Said Atala, a leading figure in its military arm Hamasof the al-Qassam Brigades, was killed along with three members of his family when Israeli shelling hit a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli, in the north Lebanonmedia close to the Palestinian Islamist movement reported in the early hours of today.

There has been no comment from the Israeli side at this stage.

Hezbollah speaks of new battles with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon

The Shiite organization announced in the early hours of the morning that its members were involved in battles with Israeli troops on the border of the two countries, while at the same time a series of explosions rocked the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“Soldiers of the Israeli enemy are again trying to advance to the outskirts of the municipality of Adaisah village” and “hostilities are continuing,” Hezbollah said in a statement released early this morning, after previously asserting that it had forced elements of the Israeli army to “retreat” » in this zone.

Furthermore, the Lebanese movement assured that it targeted Israeli troops in the area of ​​Yaroun, in the southern part of the country, with a “barrage of rockets”, as well as in two locations on the other side of the border.

At the same time, a series of explosions was heard in a southern suburb of BeirutHezbollah stronghold, AFP correspondents reported. Earlier, the Israeli army ordered the immediate evacuation of civilians from certain areas.

Footage shows smoke rising from an area near the airport.

Where is Safieddin?

In the early hours of Friday, the Israeli army unleashed extremely heavy shelling on southern suburbs of Beirut, demolishing entire buildings.

According to the Ynet news website, the online edition of the Gedot Aharonot newspaper, the bombings targeted the headquarters of Hezbollah’s intelligence service, where it is believed that Hashem Safieddinpotential successor to party secretary general Hassan Nasrallah.

Since then it has not been known whether he is alive or dead.

The rapid escalation in Lebanon comes almost a year after Hezbollah opened a front with Israel, the day after the war in the Gaza Strip broke out. In the months that followed, border skirmishes were practically daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.

According to Lebanon’s disaster management agency, more than 2,000 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, more than a thousand since September 23, when Israeli airstrikes intensified.

The Lebanese government estimates that at least 1.2 million civilians have been displaced.

US President Joe Biden estimated yesterday that Israel should “consider other options” and not hit Iran’s oil infrastructure, something he had mentioned the day before yesterday. He said he was trying to “mobilize the rest of the world” to ease tensions in the Middle East.

The Republican former president and re-candidate in the November 5 presidential elections, Donald Trump, for his part, decided that Israel should “hit” Iranian nuclear facilities.

The US military announced yesterday that it had hit 15 targets – facilities, weapons systems, etc. – of the Houthis in Yemen, from where the rebel movement, which is close to Iran, launches attacks against Israel and against ships it believes are connected to it or to its allies, above all the USA and Britain.

The Israeli military, for its part, said it had killed 250 Hezbollah fighters and hit more than 2,000 Hezbollah positions or facilities after launching ground operations against the movement in southern Lebanon on Monday, where it said it had suffered nine casualties.

Some 374,000 people, mostly Syrian refugees in Lebanon, have entered Syrian territory after fleeing in recent days, according to Lebanese authorities.

A hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut and two others in the southern part of the country announced that they were forced to suspend their operations due to Israeli shelling.

The Islamic Health Committee, an organization close to Hezbollah, announced that Israeli shelling claimed the life to 11 first aid team members yesterday Friday in southern Lebanon, including seven in front of Marjayoun Hospital.

Hezbollah also accused Israel of also striking “civil protection groups” a short distance from Beirut, killing one of them.