Lebanon is reeling from a massacre in Beirut and other areas after Israel launched a wave of air strikes that killed dozens of people on Wednesday, putting an Iran-US truce in jeopardy.
Israel carried out its heaviest strikes yet on neighbouring Lebanon since the Iran-backed group Hezbollah joined the war in early March, killing at least 182 people and wounding 900 in a matter of hours, although this number is expected to rise, with a death toll of 254 widely reported.
There had been conflicting messages about whether Lebanon was included in a truce between the US and Iran, with Israel insisting that it was not.
The Israeli military said it had targeted and killed Ali Yusuf Harshi in Beirut, the nephew and personal secretary of Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem.
“Harshi was a close associate and personal advisor to Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, and played a central role in managing his office and his security,” the military says in a statement.
There has been uncertainty about the fate of Qassem, whom Israel said was targeted in Wednesday’s airstrikes.
An Iranian delegation is also heading to Pakistan for talks with the US, as Lebanon mourns nearly 200 killed in Israeli strikes, raising doubts over a US-Iran ceasefire, particularly with the massacres in Lebanon.
Pakistan has been preparing for talks involving representatives from the US and Iran over the war, with the White House saying Vice President JD Vance would lead negotiations in Islamabad “this weekend”.
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said in a post on X that “despite skepticism due to repeated ceasefire violations by (the) Israeli regime”. He later deleted a tweet saying his delegation was arriving in Islamabad today.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed an Iranian delegation for “serious talks”.
“Iranian delegation arrives tonight in Islamabad for serious talks based on 10 points proposed by Iran,” Moghadam added.
