Hezbollah's Drone Unit Chief Killed As Israel Relentlessly Strikes Lebanon | Key Updates

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday rejected a U.S.-backed proposal for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon, vowing that military strikes on Hezbollah would continue indefinitely.

Netanyahu, who was in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly, said that airstrikes would persist until Israel's goals were fully achieved.

Photo Credit: PTI

Netanyahu's statement came after an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed Mohammad Hussein Srour, the head of Hezbollah's drone unit.

Hezbollah confirmed Srour's death, stating he was born in 1973.

Here are 10 key updates on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict:

1. Netanyahu said, "Our policy is clear. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force. And we will not stop until we reach all our goals, chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes."

2. Shortly before his statement, the Israeli military announced it had killed Hezbollah drone commander Mohammad Hussein Srour in an airstrike on Beirut's outskirts.

3. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated on X, "There will be no cease-fire," while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that the military aims to keep "throwing Hezbollah off balance and deepening their loss."

4. These statements by Netanyahu and Katz appeared to block ceasefire efforts led by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to Bloomberg.

5. Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib claimed that half a million people had been displaced due to the Israeli bombardment. Lebanon's health ministry reported that Israeli strikes had killed 92 people and injured 153 within the past 24 hours.

6. Since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began in October of last year, over 1,500 people have been killed. The death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon since Monday has exceeded 700.

7. U.S., European, and Arab leaders, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have all called for a pause in the fighting, especially after Israel hinted at a potential ground invasion of Lebanon, which could escalate into a wider regional conflict involving the U.S. and Iran.

8. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking in London, cautioned that "another full-scale war could be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon." He stressed that "a diplomatic solution, not a military solution, is the only way to ensure that displaced civilians on both sides of the border can finally go back home."

9. French President Macron warned of Lebanon "becoming a new Gaza," referring to the "absolutely shocking" civilian death toll.

10. Hopes for a quick resolution were dashed after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose government includes Hezbollah members, expressed optimism for a ceasefire.

(With agency inputs)