IDF claims it captured terror operative in Syria

The Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday that a strike on the area of Tyre in southern Lebanon a day earlier had killed Mousa Izz al-Din, the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the coastal sector, and Hassan Majid Daib, Hezbollah’s artillery commander in the coastal sector.

The IDF alleged that the two Hezbollah commanders were responsible for firing over 400 projectiles at Israel over the last month alone.

In the past 24 hours, Israeli aircraft have struck more than 120 targets belonging to Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the IDF.

The IDF said its “soldiers are continuing to conduct limited, localized, targeted raids against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.” Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said its troops “continue operational activity in the area of Jabaliya” in northern Gaza, “where dozens of terrorists were eliminated in aerial and ground activity.” In southern and central Gaza, including the area of Rafah, the IDF said its soldiers “operated to eliminate terrorists, dismantle terror infrastructure, and locate weapons.”

In a video released by Iranian state media on Saturday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel and the United States with “a crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its allies.

“The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front,” Khamenei said in the video.

The supreme leader did not elaborate on the timing of the threatened attack, nor the scope.

Israel’s military forces have achieved most of its goals within the area of operations for its ground forces that stretch two miles into southern Lebanon from Israel’s border, according to a source with direct knowledge.

The source said that Israeli forces have destroyed most of Hezbollah’s assets in that two-mile field of operations that stretches along the border region into Lebanon.

It is estimated that more than 50% of the Iranian-backed group’s advanced weaponry has been destroyed by Israeli forces, according to the source.

U.S. efforts to mediate a cease-fire have so far not been successful but the source expressed confidence that a deal might be possible in the next few weeks.

Israel’s military can still achieve its goals in the area of limited operations in southern Lebanon and said that doing so would not get in the way of establishing a cease-fire with Hezbollah, the source told ABC News.

Israeli leaders have said they undertook the ground incursion and airstrikes against Hezbollah as a means of allowing the safe return of tens of thousands of Israeli residents to their homes in northern Israel.

Those residents left their homes as Hezbollah began launching rockets into northern Israel regularly in the wake of Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
Israel has described its ground incursion into southern Lebanon as a “limited operation” that has also included airstrikes deep into Lebanon including airstrikes in the capital city of Beirut.

A regional security official said Friday that additional airstrikes have killed 25 of Hezbollah’s top 30 leaders and commanders.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez

The World Health Organization and the leaders of 15 United Nations and humanitarian organizations "urge, yet again, all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians, and call on the State of Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help," in a joint statement Friday.

The WHO called the situation in North Gaza, "apocalyptic," warning, "The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence."

"Hospitals have been almost entirely cut off from supplies and have come under attack, killing patients, destroying vital equipment, and disrupting life-saving services. Health workers and patients have been taken into custody. Fighting has also reportedly taken place inside hospitals," the groups said.

"Dozens of schools serving as shelters have been bombed or forcibly evacuated. Tents sheltering displaced families have been shelled, and people have been burned alive. Rescue teams have been deliberately attacked and thwarted in their attempts to pull people buried under the rubble of their homes," the groups said.