Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian group, has appointed Naïm Qassem to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, killed last September by an Israeli raid. The Israeli army continues its offensives in the north of the Gaza Strip.
The essentials
- Hezbollah announces that it has elected its former number 2, Naïm Qassem, at the head of the movement after the death of Hassan Nasrallah, killed on September 27 by an Israeli bombing. “The Chopra council agreed to elect Naïm Qassem secretary general of Hezbollah. We ask God to help him in his mission in the direction of Hezbollah and its resistance,” said an official statement.
- This Tuesday, 50 Palestinians were killed after an Israeli raid in the north of the Gaza Strip, in Beit Lahya, said the spokesperson for the Gaza Civil Defense. The attack reportedly targeted a five-story residential building, several dozen people were injured, and victims were still buried under the rubble.
- On Monday, the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, adopted a law banning UNRWA activities in Israel. A decision to which the United States and the UN were nevertheless opposed. Within UNRWA as well as on the side of the Palestinian authorities, but also internationally, reactions were not long in coming. Deemed “scandalous” or worrying by some, the vote for this ban, which “opposes the Charter of the United Nations and violates the obligations of the State of Israel under international law”, could also “create[er] a dangerous precedent,” said the head of UNRWA.
Latest updates
11:15 – Several localities in Lebanon targeted this Tuesday morning
This Tuesday morning, in southern Lebanon, Israeli aircraft carried out a raid on the town of Taybé, and a second on Houmine el Faouqa. According to information from L’Orient-Le Jour, the locality of Aamiriyé was targeted by a drone close to a Lebanese army checkpoint. One dead and several injured were reported in this area located near the city of Tyre, in the south.
10:55 – A residential building targeted in Gaza: first toll of 55 dead
Around 55 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombardment on Tuesday in Beit Lahya, in northern Gaza, said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for Gazan civil defense. “Some of the victims were displaced people, specify these officials cited by Haaretz”, specifies L’Orient-Le Jour. The IDF strike reportedly targeted a five-story residential building according to the Associated Press agency. Victims are still believed to be under the rubble, and dozens of injuries have been reported.
10:30 – Naïm Qassem elected head of Hezbollah
Lebanese Hezbollah announced this Tuesday that it had elected its number two, Naïm Qassem, at the head of the pro-Iranian formation to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, killed on September 27 in an Israeli strike in the suburbs of Beirut. At 71, he is one of the founders of Hezbollah. Appointed deputy secretary general in 1991, his media coverage had skyrocketed since the death of his predecessor Nasrallah; he appeared during the movement’s last three televised speeches, notably on October 15.
“The Shura Council of Hezbollah has elected Sheikh Naïm Kassem as the new Secretary General of Hezbollah. We ask God to help him in his mission in leading Hezbollah and its resistance. We promise our martyr, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to the Islamic resistance fighters and to our resilient people to work together to achieve Hezbollah’s goals and keep the flame of resistance alive,” the statement said. press release from the organization.
10/28/24 – 11:30 p.m. – UNRWA ban: Berlin and London react
END OF LIVE – “Israeli action against an organization mandated by the UN which has carried out essential work since 1950 is a dangerous signal of lack of respect for the United Nations and for international cooperation”, said the Commissioner responsible for human rights and humanitarian assistance policy in Germany, Luise Amtsberg, while the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Berlin “strongly criticizes” the Israeli bill. At the same time, the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, announced in a press release that London was “seriously concerned” by this vote, deploring the consequences for the Gazans while the situation on the ground is already “simply unacceptable”.
10/28/24 – 10:47 p.m. – Benjamin Netanyahu “ready” to ensure the provision of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip
While the Israeli Parliament this evening banned the main actor in humanitarian operations in Gaza from carrying out its activities in Israel by voting on a text, Benyamin Netanyahu assured on The Orient-The Daythat “sustained humanitarian aid must be available to Gaza now and in the future” and that Israelis stand “ready to work with [leurs] international partners to ensure that Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Gaza in a manner that does not threaten Israel’s security.”
28/10/24 – 22:18 – For the Palestinian Authority, this vote “is an indication of the transformation of Israel into a fascist state”
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority in turn reacted Monday evening to Israel’s ban on UNRWA, which it “rejects and condemns.” “We will not allow this,” his spokesperson said, while asserting that “the landslide vote by the so-called Knesset is an indication of the transformation of Israel into a fascist state.”
42,718. This is the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist offensive on October 7, 2023 in Israel. A figure communicated by the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government on Monday October 14, 2024 and which reveals the intensity of the fighting which has lasted for more than a year now. Over the months, tensions intensified, and as of October 27, 2023, Israel extended its ground operation to Gaza. The objective for Netanyahu and the IDF is clear: to “annihilate” Hamas. A one-week ceasefire nevertheless took place in November 2023. After a significant leap forward, on April 13, 2024, Iran launched its first massive attack on Israel. Hamas ally, Iran then fired nearly 350 explosive drones and missiles at the Jewish state. An attack in response to missiles fired at the embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1, in which 11 people lost their lives, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tuesday September 17, 2024, a new kind of attack broke into the war. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies explode. Twelve deaths and nearly 3,000 injured have been recorded in Lebanon. Since its coordinated explosions, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon with air or ground raids. More than 1,000 people are killed in IDF strikes and thousands of Lebanese are forced to be displaced. On October 1, 2024, Iran responded by sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles directly to Israel. Since then, the two countries have been waging a merciless war. On October 8, 2024, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, threatened Lebanon with “destruction and suffering like those we see in Gaza” if the population of the country does not ” “liberated” not from Hezbollah. Comments described as “provocation” by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Monday October 14, 2024, Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel with new attacks in a press release. As a reminder, Hezbollah had struck Haifa two days earlier, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring no fewer than 60. At the start of the week, the terrorist organization indicated that “the resistance (…) promises the enemy”. The raid carried out “south of Haifa is only a foretaste of what awaits him if he decides to continue his attacks against our people”, she threatens. According to Palestinian doctors cited by Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was then bombed by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and causing a fire in a camp for displaced people.