Iran claimed to respond to the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah who died on September 27 in an Israeli strike near Beirut, and that of Ismaïl Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas killed on July 31 in an attack in Tehran attributed to Israel.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is due to lead the weekly prayer at 10:30 a.m. (07:00 GMT) on Friday and deliver a sermon that could set the tone for Iran’s plans.
This rare speech must come three days before the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.
“We can avoid” a “total war” in the Middle East, American President Joe Biden declared Thursday, questioned on the subject at a time when the international community fears a large-scale conflict in the region.
“I don’t think there’s going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it. But there is still a lot to do,” he told the press.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced on the night of Thursday to Friday that 37 people had been killed in 24 hours in Israeli strikes on the country.
“In 24 hours, Israeli enemy strikes” killed “37 people and injured 151,” this source announced in its daily report after more than a week of Israeli offensive against the country.
According to the Palestinian authority, an Israeli strike killed 18 people Thursday in the West Bank. This targeted the Tulkarem refugee camp. The Israeli army claimed to have “eliminated” a local Hamas leader, Zahi abd al-Razaq, alias Zahi Oufi.
This is the deadliest strike in the West Bank since 2000, a source within the Palestinian security services told AFP. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
The leaders of the G7 countries expressed Thursday evening their “deep concern” about “the deterioration of the situation” in the Middle East. In a statement, they condemned “in the strongest terms Iran’s direct military attack against Israel”, which represents “a serious threat to regional stability”.
“A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fueling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no one’s interests,” they added.
On Thursday, new Israeli air strikes targeted Beirut and its southern suburbs in particular, one of which hit Hezbollah’s “intelligence headquarters” near the Lebanese capital, the army announced. According to the IDF, “15 Hezbollah terrorist targets” were struck in Beirut, including “weapons production sites and weapons storage sites”.
A source close to Hezbollah also claimed that a bombing had targeted a warehouse near the airport in the Lebanese capital.
The escalation continues in the Middle East, after the ground offensive launched Monday by Israel in southern Lebanon and the missile attack on the Jewish state launched Tuesday by Iran to avenge the death of the leader of Hezbollah. Tensions, raids, strikes, diplomatic declarations… Follow with us this new day of all the dangers in the region.