IDF claims it captured terror operative in Syria

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

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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Strike on Beirut kills 1, injures 11

One person was killed and 11 others were injured in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut Saturday afternoon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. There was no warning or evacuation order prior to the strike.

The strike hit a building across the street from the Al Hayat hospital.

No comment yet from IDF on the strike.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz


IDF says it killed 2 more Hezbollah commanders as it continues operations in south Lebanon, Gaza

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.”


Iran's supreme leader threatens Israel and US with 'a crushing response'

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 has achieved military goals in southern Lebanon: Source

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