Targeted killing by Israel

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement announced Tuesday it has chosen deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Hasan Nasrallah as leader after his death in an Israeli strike on south Beirut last month.

"What happened was not a coup de grace, but a method that we were forced to use to weaken Hezbollah and neutralize its offensive capabilities," the former head of Israel's National Security Council, former director of Mossad's research and intelligence division and former security adviser to Netanyahu, Uzi Arad, underlines to Kathimerini regarding Israel's attack on September 17 and 18 in which

Several Lebanese ministers on Oct. 25 accused Israel of committing war crimes by targeting journalists, hospitals and rescue workers amid the U.S. push to reach a diplomatic solution in Lebanon.

The first accusation came from Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati after Israel carried out a strike in the country's south and killed three media workers.

Hassem Safientin, the top official of Hezbollah who was expected to succeed slain Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli attack, the group confirmed Wednesday. “His Eminence Mr. Hashem Safedin was a martyr on his way to Jerusalem,” the statement stressed.

Hezbollah confirmed that Safientin was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Israel's army stated it had killed the cleric tipped to succeed slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on Beirut three weeks ago that targeted commanders of the Iran-backed militant group.

Hezbollah has not issued a statement about the Israeli claims to have killed Hashem Safieddine.

For the past 48 hours, Israel’s relentless strikes on Beirut and the mainly southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital have been non-stop. A few minutes ago Israeli fighters struck and destroyed an apartment building in Sidon. Social media videos are indicative of the intensity of the strikes which did not only target Hezbollah’s underground facilities.

Since Sunday night, Israeli fighter jets have been targeting specific locations where, according to widespread belief, there are no military targets. Early Monday morning, the IDF announced via a leak that it had struck the headquarters of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a unique bank established by Hezbollah.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will pay a visit to Türkiye, Egypt and Jordan as part of his Middle East tour to discuss ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, his office announced on Oct. 16.

Araghchi will engage in talks in a "diplomatic reach-out to countries of the region to end genocide, atrocity and aggression," the statement said.

The Israeli military launched strikes in southern Beirut on Wednesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it would leave Hezbollah forces near his country's border.

An AFP journalist saw black smoke rising from Beirut's Haret Hreik area after two strikes, which followed an Israeli military warning for residents to evacuate.

Israel will consider the United States's opinion but will act against an Iranian missile attack based on its own "national interests", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Tuesday.

The comments came as a top Iranian commander, whose absence sparked rumors that he could have been killed in an Israeli strike, appeared in public for the first time in weeks.