Israeli strikes on several regions of Lebanon left at least 50 dead on Saturday, November 24, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Israel wants to continue “acting with determination” against Hezbollah, says its Defense Minister. In Amman, Jordan, a man was killed after opening fire in the area of the Israeli embassy.
Information to remember
⇒ Body of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi found in United Arab Emirates
⇒ A man killed in Amman (Jordan) after opening fire in the Israeli embassy area
⇒ More than 50 people killed in Lebanon on Saturday alone
Israeli-Moldovan victim of “anti-Semitic terrorism” in the United Arab Emirates
Emirati authorities have located the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who has been missing in the country since Thursday, the Israeli government announced on Sunday, November 24, which referred to a “heinous act of anti-Semitic terrorism.”
The United Arab Emirates is one of the Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel under the 2020 Abraham Accords, promoted by Donald Trump during his first term in the White House.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated on Saturday that Tzvi Kogan had disappeared for two days in the United Arab Emirates and was already raising a “terrorist” lead, without any details having been provided to support this lead. Mossad, the foreign intelligence service, has opened an investigation, he said.
The Israeli government did not provide details on Sunday about where the body was found or the identities of the suspects. The circumstances of this rabbi’s death remain extremely unclear, including in the Israeli media.
Rabbi Tzvi Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement, long established in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Israeli press. Chabad Lubavitch is an ultra-Orthodox movement driven by a global missionary commitment aimed at strengthening Jewish identity and bringing Jews closer to their faith, particularly through its community centers.
Man shot dead in Amman after shooting at Israeli embassy area
A man was shot dead at dawn on Sunday in Amman after opening fire on security forces in the neighborhood housing the Israeli embassy, Jordanian authorities announced.
Three members of the security services were injured by the attacker before his death, said government spokesperson Mohamed Moumani, quoted by the national agency Petra. He condemned “a terrorist attack against the Jordanian forces” and presented the attacker as an “outlaw with a criminal past” linked to drugs. Mr. Moumani, who did not specify the nationality of the attacker, announced the opening of an investigation.
Earlier, the Directorate of Public Security, cited by Petra, announced that “a person opened fire on a patrol operating in the Rabieh area of Amman, where security forces were dispatched. “They located the shooter who tried to escape. Surrounded, he began shooting at the security forces, who in return applied the rules of engagement, killing the attacker, she added.
Demonstrations against the Israeli embassy are held regularly in the Rabieh neighborhood of Amman, particularly after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023 between Palestinian Hamas and the Israeli army.
In 1994, Jordan, where almost half the population is of Palestinian origin, became the second Arab state, after Egypt, to sign a peace treaty with Israel and establish diplomatic relations.
More than 50 dead in Lebanon in Israeli strikes on Saturday
More than 50 people died on Saturday in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, particularly in Beirut, according to the Ministry of Health.
Before dawn, the residents of Beirut woke up to the sound of large explosions, after Israeli strikes which destroyed a building in the Basta district, in the heart of Beirut, causing a huge crater. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported in the evening at least 20 dead and 66 injured, specifying that this was a provisional report.
A Lebanese security source claimed that a “senior Hezbollah official was targeted” by the raid – without being able to say whether he had died – but a Hezbollah MP, Amin Cherri, denied that a leader of the movement had been targeted in Basta. In recent months, Israel has virtually decimated the leadership of the armed movement by killing several of its leaders.
Several Israeli strikes also targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, after calls to evacuate, according to the National News Agency (ANI). In a statement, the Israeli army said it had targeted “Hezbollah command centers and other terrorist infrastructures” in the southern suburbs.
At least 38 people were also killed in Israeli strikes in eastern and southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
After a year of cross-border violence and after having weakened Hamas in incessantly bombed Gaza, Israel moved the heart of the fighting to Lebanon by launching an intense bombing campaign from September 23 on Hezbollah strongholds. Since October 8, 2023, more than 3,670 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Health, most since September 23.
Israel says it wants to distance Hezbollah from the border areas of southern Lebanon to allow the return of some 60,000 residents of the north of the country displaced by rocket fire. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of residents have also been displaced.
American envoy Amos Hochstein visited Lebanon and Israel this week to try to obtain a cease-fire. On Saturday, during a telephone conversation with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz affirmed that Israel would continue to “act with determination” against Hezbollah. Mr. Austin reaffirmed that his country, Israel’s main ally, was in favor of a “diplomatic solution in Lebanon.”