Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (October 5, 2024) slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for calling for a halt to arms supplies to Israel, which is fighting wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side. Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office. 

Mr. Netanyahu said Israel was fighting a war on several fronts against groups backed by arch-foe Iran. 

“Is Iran imposing an arms embargo on Hezbollah, on the Huthis, on Hamas and on its other proxies? Of course not,” he said. All three groups are backed by Tehran and form part of its “axis of resistance” against Israel. 

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Hezbollah has suffered some of the heaviest losses in its history over the past two weeks, chief among them the killing of its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike.

Two weeks ago, thousands of communications devices used by Hezbollah members exploded, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000 in an apparent remotely detonated attack that Hezbollah blamed on Israel.

Israel strike LIVE updates – October 4, 2024

The Lebanese militant group has lost nearly 500 fighters since it started attacking Israeli military posts in support of its ally, Hamas, last October. And hundreds more were likely killed in Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon over the past week, which has killed a number of high-ranking commanders and officials.

Where Hezbollah stands after its recent losses

Still, Hezbollah has continued to launch rockets at central Israel. The group’s chief spokesman, Mohammed Afif, warned on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) that those attacks were only the beginning and that the militant group is waiting for invading forces to enter Lebanon to confront them.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah, fired dozens of missiles into Israel on Tuesday (October 1, 2024) and referenced Nasrallah’s death in a statement on state television claiming responsibility for the attack. The bombardment came a day after Israel said it had begun limited ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s tens of thousands of fighters have been battle-hardened in regional conflicts, including in Syria, where the militant group helped tip the balance of power in the 13-year conflict in favour of President Bashar Assad.

Hezbollah has five main units, each consisting of several thousand fighters.

The Nasr and Aziz units are deployed in areas bordering Israel, with Nasr controlling the south-eastern region including the edge of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. The Aziz unit is deployed in the southwest, including along the Mediterranean coast. Nasr and Aziz commanders were killed in Israeli airstrikes earlier this year but were believed to have been replaced.

The Badr unit is deployed in an area that includes Apple province, a mountainous region overlooking large parts of southern Lebanon that has been a Hezbollah stronghold since the late 1980s. The Haidar unit is in the eastern Bekaa Valley while the Dahiyeh unit is in Beirut’s heavily populated southern suburb that housed the group’s headquarters where Nasrallah was killed Friday.

The group also has the elite Radwan Force of several thousand fighters, part of which is deployed along the border with Israel. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said in a report Monday that invading Israeli troops will get to know the experienced fighters of Radwan Force if they decide to launch a ground invasion.

In recent weeks, Hezbollah has lost some of its most experienced military commanders, including Ibrahim Akil, who was in charge of the Radwan Force, and Ibrahim Kobbeisi, who was the group’s missiles commander.

The commander of Hezbollah’s drones unit, Mohammed Surour, and the commander of Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon, Ali Karaki, were also killed in air strikes.

In late July, Israel killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fouad Shukur.

Among the group’s commanders who are still active is Talal Hamieh, who is in charge of Hezbollah’s external operations, and Khodor Nader, who heads the group’s security unit. Hezbollah denied Israeli statements that claimed to have killed senior military commander known as Abu Ali Rida, commander of the Badr unit.

The group’s strongman, Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s maternal cousin, is also alive and widely expected to replace Nasrallah as Hezbollah secretary-general. Safieddine is close to Iran and his son, Rida, is married to Zeinab Soleimani, the daughter of an Iranian general who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in 2020.

Hezbollah has an arsenal of more than 150,000 rockets and missiles as well as surveillance and explosive drones of different types.

Over the past year, Hezbollah has used a small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, as well as short-range Falaq and Burkan rockets from areas several kilometers (miles) from the border. Over the past week, Hezbollah introduced the middle-range Fadi rockets, attacking the outskirts of Tel Aviv and the northern city of Haifa.

Hezbollah has yet to use all the weapons it is believed to possess, including its precision-guided missiles and surface-to-sea missiles such as the Russian-made Yakhont.

Israeli officials say its bombardment of large swaths of Lebanon over the past week aimed to take out Hezbollah’s supplies of weapons. However, since the escalation began, Hezbollah has continued to launch attacks across the border and even unveiled new types of weapons.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah said it fired middle-range Fadi-4 rockets toward the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Hours later, the group said it fired similar rockets toward an air base in a Tel Aviv suburb. The group has used surface-to-air missiles and shot down or chased off Israeli drones on several occasions — including in the past week.

Most of the incoming fire has either been intercepted or landed in open areas. But Israeli military officials warn that the country’s air defenses are not hermetic.

