Hamas official is killed in an Israeli strike on a refugee camp

An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in northern Lebanon killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group said on Saturday.

The early morning strike came a day after another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria -leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.

Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon on Tuesday, saying they were carrying out “targeted ground raids” in villages close to the Israeli border with the goal of targeting the Hezbollah militant group.

Nine Israeli soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.

Meanwhile, The Netherlands has become the latest European country to repatriate their citizens from Lebanon as the conflict escalates.

185 people arrived at Eindhoven Air Base from Lebanon on Friday evening, including more than a hundred Dutch citizens and their family members.

A Belgian, an Irish and a Finnish national were also on board.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs received around 500 registrations for two repatriations flights, with another expected on Saturday

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanese border almost daily since Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage.

Israel declared war on Hamas following the attack, with more than 41,000 Palestinians reportedly killed in Gaza Strip in the Israeli response. Just over half the dead were women and children, according to local health officials.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since that conflict began. Most of them have died since September 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.