Hadath on October 27, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Israeli Defense Minister: Hamas, Hezbollah No Longer Effective Proxies for Iran

A man inspects the debris and damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Hadath on October 27, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
A man inspects the debris and damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted Beirut's southern suburb of Hadath on October 27, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Iran is no longer able to effectively use its proxies Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon against Israel.  

"Over the past year, the security establishment led by the Israel Defense Forces turned the tide of the war and had unprecedented achievements in all arenas of fighting," he said in remarks to a memorial ceremony in Jerusalem.  

Gallant said Hamas was no longer functioning as a military network in Gaza, while Hezbollah's senior command and most of its missile capabilities had been wiped out.  

He said both groups "are no longer an effective tool" to be used by Iran.

Gallant also briefed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the success of Israel's strikes on Iran and discussed "strategic opportunities" that may have arisen, Gallant's office said on Sunday.

"Gallant discussed initial assessments regarding the success of the strikes against missile manufacturing facilities, surface-to-air missile arrays and Iranian aerial capabilities," it said.

"Minister Gallant also discussed the strategic opportunities that have risen as a result of operational achievements, in both the northern and southern arenas," the statement said, referring to fighting in Lebanon and Gaza. 



Lebanon Says Five Dead in Israeli Strike on Tyre City Center

A man walks on the rubble of a damaged building targeted by an Israeli military strike on 23 October, in Tyre, Lebanon, 24 October 2024. EPA/STRINGER
A man walks on the rubble of a damaged building targeted by an Israeli military strike on 23 October, in Tyre, Lebanon, 24 October 2024. EPA/STRINGER
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Lebanon Says Five Dead in Israeli Strike on Tyre City Center

A man walks on the rubble of a damaged building targeted by an Israeli military strike on 23 October, in Tyre, Lebanon, 24 October 2024. EPA/STRINGER
A man walks on the rubble of a damaged building targeted by an Israeli military strike on 23 October, in Tyre, Lebanon, 24 October 2024. EPA/STRINGER

Lebanon's health ministry said Israel struck the southern city of Tyre on Monday, killing at least five people and wounding 10 others.
An "Israeli enemy strike this morning on a building" in the center of the coastal city "led to a provisional toll of five dead and 10 wounded", a health ministry statement said.
It added that "work is ongoing to remove the rubble".
An AFP video journalist saw emergency personnel rush a survivor to an ambulance on a stretcher, while other rescuers worked to put out a heavily smoldering fire at the site, where a residential apartment block had collapsed like a pancake.
Tyre, an ancient coastal city which boasts a UNESCO World Heritage site, was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes last week, leaving swathes of the center in ruins.
Israel last month escalated air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and sent ground forces into Lebanon, following a year of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed group over the Gaza war.