Israel Kills Al-Qassam Commander Ezzedine Al-Haddad in Gaza Airstrikes as Truce Extends

Israel assassinated the overall commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, Ezzedine al-Haddad, in airstrikes that targeted the al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City on Friday, and Hamas officially mourned him while the Israeli army announced his assassination.

“Trumpist leadership is a guarantee of anything but peace”

El País

The same coverage says the Israeli army launched a series of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, saying they targeted Hezbollah facilities, and warned of evacuating additional villages some of which are dozens of kilometers from the border.

El País

In the northern occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a young man was killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin refugee camp.

The Telegram channel coverage also notes that Israel’s actions came as the fragile truce was extended, despite many doubting its effectiveness.

The broader Gaza and Lebanon picture is framed as continued hostilities alongside the extension of the truce sponsored by Washington.

In Lebanon, the U.S. warned the Lebanese government that delays in disarming Hezbollah could invite an Israeli attack, and the New York Times reported American officials warned Beirut it could lose U.S. and Gulf Arab financial backing.

The same report says the United States, along with its Israeli and Arab partners, warned Beirut to take decisive action to disarm Hezbollah as soon as possible and not fear the threats from this group backed by the Islamic Republic to provoke violence at critical junctures.

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One American official told the New York Times that inaction or half measures by the Lebanese government could push Congress to cut annual aid of about $150 million to the Lebanese army.

The article also says Hezbollah has threatened Lebanon’s sovereignty and that some Lebanese officials described Hezbollah’s threats as a warning of a possible civil war.

It adds that the Lebanese army has been placed on high alert ahead of Friday’s government meeting, where the cabinet is set to review the army’s formal plan for disarming Hezbollah prepared last month.

El País argues that the 60-day truce agreed between the United States and Iran will not be easy, saying hostilities have not ceased in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel and also in the Strait of Hormuz between the United States and Iran.

“New York Times reported that American officials warned the Lebanese government that if it delays disarming Hezbollah, it could lose the United States’ and Gulf Arab states’ financial backing and face the risk of Israel resuming military operations on Lebanese soil”

ایران اینترنشنال

The paper describes the White House–backed pilot program between Israel and Lebanon as not even really a truce, but a mere framework agreement for the Israeli withdrawal and disarmament of Hezbollah in two small zones, with no participation by the Islamist organization nor deadlines for the total withdrawal from the south of the country.

It also says the negotiation will be filled with aggression, threats, ruptures, and a continuation of the war by diplomatic means, and that divergences have emerged over the interpretation of the clause devoted to the Iranian nuclear program.

In its account of the wider conflict, El País says the civilian population and especially the Palestinians are the ones who always suffer, whether violence erupts or there is peace.

The article concludes that Palestinians “do not even deserve a passing mention in the Memorandum of Understanding,” even as the region’s odious constant remains unchanged.