Hamas naval commander killed in Gaza; as Israel strikes southern Lebanon and Syria
by AFP Staff Writers
Jerusalem (AFP) May 8, 2024

The Israeli military said Wednesday a recent air strike had killed the commander of Hamas's naval unit in Gaza City, accusing of "attacks" against troops during the seven-month war.

Mohammed Ahmed Ali was killed in an air strike "in the past day", the military said in a statement.

Hamas did not immediately comment when asked about Ali's killing.

Sources in the Palestinian militant group said he was a member of its armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.

The military statement said that "during the war, Ali was responsible for attacks on Israeli territory and against IDF (army) ground troops operating in the Gaza Strip" including in central Gaza over the past week.

Hamas's armed wing has been engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces across the Gaza Strip since war erupted on October 7 following the Palestinian group's attack on southern Israel.

Al-Qassam Brigades regularly launch rockets towards Israeli territory, and claimed a barrage on Sunday at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza that killed four soldiers.

Hamas's October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The Israeli army did not say whether it believed Ali had been involved in planning or executing the attack.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 34,844 people, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Lebanon security source says five killed in Israeli strikes on south
Beirut (AFP) May 8, 2024 - A Lebanese security source said five people, including at least two Hezbollah fighters, were killed Wednesday in Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have stepped up cross-border exchanges that have been ongoing following the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

According to the Lebanese security source, "two Hezbollah fighters" were killed in an Israeli air strike on the border town of Adaisseh.

A separate strike on the village of Khiam killed three people who were likely "Palestinian combatants", the source said.

AFP pictures showed a huge cloud of smoke rising above Khiam following a strike.

Earlier Wednesday the Israeli military said that its "artillery and fighter jets struck over 20 Hezbollah terror targets" in southern Lebanon.

"During the strikes, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of weapon storage facilities in the area," it said in a statement.

Hezbollah meanwhile said its forces carried out at least 11 attacks against northern Israeli army positions across the border, using drones and "guided missiles".

A statement from the Iran-backed Lebanese group said six of those attacks were "in retaliation for enemy attacks against villages, homes and civilians" in southern Lebanon.

At least 395 people have been killed in Lebanon in seven months of cross-border violence, mostly militants but also more than 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

Israel says 13 soldiers and nine civilians have been killed on its side of the border.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides.

On Wednesday a Lebanese official said Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has caused more than $1.5 billion in damage.

Monitor, Iraqi group say Israel hits facilities in Syria
Beirut (AFP) May 9, 2024 - Israeli strikes on Syria early Thursday targeted facilities belonging to Iraq's Al-Nujaba armed movement, a war monitor and the pro-Iran group said, with Damascus saying an unidentified building was attacked.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in its northern neighbour in 2011, mainly against army positions and Iran-backed fighters.

But the strikes increased after Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, when the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented assault on Israel.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "Israeli air strikes targeted a cultural centre" and a "training facility" of the Iraqi Al-Nujaba movement in the Sayyida Zeinab area south of Damascus.

Three members of the group were wounded according to the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

A source within the Iraqi faction, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed that a "cultural centre" belonging to the group was destroyed in the "Israeli" attack, but reported no casualties.

Al-Nujaba does "not have a declared military base in Syria", the source added.

Syria's defence ministry said that "at around 3:20 am today, the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the occupied Syria Golan Heights targeting a building in the Damascus countryside".

The attack caused "some material damage", said the statement carried by state media, adding that air defence systems shot down some of the missiles.

The Sayyida Zeinab area is home to an important Shiite Muslim shrine that is protected by pro-Iran groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah, alongside the Syrian army, according to the Observatory.

The Al-Nujaba movement is part of a pro-Iran alliance in Iraq that Washington has blamed for numerous attacks on its forces.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes on Syria, but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.

An April 1 raid blamed on Israel levelled Tehran's consulate in Damascus and killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.

That strike prompted Iran to launch a first-ever direct missile and drone attack against Israel on April 13-14 that sent regional tensions spiralling.

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