The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they happen.
Harris to announce running mate in time for Philly rally next week
US Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to hold a rally with her yet-to-be-named vice presidential choice in Philadelphia on Tuesday next week, according to two sources familiar with the planning.
The move indicates that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is a frontrunner to be Harris’ running mate, the sources say. The campaign said earlier on Tuesday that she had not made a pick.
If Shapiro gets the nod, he will become just the second Jewish person to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket in US history, after Joe Liberman ran alongside Al Gore in 2000. Another oft-mentioned contender, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, has a Jewish spouse.
Harris is expected to announce her pick in time for Democratic delegates to ratify her decision in a virtual nominating vote that could conclude by August 7.
US says it struck Iraqi base, claims self defense
The United States carried out a strike in Iraq in self-defense, a US official tells Reuters, after blasts inside a base south of Baghdad used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces killed four members of the official state security agency, which contains several Iran-aligned armed groups, and wounded four others.
The official, who speaks on the condition of anonymity, says the strike was carried out because of a threat to US-led coalition forces.
Blasts at Iraq PMF Security Agency Base South of Baghdad Kill 3 Members, Sources Say https://t.co/mIQLueshIp#Iraq #USA #PENTAGON #Militias pic.twitter.com/mUQ7NCTuOo
— Ahmed Rasheed (@Ahmed_Rasheed_R) July 30, 2024
The attack came days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias dubbed “the Islamic Resistance” resumed rocket attacks on US military bases in the country and in eastern Syria.
Multiple rockets were launched at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase housing US-led forces late on Thursday, US and Iraqi sources said, with no damage or casualties reported.
In a statement, the PMF says rockets fired by drones targeted two patrols for force in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, just south of Baghdad.
Gallant: Beirut hit shows Israeli blood is not cheap
Tweeting in English, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says Tuesday night’s strike that killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr is evidence that Israel will avenge attacks on its people.
“Fuad Shukr ‘Sayyid’ Muhsan has the blood of many Israelis on his hands,” Gallant writes. “Tonight, we have shown that the blood of our people has a price, and that there is no place out of reach for our forces to this end.”
Earlier, Gallant tweeted “Hezbollah crossed the red line,” also in English.
Online, the IDF launches a blitz, in English and Hebrew, to spread the word about the deeds of Shukr, about whom the public knows relatively little.
Fuad Shukr: the man who killed 12 children in a soccer field on Saturday and is responsible of 30 years of Hezbollah terrorist attacks. pic.twitter.com/RuHO0W2py6
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 30, 2024
A source close to Hezbollah tells AFP that Shukr “commands military operations in southern Lebanon.”
The source, who requests anonymity, says Shukr was the successor of Hezbollah’s top commander Imad Mughniyeh, killed in a 2008 car bombing in Damascus that the Iran-backed group blamed on Israel, but which Jerusalem never claimed.
Beirut strike unmentioned as Hezbollah puts out statement recounting attacks on Israel
Hezbollah releases a statement tallying its various claimed operations against Israel over the day, but does not mention the strike that Israel says killed the top commander behind those attacks. The group has yet to comment on the apparent assassination of Fuad Shukr, a right-hand man to Hassan Nasrallah.
The terror group puts out a statement shortly after midnight on a daily basis recounting its attacks on Israel throughout the day. Tuesday is no different, with the group announcing 11 different actions throughout the day, from a claimed attempt to shoot down an Israeli fighter plane to what it says were dozens of Katyusha rockets fired at an Israeli missile defense facility.
Perhaps tellingly, the final attack for which a time is given is at 6:35 p.m., about an hour before Israel struck Beirut and killed Shukr.
After Beirut strike, US says Israel has right to defend itself
The White House doubles down on its support for Israel following a strike on senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.
“Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Lebanese Hezbollah,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson says in a statement, echoing earlier remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris.
Watson says that the terror group’s rocket attack that killed 12 children on Saturday in Majdal Shams was “horrific.”
“Israel has a right to defend itself against the severe threats it faces,” Watson says.
“At the same time, the United States is continuing to work on a diplomatic solution to end these terrible attacks and allow citizens on both sides to safely return to their homes,” she adds.
Israel gave US heads-up before Beirut strike, sources say
Israel gave the US advance notice before Tuesday night’s strike against senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr near Beirut, an Israeli and a US official tell The Times of Israel.
The US had led an international push aimed at making curbing Israel’s response and making sure it did not go so far as to tip the region toward war.
Second reservist to be dropped from detainee abuse case, IDF says
After earlier dropping accusations against one soldier, military prosecutors say they will not seek to extend the remand of a second of the nine reservists held over a case of suspected sexual abuse of a Palestinian detainee.
Earlier this evening amid a hearing at a military court at the Beit Lid base, one of the nine suspects was freed after new information was brought into the investigation and prosecutors dropped their demand to extend his arrest.
According to the military prosecution, neither of the released reservists are main suspects in the high-profile abuse case.
The hearing regarding the other soldiers is still ongoing.
Lebanon raises toll in Beirut strike to 3 dead, 74 wounded
Lebanon’s health ministry now says three people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that also left scores injured, updating an earlier toll.
The “non-final toll of the Israeli aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut… is three martyrs, including a woman, a girl and a boy,” the ministry says, adding that 74 people had been wounded, “while the search for missing persons under the rubble continues.”
According to Israel, the strike targeted and killed Fuad Shukr, the top military commander for the Hezbollah terror group. The IDF says Shukr masterminded months of cross-border attacks that killed over 3 dozen people in Israel, including Saturday’s strike in Majdal Shams that left 12 youths dead.
IDF says no order for civilians to shelter after strike on Hezbollah commander
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference says there is no change to instructions for civilians following the assassination of Hezbollah’s most senior military commander in Beirut earlier today.
“We have very good air defense systems, but the defense is not hermetic,” Hagari says, adding that the public should be vigilant and follow the Home Front Command guidelines.
He says the IDF is holding assessments on the home front, and will update if there are any changes.
“We are not looking to go to war, but we are well prepared for it,” Hagari says. “Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon and the entire Middle East into an escalation.”