IDF claims it captured terror operative in Syria

The IDF said it detained a Syrian citizen it alleged was working for Iran.

Last Updated: November 4, 2024, 3:02 AM EST

The Israel Defense Forces conducted what it called "precise strikes on military targets" in Iran on Friday in response to the Iranian missile strikes earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes and ground fighting continued in Gaza -- particularly in the north of the strip -- and in Lebanon, with renewed Israeli attacks on Beirut.

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Here's how the news is developing.
Nov 03, 2024, 1:14 PM EST

Alleged Iranian terror operative detained in IDF raid in Syria

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that it carried out a ground raid in Syria "in recent months" and detained a Syrian citizen they allege was working for Iran.

The IDF claimed Ali Soleiman al-Assi was monitoring IDF troops on the border to plan terror attacks.

The raid in Syria is believed to mark the first time Israeli troops have been on the ground in Syria during the recent conflict. Israel has bombed Syria from the air on numerous occasions.

There has been no confirmation or comment from Syria or Iran on the IDF action in Syria.

In a statement Sunday, the IDF said its forces detained an Iranian terror operative in the special operation in Syria.

"During an intelligence-based, special operation in Syrian territory that took place in recent months, soldiers of the Egoz Unit together with field interrogators from Unit 504, led by the 210th Division, detained an Iranian terror network operative in Syria," the IDF said in a statement.

The Israel Defense Forces released body-camera footage on Nov. 3, 2024, of a recent IDF raid in Syria that detained Ali Soleiman al-Assi, an alleged Iranian terror operative.
IDF

The IDF said al-Assi is a Syrian citizen who lives in the area of Saida in southern Syria.

"His activities included gathering intelligence on IDF troops in the border area for future terror activity of the network," the IDF alleged.

Al-Assi had been under IDF surveillance, Israeli officials said. He was taken to Israel to undergo interrogation, the IDF said.

-ABC News' Dana Savir

Nov 03, 2024, 6:53 AM EST

IDF claims killing of 2 Hezbollah commanders in south Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces wrote on X Sunday that its warplanes "eliminated" Farouk Amin Alasi, who it said was Hezbollah's commander for the Khiam area in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on Nov. 2, 2024.
-/AFP via Getty Images

Alasi, the IDF said, "was responsible for the execution of many anti-tank missile and rocket attacks toward Israeli communities" in the north of the country.

The IDF also said it killed Yousef Ahmad Nun, who it said was a company commander in Hezbollah's Radwan Force in the Khiam area and also responsible for cross-border rocket and anti-tank missile fire.

Nov 03, 2024, 5:31 AM EST

Israeli soldiers killed, injured in north Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces announced Sunday that one soldier was killed and another seriously wounded in the northern Gaza Strip.

A soldier was killed "by a grenade explosion during the night between Friday and Saturday" in northern Gaza, the IDF wrote on X.

On Sunday, a combat engineering officer was "seriously injured" during "a battle in the northern Gaza Strip," the IDF said.

Nov 03, 2024, 4:56 AM EST

US commander visits Israel to discuss Iran threat

Gen. Michael Kurilla -- the commander of the U.S. Army Central Command, or CENTCOM -- visited Israel this weekend to meet with Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the IDF wrote on X Sunday.

The two commanders "held a situational assessment on security-strategic issues and joint preparations in the region, as part of the response to threats in the Middle East, with an emphasis on Iran," the IDF wrote.

During the visit, Kurilla visited the American THAAD air defense battery deployed to Israel to strengthen its defense against ballistic missiles, the IDF said.

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