On Friday, Israel expanded its military operations along more than one axis in southern Lebanon, hours after the huge bombing it carried out in the Ali al-Taher Heights. It re-targeted the highland with heavy and concentrated bombing, and continued bombing operations in Mansouri, in conjunction with movements of its forces and bombardment in Mays al-Jabal, Baraashit, and Wadi al-Hujair, while it announced the withdrawal of its forces from Ali al-Tahir to rear lines, while keeping the highlands under what it described as “control by fire and surveillance.”
In the latest developments on the ground, it was reported that a violent and concentrated Israeli bombardment targeted Ali Al-Taher Heights on the outskirts of Nabatieh Al-Fawqa, hours after Israel announced the end of a phase of its military operation in the region.
Israeli Army Radio announced that its forces “withdrew from the Ali al-Tahir Heights in southern Lebanon and are stationed in rear lines in the Beaufort Castle area,” adding: “We will continue to control the Ali al-Tahir Heights from a distance with fire and surveillance.”
In conjunction with the developments in Ali Al-Taher, Israeli bombing operations intensified in the town of Al-Mansouri in the western sector, where the Israeli army carried out three violent bombings, after it had previously carried out a large bombing in the town.
The official school in Al-Mansouri was destroyed. The Israeli forces blew up most of it, and only a small part remained. These bombings come as part of the ongoing operations taking place in Al-Mansouri, coinciding with the targeting of homes and infrastructure in the town.
In another axis, Israeli forces moved in the northern outskirts of the town of Mays al-Jabal, specifically in the Wadi al-Jamal area, in conjunction with artillery shelling and machine-gun sweeping. An Israeli Merkava tank had previously targeted the town of Mays al-Jabal with a shell. Israeli forces also carried out a dawn bombing on the hill of the town of Baraashit, while Israeli artillery bombed Wadi Al-Hujair.
In the town of Hadada, an Israeli aircraft dropped a sound bomb over the town. Israeli air activity extended to Beirut, where Israeli drones flew over the capital’s airspace all the way to the southern suburbs.
It turned out that the new sanctions imposed by the US Treasury to increase Tehran’s “economic isolation” included two brothers of the former Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, in addition to companies and figures close to the “Hezbollah Brigades” that are active in Iraq and a regional country.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that the measures target organizations and individuals who support the “Kata’ib Hezbollah” militia and the Lebanese “Hezbollah.”
The department, headed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, accused Iran-backed groups of fueling “destabilizing influence” in the Middle East and helping Tehran evade sanctions.
Abdul Mohsen Ali Akbar Namdar and Majid Ali Akbar appeared on the new sanctions list. According to Iraqi sources, they are brothers of Al-Mandalawi, the current leader of the “Coordinating Framework” coalition, and the former deputy speaker of Parliament.
The US Treasury says that the individuals on the latest sanctions list are part of a “regional network of Iranian-backed militias.”
The latest measures come after Washington imposed sanctions on several major Iranian airlines. A total of 27 Iranian airlines were recently added to the US sanctions list, including Kish Airlines, Iran Air Tour, and ATA Airlines.
Israeli forces intensified assassination operations targeting leaders and activists in the “Al-Qassam Brigades,” the armed wing of the “Hamas” movement, especially activists in the Khan Yunis Brigade.
On Friday morning, an Israeli drone killed Jihad Ismail, a prominent field activist in the Khan Yunis Brigade, affiliated with the Al-Qassam Brigades. Meanwhile, it was announced that Muhammad Shamali, an activist from the Al-Shuja’iya Brigade in the Phalange, died as a result of the critical wounds he sustained as a result of a raid that targeted him yesterday in Gaza City.
These developments came after the Israeli army assassinated, shortly before midnight on Thursday-Friday, Muhammad al-Yazouri, known as “Abu al-Haytham,” commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade in the “Al-Qassam Brigades,” after a drone targeted him with two missiles while he was walking on foot in the Al-Mawasi area.
According to two sources, Al-Yazouri took charge of the Khan Yunis Brigade in the “Al-Qassam Brigades” shortly after the assassination of the brigades’ leaders, Izz al-Din al-Haddad and Muhammad Odeh. Al-Yazouri also worked for several years in other positions under the leadership of the “Al-Qassam Brigades,” including leadership of the intelligence service.
Accompanied by Al-Yazuri, in the raid that targeted him last night, Hudhayfah Abu Muammar, one of the engineers in the Al-Qassam Brigades, who was responsible for developing the brigades’ military capabilities, was killed. Meanwhile, Moamen Abu Libda was killed in another raid at the same time, after a vehicle was bombed in Hamad Town, north of Khan Yunis.
