Israel-Hamas war: Israeli Air Force targets Hezbollah military infrastructure in fresh airstrikes in Lebanon

Israel Air Force fighter jets attacked a number of military targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. During the attack, terrorist infrastructure was destroyed, including a military compound and an observation post of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.

"Hamas is putting them (civilians) in the front. When we told the civilians to evacuate from northern Gaza... Hamas were threatening them and blocking roads, we have evidence for that... it is a tragedy. Everyone wants to help them (civilians) but it is not easy, we share the same idea, and that's why we are letting supplies go in...," said Naor Gilon, Israel's Ambassador to India.

Air India has extended the suspension of its scheduled flights to Tel Aviv till November 2 amid the continuing tensions between Israel and militant group Hamas.

The latest conflict has been triggered by the unprecedented attacks against Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza on October 7. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks.

An Air India official on Wednesday said the scheduled flights to Tel Aviv have been suspended till November 2.

The airline has not operated a scheduled flight to and from Tel Aviv since October 7.

Normally, the full-service carrier operates five weekly flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital. The service is on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

During this month, the airline operated a few chartered flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital under the government's Operation Ajay to bring back Indians who wished to come back from Israel against the backdrop of the escalating conflict.

Israeli officials were outraged over UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' comment that the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel “did not happen in a vacuum,” calling it justification for terrorism.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen cancelled a scheduled meeting with Guterres while Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, said the UN chief “failed the test”.

“I will not meet with the UN secretary-general. After the October 7 massacre, there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased off the face of the planet!” Cohen posted Tuesday on social platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Prime Minister Modi was among the first leaders in the world to come out with a clear statement... I think that that set a very strong tone of clear condemnation of terrorism. It's important to us because India is a very close ally. India is also a very important moral voice in the world and when it comes to terror, India is also coming from the point of view of someone who knows what they're talking about being victims for so many years of terrorism...," said Naor Gilon, Israel's Ambassador to India.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Wednesday that without immediate deliveries of fuel it will soon have to sharply cut back relief operations across the Gaza Strip, which has been blockaded and hit by devastating Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.
The warning came as hospitals in Gaza struggled to treat masses of wounded with dwindling resources, and health officials in the Hamas-ruled territory said the death toll was soaring as Israeli jets continued striking the territory overnight into Wednesday.

The UN agency for Palestinian Refugees warned Wednesday that without immediate deliveries of fuel, it will soon have to sharply cut back relief operations across the Gaza Strip, which has been blockaded and hit by devastating Israeli airstrikes since Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday lambasted Israel for its "aggression" against Hamas in Gaza and called, "Tel Aviv is 'acting like a terrorist organisation' and 'committing crimes against humanity'". According to Erdogan, Hamas 'is not a terror group', and called it a 'patriotic organisation that defends its territory and people'

Read full story here

Syrian state media said that an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday struck the international airport in the northern city of Aleppo, damaging its runway and putting it out of service amid the Israel-Hamas war.
The attack would be the fourth time that Israel has targeted the airport in the war-torn country’s second-largest city since the onset of the war on Oct. 7.

Israeli fighter jets continued to pound the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Wednesday, targeting Hamas command centers and other assets and killing a senior commander in the Palestinian terror group, while the Israel Defense Forces panned Iran for allegedly taking an active part in preparing Hamas for the current war, Times of Israel reported.

In a major development, the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group held talks on Wednesday with senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad figures in a key meeting of three top anti-Israel militant groups amid the raging war in Gaza. 

Read full story here

Israeli officials railed at UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after he appeared to suggest the impetus for the Hamas terror group’s devastating October 7 attack on Israel was the Jewish state’s continued control of Palestinian territories, with the Israeli Ambassador to the UN demanding that he resign, reported Times of Israel.

A number of Hamas terrorists attempted to infiltrate into Israel from the Gaza Strip via the sea on Tuesday evening and were killed by Israeli Navy forces, the military said, Times of Israel reported, The IDF did not specify how many Hamas divers attempted to infiltrate into Israel. Hebrew-language media reports put the number at between five and eight.

Senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Tuesday that the civilians Hamas captured on October 7 would be freed if Israel stopped attacking targets associated with the terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem Post reported citing Sky News.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah hosted Hamas terror commander Saleh al-Arouri and Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a meeting that pro-Iran media praised on Wednesday, Jerusalem Post reported.

The IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated Taysir Mubasher, the commander of Hamas' North Sector Battalion in Khan Younis, who over the years led a number of deadly attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens, the army said on Wednesday, Jerusalem Post reported.

A top Hamas official says the killings that people are being subjected to in Gaza are unprecedented.
Ghazi Hamad told reporters in Beirut that Israel is carrying out “brutal and savage acts against people,” adding that in addition to the more than 5,700 people killed, over 17,000 have been wounded.
“The death toll is changing every second,” Hamad said. “The counter is rising amid killings, destruction and revenge.”

 Israel is vowing again to destroy Hamas, rejecting calls for a cease-fire from the U.N. chief, the Palestinians and many countries at a high-level U.N. meeting and saying the war in Gaza is not merely its own but “the war of the free world.” Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen also dismissed calls for “proportionality” in the country’s response to Hamas’ surprise attacks Oct. 7 that killed 1,400 people. More than 5,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to its Health Ministry

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday that Canada’s government does not believe Hamas would respect a cease-fire in its conflict with Israel. “I have no expectation that a terrorist organization would respect international law or any call for a cease-fire,” Blair said before heading into a Cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said afterward that Canada supports the idea of “humanitarian pauses,” temporary halts to fighting, allowing for aid to get into Gaza safely and people to leave.

Australia said it sent an additional two air force transport jets to the Middle East in case citizens of the country need to be evacuated should hostilities escalate. Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said Wednesday that three aircraft were now in the region.

Israeli airstrikes hit a number of military sites in southern Syria on Wednesday, killing eight soldiers and wounding seven others, according to Syrian state media. The strikes targeted the Daraa countryside overnight and came from the direction of Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the SANA state-run news agency said, citing military officials.

Israel has ramped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, reducing residential buildings to rubble and crushing families. Airstrikes have killed dozens at a time in leveled homes, according to witnesses.
The surging death toll foretells even greater loss of life ahead in Gaza, where Israeli forces are expected to launch a ground invasion seeking to destory Hamas. Fuel shortages and the bombardment forced the shutdown of medical facilities, Gaza officials said.