Middle East Conflict: Syria Airstrike Reportedly Kills IRGC Advisor, 1 WHO Employee

KEY POINTS

• Trump says Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre was very sad but Israel has to "finish up" the war
• Truce talks seem to stall amid contradicting reports regarding Israeli delegation in Doha
• White House reiterates abstention does not represent shift in US policy

Live Updates

US soldiers in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle (BFV) patrol the countryside of al-Malikiya town (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province July 17, 2023. (Credit: AFP)

The war in Gaza has entered its 172^nd day – Iranian and Arab media reported Tuesday that a military advisor of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in a Monday night airstrike in Syria that the U.S. army conducted.

Hamas has rejected the latest truce proposal, saying Israel ignored its core demands. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pinned the blame on not just Hamas' disinterest in achieving a ceasefire, but also on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote Monday.

For the first time since the war started, the U.S. did not veto a UNSC text that called for both an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of some 130 hostages still being held in the war-torn enclave.

• 8 Iraqi militia members also killed in strike that eliminated IRGC advisor ranked colonel: Arab media
• UN special rapporteur says Israel's military offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide
• US Treasury Department adds 12 Syrian entities, 6 Syrians to its SDN list
• WHO staff killed in airstrike in Syria Tuesday morning: WHO chief
• Colombia's Gustavo Petro threatens to cut relations with Israel
• 'Heavy' rocket barrage fired toward northern Israel from Lebanon: Reports
• Israeli fighter jets strike Hezbollah 'military complex' in Lebanon

In Israel's northern border with Lebanon, three rocket launches were detected from Lebanese territory, causing a fire to break out in the Avivim area, an Israeli civilian settlement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which has been launching missiles and rockets toward northern Israel since Oct. 7 from Lebanon, attacked the Israeli army's Meron base Tuesday.

Yemeni rebel Houthis, another Iranian-backed terror group, attacked multiple "American" and "British" vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the past three days as per its spokesman, Yahya Sare'e.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has landed in Iran Tuesday after Washington, Israel's top western ally, abstained from the UNSC's Gaza ceasefire vote. Iran has supported Hamas' war with Israel for over five months.

Fighting in Gaza continues despite the UN resolution calling for a halt in hostilities by the warring sides. Decades of violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict that has left more than a thousand dead in Israel and over 32,000 dead in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

The live update has ended.

34 min ago 11:03 AM EDT

Israeli warplanes attack Hezbollah 'military complex'

Israeli fighter jets struck a "military complex used by the air unit of the terrorist organization" in Lebanon Tuesday afternoon following the terror group's targeting of the Israeli army's strategic air traffic control base in Meron, northern Israel, the IDF said.

מטוסי קרב תקפו לפני זמן קצר בעומק לבנון, במרחב זבוד, מתחם צבאי בשימוש היחידה האווירית של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, זאת בתגובה לשיגורים שבוצעו מוקדם יותר היום לעבר מרחב יחידת הבקרה האווירית שבאיזור מירון.
במתחם הותקפו מנחת לכלי טיס ומספר מבנים צבאיים נוספים של ארגון הטרור >> pic.twitter.com/RePqdhWwlf

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 26, 2024

The retaliatory attack came at around the same time an Israeli outlet reported that a "heavy" rocket barrage was fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel.