Hezbollah Vows Retaliation After Commander's Death

Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said that the group vows to increase the intensity, force and quantity of its operations against Israel after the killing of Taleb Abdallah, a senior commander

Safieddine made his comments at Abdallah's funeral procession.

The Israeli strike in the south Lebanon village of Jouaiyya later killed three Hezbollah fighters alongside the senior field commander Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, Israel and three security sources in Lebanon said.

He was the most senior Hezbollah commander killed during eight months of hostilities, one of the sources said.

The Israeli military confirmed that it had killed him as well as the three other Hezbollah fighters in a strike on a command and control center.

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire since the eruption of the Gaza war in October, in steadily intensifying hostilities that have fuelled concern of a bigger confrontation between the heavily armed adversaries.

A report published by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry found that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war.

The Commission of Inquiry investigated attacks carried out on October 7 and Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip up to December 31, according to an introduction to the report.

The inquiry found that Israel's actions constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses and that both sides committed war crimes including torture; murder or wilful killing; outrages upon personal dignity; and inhuman or cruel treatment. Israel did not respond to several requests for access to its territory and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, according to the report.

Israel's diplomatic mission to the U.N. in Geneva rejected the findings. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.