Hezbollah claims drone attacks on Israeli troops
The Lebanese armed group said it launched three drone attacks on Israeli troops in the settlements of Manara, Kafr Jaladi and Za’rit in northern Israel.
The Israeli military said in a statement early on Tuesday that five missiles crossed from Lebanon at 11:27pm local time on Monday night and that some of them were intercepted, while the rest fell in open areas.
Israeli army targeting civilian infrastructure to ‘inflict pain’
At least 60 people have been killed and 58 people wounded in the latest strikes on several locations in Baalbek in Lebanon.
It is clear that Israel is stepping up its military operations. Israel is no longer going after the military infrastructure of Hezbollah but going after civilian infrastructure. The strategy appears to be one of inflicting pain, not just on the group but its supporters.
Hezbollah’s supporters live in the east of Lebanon – in Baalbek in the Bekaa region – and in southern Lebanon. We have seen the Israeli army levelling villages in these regions.
There is no doubt that there is a military objective of doing that, but they also aim at erasing the history and livelihoods of people. This is a way of punishing those who are supporting Hezbollah.
Hezbollah appoints Naim Qassem as secretary-general
Hezbollah has announced Naim Qassem will succeed slain leader Hassan Nasrallah as secretary-general of the group. In a statement, Hezbollah said Qassem was elected due to his “adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah”.
“The Shura Council of Hezbollah agreed to elect His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem as Secretary-General of Hezbollah, carrying the blessed banner in this journey, asking God Almighty to guide him in this noble mission in leading Hezbollah and its Islamic resistance,” the statement said.
Born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from southern Lebanon, Qassem’s political activism began with the Amal Movement. In 1979, he left the group during Iran’s Islamic revolution.
Qassem took part in the meetings that led to the formation of Hezbollah, which was established with the backing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
In 1991, Qassem was appointed deputy chief by the then secretary-general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed the following year in an Israeli helicopter attack. Qassem stayed in his role when Nasrallah became leader and has been Hezbollah’s leading spokesman during interviews with foreign media.
Israel’s Gallant: New Hezbollah leader will be ’temporary’
In a post on X in English, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant describes Naim Qassem as the new Hezbollah chief as a “Temporary appointment. Not for long.”
“The countdown has begun,” Gallant wrote in a separate post in Hebrew.
Hezbollah announced Qassem’s appointment as its new secretary-general, replacing Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike last month.
Temporary appointment.
Not for long. pic.twitter.com/ONu0GveApi
— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) October 29, 2024
Israeli TV host faces backlash for blowing up house in Lebanon
Israeli TV presenter Danny Kushmaro has been criticised for blowing up a building in southern Lebanon. He did it during an embed with the Israeli forces for a report that aired on Israel’s Channel 12.
Eight UN peacekeepers wounded in southern Lebanon
Eight Austrian soldiers belonging to the peacekeeping group the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were lightly wounded in a rocket strike on Camp Naqoura near the Israeli border.
“We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and demand that it be investigated immediately,” Austria’s Defence Ministry said in a statement, adding it’s unclear where the attack came from.
None of the soldiers needed urgent medical care, it said. UNIFIL has faced a series of Israeli attacks on its peacekeepers. The Israeli government has demanded that UNIFIL leave its positions in Lebanon, an order the UN force has refused.