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on September 28, 2024 in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

In just over a week, intensified Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed seven high-ranking commanders and officials from the powerful Hezbollah militant group, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The move left Lebanon and much of the Mideast in shock as Israeli officials celebrated major military and intelligence breakthroughs.

Also Read: Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut on September 30, 2024 LIVE updates

Hezbollah had opened a front to support its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip a day after the Palestinian group’s surprise attack into southern Israel.

The recent strikes in Lebanon and the assassination of Mr. Nasrallah are a significant escalation in the war in the Middle East, this time between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s most powerful military and political force now finds itself trying to recuperate from severe blows, having lost key members who have been part of Hezbollah since its establishment in the early 1980s.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah

Chief among them was Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a series of airstrikes that leveled several buildings in southern Beirut. Others were lesser-known in the outside world but still key to Hezbollah’s operations.

Since 1992, Mr. Nasrallah had led the group through several wars with Israel and oversaw the party’s transformation into a powerful player in Lebanon. Hezbollah entered Lebanon’s political arena while also taking part in regional conflicts that made it the most powerful paramilitary force. After Syria’s uprising in 2011 spiraled into civil war, Hezbollah played a pivotal role in keeping Syrian President Bashar Assad in power. Under Mr. Nasrallah, Hezbollah also helped develop the capabilities of fellow Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq and Yemen.

Mr. Nasrallah is a divisive figure in Lebanon, with his supporters hailing him for ending Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000 and his opponents decrying him for the group’s weapons stockpile and making unilateral decisions that they say serve an agenda for Tehran and allies.

Nabil Kaouk

Nabil Kaouk, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday (September 28, 2024), was the deputy head of Hezbollah’s Central Council. He joined the militant group in its early days in the 1980s. Kaouk also served as Hezbollah’s military commander in south Lebanon from 1995 until 2010. He made several media appearances and gave speeches to supporters, including at funerals for killed Hezbollah militants. He had been seen as a potential successor to Mr. Nasrallah.

Ibrahim Akil

Ibrahim Akil was a top commander and led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces, which Israel has been trying to push further away from its border with Lebanon. He was also a member of its highest military body, the Jihad Council, and for years had been on the United States’ wanted list. The U.S. State Department says Mr. Akil was part of the group that carried out the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and orchestrated the taking of German and American hostages.

Ahmad Wehbe

Ahmad Wehbe was a commander of the Radwan Forces and played a crucial role in developing the group since its formation almost two decades ago. He was killed alongside Mr. Akil in an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs that struck and leveled a building.

Ali Karaki 

Ali Karaki led Hezbollah’s southern front, playing a key role in the ongoing conflict. The U.S. described him as a significant figure in the militant group’s leadership. Little is known about Karaki, who was killed alongside Mr. Nasrallah.

Mohammad Surour

Mohammad Surour was the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit, which was used for the first time in this current conflict with Israel. Under his leadership, Hezbollah launched exploding and reconnaissance drones deep into Israel, penetrating its defense systems, which had mostly focused on the group’s rockets and missiles.

Ibrahim Kobeisi

Ibrahim Kobeisi led Hezbollah’s missile unit. The Israeli military says Kobeissi planned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli soldiers at the northern border in 2000, whose bodies were returned in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah four years later.

Even in the months before the recent escalation of the war with Hezbollah, Israel’s military had targeted top commanders, most notably Fuad Shukur in late July, hours before an explosion in Iran widely blamed on Israel killed the leader of the Palestinian Hamas militant group Ismail Haniyeh. The U.S. accuses Fuad Shukur of orchestrating the 1983 bombing in Beirut that killed 241 American servicemen.

Leaders of key units in the south, Jawad Tawil, Taleb Abdullah, and Mohammad Nasser, who over several decades became instrumental members of Hezbollah’s military activity, were all assassinated.

Mr. Nasrallah’s second-in-command, Naim Kassem, is the most senior member of the organization. Mr. Kassem has been Hezbollah’s deputy leader since 1991 and is among its founding members. On several occasions, local news networks were quick to assume that an Israeli strike in southern Beirut may have targeted Kassem.

Mr. Kassem is the only top official of the militant group who has conducted interviews with local and international media in the ongoing conflict. The deputy leader appears to be involved in various aspects of the militant group, both in top political and security matters, but also in matters related to Hezbollah’s theocratic and charity initiatives to the Shia Muslim community in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Hashim Safieddine, who heads Hezbollah’s central council, is tipped to be Mr. Nasrallah’s successor. Mr. Safieddine is a cousin of the late Hezbollah leader, and his son is married to the daughter of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was slain in a U.S. drone strike in 2020. Like Mr. Nasrallah, Mr. Safieddine joined Hezbollah early on and similarly wears a black turban.

