Israel-Hamas War Day 364: What's going on in Lebanon, Gaza?

An Israeli strike on Friday morning hit near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria, cutting off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters.

The Israel Air Force (IAF) conducted a strike in Tulkarm as part of a joint IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) operational against Hamas activity in the West Bank, they announced late Thursday.

The strike targeted Hamas commander Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, who led the Hamas network in Tulkarm, the IDF updated.

Earlier reports said the strike targeted the commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Tulkarm Battalion, Ayyth Radwan. However, he is still being reported as killed in the strike by Israeli media and the IDF confirmed other terrorists had been killed.

The IAF conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike in the area of Beirut earlier this week, eliminating the terrorist Mahmoud Yusef Anisi, a senior terrorist involved in Hezbollah's weapons manufacturing chain.  the military announced on Thursday night.

Anisi was one of the leaders of the Hezbollah PGM campaign in Lebanon and was a significant source of knowledge with many technological abilities in the field of weapons manufacturing. 

Anisi joined Hezbollah more than 15 years ago and was an expert in Mechanical Engineering, dedicating his knowledge to strengthening the advancement of strategic weaponry within Hezbollah.

Israel allegedly tried to eliminate former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah's successor, Hashem Safieddine, in the Dahieh suburb in Beirut, Israeli media reported early on Friday, citing Lebanese reports. These reports could not be verified. 

The strikes targeted a meeting of senior Hezbollah leaders, including Safieddine, three Israeli officials told The New York Times.

Safieddine, as head of Hezbollah's executive council, oversees the group's political affairs. He also sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group's military operations, Reuters reported. Safieddine is a cousin of Nasrallah and was designated as a terrorist by the US State Department in 2017. 

The Biden administration believes it is appropriate for Israel to continue with its ground and air attacks on Hezbollah for now, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday, even as he acknowledged the risk of the operation in Lebanon expanding beyond Israel's current aims.

Israel sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the United States.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Miller said the nature of all conflicts was "fluid" and "unpredictable," and therefore, it was impossible to say how long it would take Israel to achieve its stated goal of clearing Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, allowing it to return Israelis displaced from their homes across the border by months of rocket fire.

Combat teams from the Golani Brigade, under the command of Division 36, engaged in the ongoing ground operations in southern Lebanon over the past day, the military said on Thursday.

The IDF stated that these soldiers destroyed weapons and terrorist infrastructure and eliminated terrorists both in combat and with assistance from the Israel Air Force (IAF). 

In one such joint operation that involved the Golani Brigade and the IAF, the soldiers targeted a military structure housing Hezbollah commanders, including the local commander, the engineering forces commander, and the commander charged with firing rockets. As a result, the Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated, the IDF said.

The United Nations Security Council on Thursday expressed its full support for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres after Israel's foreign minister said he was barring him from entering the country.

The 15-member council said in a statement that “any decision not to engage with the UN Secretary-General or the United Nations is counterproductive, especially in the context of escalating tensions in the Middle East.”

The statement did not name Israel. Such statements by the council are agreed by consensus.

Democratic US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he would not negotiate in public when asked if he had urged Israel not to attack Iran's oil facilities.

"I know not to negotiate in public," Biden told reporters.

The chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to speed up weapons shipments to Israel, including 2000-pound (907 kg) bombs that have been held up for months over human rights concerns.

"I urge you to act today to ensure all weapons shipments to Israel, including 2,000-pound bombs, are expedited to support our ally," Representative Michael McCaul said in a letter sent to Biden and seen by Reuters on Thursday.

McCaul, who reviews all major foreign US weapons sales in his position as committee chairman, said he was also aware of more than 10 other planned weapons sales to Israel that have been awaiting final approval for more than four months and urged that they proceed quickly.