Israel’s ground offensive aimed at pushing Hezbollah from its southern border has resulted in heavy casualties and an expansion of airstrikes. The strikes, which Israel claims target Hezbollah, have also included medical workers and journalists.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in southern Lebanon, bringing the total number of Israeli military fatalities since the ground invasion began on September 30 to 29. An Israeli army statement confirmed the deaths, including a major and a captain, and reported that four soldiers were seriously wounded.

Israeli media indicated that the building where the soldiers were stationed was hit by a rocket, wounding an additional 15 soldiers—seven moderately and eight lightly—raising the total number of injured to 19.

Health workers targeted

Lebanese Health Minister Firas al-Abyad announced that eight first aid workers were killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, and access to their bodies was blocked by Israeli forces. Abyad called on the international community to intervene, citing 55 attacks on hospitals in Lebanon, of which 36 directly targeted healthcare facilities, leading to the closure of eight hospitals.

Airstrikes on Beirut

Alongside the ground offensive, Israel has continued airstrikes on Beirut, carrying out 12 strikes in the city’s southern neighborhoods. The official Lebanese news agency (NNA) reported that the Amirkan and Hureyk neighborhoods were hit, with additional strikes in Burj al-Barajneh and Hades following evacuation warnings issued by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee on social media.

Journalists among the targets

Local media reported that several airstrikes were conducted without prior warning, including one on a hotel in the town of Hasbiya, south of Beirut, where journalists were staying. Three journalists were killed in the attack, though no further details were provided.

Limited border access between Lebanon and Syria

Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamiyya announced that the second border crossing with Syria was rendered inoperable due to Israeli airstrikes on the town of Jusiyye. As a result, only one crossing between Lebanon and Syria remains open.

NNA reported that Israeli warplanes targeted both the Al-Qaa crossing on the Lebanese side and Jusiyye on the Syrian side. Earlier, on October 14, an Israeli strike had closed the al-Masna crossing, the main border point between the two countries.

The intensified attacks have led hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Lebanese to cross into Syria to escape the violence in Lebanon.

Following the assassination of political and military leader Yahya Sinwar, the question of who will assume the leadership of Hamas is now under close examination.

According to a report in The National, Hamas will not elect a new leader until 2025. Sources indicate that the six-member Shura Council assumed control of Hamas shortly after Sinwar’s assassination.

The Shura Council represents Hamas members in Gaza, the West Bank, Israeli prisons, and the Palestinian diaspora. The Council, which serves as the supreme decision-making body, will choose a new leader in 2025.

Hamas has been operating under a collective leadership structure, a model that was used in Gaza in the 1990s when Ahmed Yassin served as the group’s spiritual leader.

Sources speaking to The National identified key figures in this collective leadership, including Khaled Meshaal, who led Hamas until 2017, Khalil al-Hayya, and Zahir Jabbarin, the group’s intelligence and finance chief. All three are based in Qatar, though Jabbarin also spends time in Turkey.

The collective leadership also includes Yahya Sinwar’s younger brother, Mohammed Sinwar, and Rawhi Mushtaha, whom Israel claims to have killed, though sources suggest he is still alive. Both men are veterans of Hamas’s military wing and are currently “operational field commanders.” The sixth member is Shura Council Chairman Mohammed Darwish, who is based in Turkey.

While Hamas is not expected to choose a new leader until the elections in early 2025, sources confirm that Khalil al-Hayya has emerged as the most likely successor to Sinwar.

Al-Hayya, 63, is known for his close ties with both Iran and Egypt. He was Hamas’ chief representative in Gaza ceasefire negotiations and has been a key figure in the organization since its founding. In the early 1990s, he was imprisoned by Israel for three years and survived several assassination attempts, during which around 30 members of his family, including two of his sons, were killed.

In the wake of Sinwar’s death, al-Hayya stated that Hamas will continue to work towards the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. However, his ascension to leadership is not guaranteed; some sources believe Khaled Meshaal also has a chance to take over.

Experts suggest that, unlike when Sinwar merged the political and military leadership after replacing political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran, such a merger is unlikely this time. It is expected that Hamas will once again separate its political and military leadership roles.

Fifteen UN peacekeepers have been treated for injuries after Israel allegedly used white phosphorus near a UN base in southern Lebanon, according to a confidential United Nations (UN) report.

Israel, which has previously used white phosphorus in southern Lebanon, is suspected of carrying out similar attacks on UN bases in the same area. UN reports state that 15 peacekeepers were hospitalized following the attack earlier this month.

The report, obtained by The National, indicates that the bases—part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—were deliberately targeted by Israeli forces. It details how light towers and watchtowers were fired upon, resulting in injuries to peacekeepers.

White phosphorus is a toxic chemical that can cause severe respiratory damage and organ failure if inhaled, and serious burns upon contact with skin. As a highly flammable substance, it can reignite weeks later when exposed to oxygen, causing fires and destruction to civilian infrastructure and agricultural land.

On October 13, UNIFIL reported that two Israeli tanks entered a UN base, creating a security crisis. Approximately 45 minutes after the tanks withdrew, peacekeepers heard an explosion and saw thick smoke billowing from the northern part of the base.

Despite wearing protective masks, 15 peacekeepers affected by the smoke experienced skin irritation and gastrointestinal distress, according to the report. It noted that “suspected white phosphorus” was the cause of the smoke.

White phosphorus is not banned under international law, and the U.S. maintains that its military use is legitimate. However, human rights organizations argue that its intentional use against civilians could constitute a war crime.

Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder declined to comment on the report but noted that white phosphorus can be used “as a signalling capability or to focus on targets,” adding that it has “legitimate uses in combat operations.”

The alleged Israeli use of white phosphorus at UNIFIL bases dates back to November 2002, and was reported to the UN Security Council in March.

Photographs in the report show tanks breaching the gates of the UN base, damaging its walls, with white smoke filling the air. Images also depict wounded Indonesian peacekeepers. The 10-page report concluded that the Israeli army had “deliberately” attacked UNIFIL bases.

On October 10, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli Merkava tank fired on an observation tower at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura. On the same day, Israeli forces opened fire on the UN base in Labbouneh, striking the entrance to a bunker housing Italian peacekeepers and damaging vehicles and the communications system.

The following day, two more UN peacekeepers were wounded in an Israeli attack near their watchtower in southern Lebanon.