The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched several airstrikes targeting different fronts on Friday, August 23. At least 7 people were killed across southern Lebanon, and 18 people were killed in different parts of the Gaza Strip, while 7 civilians were injured in Syria.
In one of the attacks, three fighters of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tyre Harfa neighborhood. Hezbollah identified the fighters as Qassem Saleh Harqous (20 years old), Hassan Wissam Harqous (19 years old) and Aqeel Qassem Gharib (34 years old) among those killed.
Later during the day, Israeli drone strikes targeted a house and a car in the village of Aita Al-Jabal in the Nabatiyeh district killing two people. One of them was a seven-year-old child, while the other was identified as Hezbollah senior commander Mohammad Mahmoud Najm, also known as Karrar. Two other Hezbollah fighters were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes on the towns of Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal. Hezbollah mourned its fighters saying they were killed “on the road to Al-Quds (Jerusalem)”, as they were fighting within Gaza’s Lebanese support front.
In Gaza, Friday marked another yet another day of deadly attacks against Palestinians as Israeli warplanes struck different areas in central and southern Gaza, leaving at least 18 people killed according to media reports. On Friday night, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that 7 civilians were injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the city of Homs in central Syria.
Internal tensions boil within Israel
As Israel’s multi-front war has been raging, top Israeli officials have been sparring and trading recriminations on their responsibility for pushing Israel to the brink. Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant slammed National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Friday, for his role in causing “indescribable damage” to Israel by inciting settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and elsewhere.
Gallant’s scathing criticism of Ben Gvir echoed a letter, which Ronen Bar, the head of the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to Gallant on Thursday, August 22.
The letter warned of the consequences of the increasingly overt violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In his letter, Bar pointed out that Ben Gvir’s incursions into Al-Aqsa mosque compound could “lead to bloodshed.” On the other hand, Ben Gvir responded to Gallant’s criticism via X saying: “Instead of attacking me on Twitter, start attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Israel seems to have been passing through its worst moments ever after October 7 attacks. The credibility of the IOF, Israeli government officials as well as media outlets have been questioned during the last eleven months. Former Israeli captive Noa Argamani, who was released from Gaza in June 2024, accused Israeli media outlets of taking her statements out of context through her Instagram page on Friday, August 23. She refuted claims that she was beaten or had her hair cut by members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas. Argamani also asserted that the injuries that she sustained while in captivity were due to an airstrike launched by Israeli warplanes.
“I cannot stay silent about what the Israeli media has done to me over the past 24 hours, taking my words out of context,” Argamani stated. “They did not hit me while I was in captivity, nor did they cut my hair.” Argamani said, referring to members of Al-Qassam Brigades. “I was injured by the collapse of a wall caused by an Israeli airstrike,” she clarified.
