Israeli Strikes On West Bank Target Nasrallah’s Successor In Beirut ,kill at least 18

At least 18 people were killed in a West Bank refugee camp following an airstrike that the Israeli military claimed eliminated a local Hamas leader.

A source within the Palestinian Security Services told the AFP news agency that the attack on Tulkarm refugee camp was the deadliest on the West Bank in 24 years, dating back to year 2000.

“Eighteen martyrs following the bombing of the Tulkarm camp by the occupation,” the Palestinian Health Ministry said on its Telegram account.

An activist in the area told AFP that the Israeli strike “hit a cafeteria in a four-storey building”, adding that there were “many victims in the hospital”.

Confirming the strike on the Tulkarm area in the northern West Bank, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) described it as a joint operation carried out by the Shin Bet internal security service and the Air Force.

According to a brief statement by the Israeli Military, the strike had killed another Hamas leader, Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, saying among the dead were other “operatives” who were also active in Hamas.

The Army accused Oufi of participating in numerous attacks in the West Bank and said he was in the process of planning another assault.

Meanwhile, Hamas has condemned the airstrike, calling it a “cruel attack” that would prove to be a “dangerous escalation”.

The Palestinian Movement Fatah, a Hamas rival based in the occupied West Bank, called for demonstrations on Friday to honour the “heroic martyrs” of Tulkarm.

Tulkarm was one of the towns and Palestinian refugee camps targeted during a large-scale Israeli military operation in late August against militants based in the West Bank.

Beirut Strikes Target Safieddine
Israeli media reports are quoting officials as saying that the latest strikes in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, have as the main target Hashem Safieddine, who is the presumed successor to assassinated Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah

According to the reports, Safieddine was the target of Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Beirut, midnight on Friday.

Axios’s Barak Ravid, citing Israeli sources, said that Safiedinne was the target of Friday night’s attack. Hezbollah had not commented on the claims.

Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, was said by analysts to be the most likely candidate to replace the late Secretary General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israeli aistrikes in Dahiyeh last week.

Friday’s strikes sounded similar to the explosions that killed Nasrallah, with a series of loud explosions following one another rocking Beirut.

Large, red smoke plumes were pictured emanating from the site of the airstrikes.

Israel reportedly used dozens of 2000-lb bunker buster bombs in its strike last week, leaving craters dozens of meters deep.