IDF strikes Hezbollah as rocket fire continues

Israel reportedly gave mediators a six to eight week deadline to find a diplomatic solution for rising tensions with Lebanon.

 Smoke rises from areas in Lebanon during strikes by Israeli warplanes, October 9, 2023 (photo credit: David Cohen/Flash90)
Smoke rises from areas in Lebanon during strikes by Israeli warplanes, October 9, 2023
(photo credit: David Cohen/Flash90)

The IDF struck targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon on Friday morning as several rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.

Later on Friday morning, Hezbollah announced that two of its members had been killed in the ongoing exchanges of fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border, bringing the total number of Hezbollah terrorists killed since October 7 to 121.

Mossad intends to target senior Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon

The Lebanese Ad-Diyar newspaper cited "diplomatic sources" on Friday as stating that the Mossad intends to target senior Palestinian terrorists, including Hamas' Saleh al-Arouri and Osama Hamdan and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziad Nakhalah.

 A man climbs on the coffin of Hezbollah member Abbas Raad, senior Hezbollah figure and member of parliament Mohammad Raad's son. (credit: ALAA AL-MARJANI/REUTERS)
A man climbs on the coffin of Hezbollah member Abbas Raad, senior Hezbollah figure and member of parliament Mohammad Raad's son. (credit: ALAA AL-MARJANI/REUTERS)

Arouri, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau who has often been tied to the terrorist movement's operations in the West Bank, has been highlighted in media reports since earlier this year as a potential target for assassination due to his role in West Bank terrorism.

The sources told Ad-Diyar that the threats are serious and that "exceptional measures" are being taken in the field. The report claimed that Bernard Émié, the director of the General Directorate for External Security, warned Lebanese officials about the threat during a recent visit to Beirut.

According to the Lebanese L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper, Israel has provided international mediators with a six to eight week deadline to find a diplomatic solution for the rising tensions with Lebanon. Israeli officials have told mediators that they're willing to make a concession and accept that Hezbollah move only 10 km from the border instead of withdrawing all the way north of the Litani River.