Syria’s military says Israel wounded two civilians and damaged a military post a strike early Thursday in the coastal city of Latakia, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Lebanese border.
Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and has escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in recent weeks, after a year of near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire.
Lebanon says more than 2,300 people have been killed in the past year and 77% of public schools are out of service, either due to their use as shelters or their location in areas directly affected by the war.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.
Israel’s military says it has allowed 50 trucks of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza on Wednesday, after the United States warned it to boost aid efforts or risk losing weapons funding. The region has suffered heavy destruction and has been completely encircled by Israeli forces for nearly a year.
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Here’s the latest:
Israel says it has killed local Hezbollah commander
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it has killed a local Hezbollah commander in a southern Lebanese town near the border.
The military said Thursday that an airstrike on Bint Jbeil killed Hussein Awada, who it said was in charge of firing projectiles into Israel from areas near the town.
Israeli strikes in recent weeks have killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his senior commanders.
Also on Thursday, the Israeli military warned people to stay away from two buildings in the eastern villages of Saraaine and Tamnine, in the Bekaa Valley, where Israel has carried out scores of airstrikes over the past two weeks.
Iranian commander repeats threats to Israel
TEHRAN, Iran — The chief of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Israel on Thursday with more missile barrages if it strikes Iran.
“Do not repeat your mistake — if you misbehave, if you strike anything of ours either in the region or in Iran, we will again hit you painfully,” said Gen. Hossein Salami in a funeral ceremony for Iranian Guard commander Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed alongside the head of the Hezbollah militant group in Beirut in September.
Salami said a missile barrage by Iran on Israel earlier in October in retaliation of killing Nasrallah and Nilforoushan was the “tiniest” action by Iran. He said an air defense battery deployed to Israel by the U.S. will not prevent Iranian retaliation.
“We do know about your weakness, and you know too,” said Salami.
Earlier this month, Iran launched some 180 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, killed in Iran in July, as well as Nilforoushan and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who were killed in Israel strikes on Beirut in September.
Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah and supports militant groups opposed to Israel across the region including Hamas.
An Israeli strike wounds 2 in Syria, its military says
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s military says Israel carried out a strike early Thursday in the coastal city of Latakia, wounding two civilians and damaging a military post.
The military statement that was carried by state media did not give further details.
Israel regularly targets military sites in Syria linked to Iran and to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group. Those strikes have become more frequent after exchanges of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border began in October 2023, with Hezbollah attacking Israeli posts in support of the Palestinians and its ally, Hamas.
The exchanges intensified over the past three weeks, and on Oct. 1, Israel began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
US B-2 stealth bombers strike bunkers of Yemen’s Houthi rebels
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Long-range American B-2 stealth bombers launched airstrikes early Thursday morning targeting underground bunkers used by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said.
It wasn’t immediately clear what damage was done in the strikes.
However, there are no previous reports of the B-2 Spirit being used in the strikes targeting the Houthis, who have been attacking ships for months in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis’ al-Masirah satellite news channel reported airstrikes around Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which the group has held since 2014. They also reported strikes around the Houthi stronghold of Saada. They offered no immediate information on damage or casualties.
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the B-2 bombers targeted “five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”
The strike also appeared to be an indirect warning to Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, which has targeted Israel with ballistic missile attacks twice over the past year. The nuclear-capable B-2, which first saw action in 1999 in the Kosovo War, is rarely used by the U.S. military in combat as each aircraft is worth some $1 billion.