Israeli army kills top Hezbollah commander

The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had also killed a top Hezbollah commander, a day after marking the first anniversary of a Hamas attack on the Jewish state that killed more than 1,200 people.

Suhail Husseini, who was responsible for budget, logistics and management of the Iran-backed group, was killed in an attack carried out on October 7, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing but not its political party.

"Husseini played a key role in the transfer of weapons between Iran and Hezbollah," the communiqué states.

He was also responsible for the distribution of advanced weapons to the group's members and for the group's "most ambitious projects", which included operations against Israel.

Husseini was also a member of Hezbollah's Jihad Council, the group's highest military body, the IDF said.

Hezbollah has not confirmed his death so far.

The announcement of his killing comes a day after Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on October 7, with Israeli President Isaac Herzog leading a national minute of silence to mark the start of last year's Hamas attack, which began on the Kibbutz Reim in the south of the country.

Hamas has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

In Washington, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris condemned Hamas on the anniversary of the attack, while reiterating the US administration's commitment to reaching ceasefire agreements to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Jerusalem, relatives of the 100 or so hostages still held by Hamas, many of whom are believed to be dead, gathered outside the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and stood in silence to protest what relatives call it a failure of the Government to release their loved ones.

After the Oct. 7 attack, Israel launched a war on Gaza that has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The Israeli military said on October 7 that over the past year it has bombed more than 40,000 targets in Gaza, discovered 4,700 tunnels and destroyed 1,000 rocket launcher sites.

The conflict in Gaza is still ongoing, while Israel is now fighting a second front in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.

In recent weeks, Israel has bombed the southern districts of Beirut and is carrying out ground incursions into south and southwest Lebanon in an effort to destroy Hezbollah.

Israel has killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and probably also his possible successor, Hashem Safieddine./ REL