Talal Hamieh and Abu Ali Reda are the two remaining top commanders from Hezbollah who are alive and apparently on the Israeli military’s crosshairs.

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, seen from Baabda on Friday (September 27, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

The Israeli military said on Friday (September 27, 2024) it carried out a “precise strike” on the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut.

The Israeli army’s spokesman, Daniel Hagari, made the announcement in a televised address after the explosion in Beirut sent massive clouds of orange and black smoke billowing in the skies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.N. earlier in the day.

A series of intense Israeli airstrikes hit one of Beirut’s heavily populated southern suburbs on Friday (September 27, 2024) as blasts were heard throughout the Lebanese capital.

The massive explosion was so powerful it rattled windows and shook houses some 30 kilometers north of Beirut. Ambulances were seen headed to the scene of the explosions, sirens wailing.

The strike came an hour after thousands of people attended the funeral of a top Hezbollah commander who was killed the day before.

“Earlier in the day, an Israeli airstrike killed a family of nine in a Lebanese border village,” authorities said, as Lebanon struggled to deal with a rising death toll, a wave of tens of thousands fleeing their homes, and the possibility of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.

As the two sides continued to trade fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed world leaders at the U.N., vowing to “continue degrading Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals along the Lebanon border, further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire.

Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is determined to put an end to more than 11 months of Hezbollah fire into its territory. The scope of Israel’s operation remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the militant group away from the border is a possibility. Israel has moved thousands of troops toward the border in preparation.

That has Lebanese fearing a repeat of the last Israel-Hezbollah war, in 2006, which lasted a month and wreaked heavy destruction over parts of their country. Or worse, they fear, Lebanon could suffer devastation on the scale wreaked in Gaza by Israel’s nearly year-long campaign against Hamas.

At least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes early Friday (September 27, 2024), Health Minister Firass Abiad said, “bringing the death toll in Lebanon this week to more than 720.” He said the dead included dozens of women and children.

The Israeli military said it carried out dozens of strikes over the course of two hours around the south on Friday (September 27, 2024), including in the cities of Sidon and Nabatiyeh. It said it was targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and infrastructure. It said Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets toward the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, on September 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Friday (September 27, 2024) that Israel will strike if it is hit first and warned that his country can reach any part of the cleric-run state as he vowed to fight on in Gaza.

“I have a message for the tyrants of Tehran. If you strike us, we will strike you,” Mr. Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly.

“There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true of the entire Middle East.”

Delegates, including from Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, exited the room as Mr. Netanyahu took the rostrum for his address amid a mix of cheers and angry yells.

“After I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight,” Mr. Netanyahu said at the start of his speech.

Ahead of his speech, protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s hotel in New York to demand an end to the violence in Gaza and Lebanon.

‘Deadliest period’

On Wednesday (September 25, 2024), the United States, France and other allies unveiled a 21-day truce proposal, after President Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The White House has said that the call for a ceasefire had been “coordinated” with Israel, but Netanyahu’s office on Thursday (September 26, 2024) said that the Prime Minister has not responded to the proposal.

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“It is an American-French proposal, which the prime minister has not even responded to,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s office, adding that he had ordered the army “to continue the fighting with full force.”

Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in a deadly exchange of cross-border fire since the Iran-backed group’s Palestinian ally, Hamas, attacked Israel on October 7.

Mr. Netanyahu vowed Friday that “Hamas has got to go” and would have no role in the reconstruction of Gaza as he vowed to fight until “total victory.”

Since Monday, Israel has shifted its focus from Gaza to its northern front with Lebanon where heavy bombing has killed 700 people and sparked an exodus of around 118,000 people.

Mr. Netanyahu said Israel would continue Lebanon strikes “until we meet our objectives.”

The U.N. said Friday (September 27, 2024) that a “catastrophic” intensification of Israeli attacks targeting Hezbollah militants had left Lebanon facing its “deadliest period… in a generation.”

The Israeli strikes have brought the overall death toll in Lebanon to more than 1,500 people killed in nearly a year of clashes, according to Lebanese authorities.

That toll surpasses the 1,200 mostly civilians killed during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, which also killed around 160 people in Israel, most of them soldiers.

At least five people were killed Saturday, four of them from the same family, in an Israeli strike on a house in southern Lebanon, the country’s official National News Agency reported.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and Israel have traded deadly cross-border fire on a near-daily basis since war broke out in October between Israel and the Gaza group Hamas, a Hezbollah ally.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)