Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, and Hashem Safieddine, the frontrunner to replace Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, have not been heard from since the Israeli strike on Beirut late last week, according to reports.
Qaani travelled to Lebanon after the killing last month of Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike and had been incommunicado for more than a week, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters.
A Hezbollah official said on Sunday that Israel was not allowing a search for Safieddine to progress after it bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, vowed victory to troops during a visit to forces along the border.
He said: “The whole world is amazed by the blows you are delivering to our enemies, and I salute you… Together we will fight, and together we will win.”
Israel meanwhile also launched a renewed air and ground offensive in Gaza overnight. The assault was thought to be the largest in months and underlined the ongoing difficulty of defeating Hamas a year after the Oct 7 attacks.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said 26 people were killed in two strikes on Deir al Balah, targeting a former school and mosque that are now shelters for the displaced.
The Israeli military said they were Hamas command centres, intentionally hidden in civilian infrastructure.
In northern Gaza, Israeli troops launched an operation in Jabaliya after issuing an evacuation order thought to be the largest since the early months of the war.