Lebanon security source says one dead in strike on Hezbollah van

The wreckage of a vehicle lies on the Araya-Kahhale road on October 30, 2024, at the site of an Israeli strike. (AFP)
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Updated 30 October 2024
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Lebanon security source says one dead in strike on Hezbollah van

  • “A van belonging to Hezbollah was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Kahhale road and its driver killed,” the official said

BEIRUT: A Lebanese security official told AFP that an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah van carrying munitions near Beirut killed the driver on Wednesday.
“A van belonging to Hezbollah was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Kahhale road and its driver killed,” the official said, adding that the vehicle was carrying munitions.
The official requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
An AFP correspondent saw a vehicle on fire and said the Kahhale road, which links Beirut to Damascus, had been blocked in both directions.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) earlier reported an “enemy drone strike” on a vehicle.
An Israeli strike on a four-wheel-drive vehicle in nearby Qmatiyeh, a village in the Aley district, killed another two people, said the security official, who did not identify the casualties.
Last week, the NNA said an Israeli strike targeting a car on the same highway killed two people.
In August 2023, two people were killed in clashes between Hezbollah members and residents of the Christian town of Kahhale, after a truck carrying munitions for the group overturned on the highway.
The war has killed at least 1,754 people in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, though the real number is likely to be higher due to gaps in the data.


US military operations ‘ahead of schedule,’ Iranian leaders want to talk: Trump

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US military operations ‘ahead of schedule,’ Iranian leaders want to talk: Trump

  • Trump also said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments
  • Iranian ‌President Masoud Pezeshkian said a ​leadership council had temporarily assumed duties

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on ​Sunday that Iran’s new leadership wants to talk to him and that he has agreed, according to an interview with the Atlantic magazine. 

“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to ‌them. They ‌should have done ​it ‌sooner. ⁠They should have ​given what ⁠was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long,” Trump said in the interview from his Florida residence. Trump did not specify who he would be speaking with or say whether ⁠it would occur on Sunday ‌or Monday.

Iranian ‌President Masoud Pezeshkian said a ​leadership council composed of ‌himself, the judiciary head and a ‌member of the powerful Guardians Council had temporarily assumed the duties of supreme leader following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Trump said some ‌of the people who were involved in recent talks with the ⁠US are ⁠no longer alive.

“Most of those people are gone. Some of the people we were dealing with are gone, because that was a big — that was a big hit,” he was quoted as saying in the interview with Atlantic staff writer Michael Scherer. “They should have done it sooner, Michael. They could have ​made a ​deal. They should’ve done it sooner. They played too cute.”

Offensive moving ‘ahead of schedule’

Trump also said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments of the country and that the offensive is “very positive.”

“Nobody can believe the success we’re having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it’s moving along rapidly,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview by Fox News.

Trump claimed overall success in the war, which was launched Saturday with the goal of removing Iran’s leadership and destroying its military. Iran has confirmed the death of its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

“We’re doing our job not just for us but for the world. And everything is ahead of schedule,” Trump was quoted as saying in a separate interview with CNBC.

“Things are evolving in a very positive way right now, a very positive way,” he said.

The interviews were conducted before the US military for the first time announced casualties in the war: three unidentified service members killed, five seriously wounded and several others more lightly injured.

Central Command (CENTCOM) also announced that the US had sunk an Iranian warship at a dock in the Gulf of Oman.