Hezbollah dismisses U.S. election results

Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem declared Wednesday that the U.S. election results hold “no value” for the Lebanese militant group, which remains entrenched in fierce conflict with Israel.

“We will make the enemy seek to demand an end to the aggression,” Qassem said, speaking from an undisclosed location. He emphasized that Hezbollah’s operations would not be affected by the U.S. presidential outcome.

“Whether Harris wins or Trump wins, they have no value to us,” he said.

He reaffirmed that Hezbollah would consider ceasefire negotiations only once “the enemy stops its aggression,” adding, “The only thing that will stop the war is the battlefield.”

These remarks were made prior to the official confirmation that Republican former President Donald Trump was successful at the polls, with 51 percent of the popular vote and counting. His opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, is due to concede the race during a phone call to him later today.

Rising death toll from Israeli-Lebanese Airstrikes

Qassem, previously Hezbollah’s deputy, ascended to leadership following the assassination of longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah by Israeli forces at their HQ in Beirut on September 28. Hashem Safieddine—another top official, and Nasrallah’s likely successor—was also killed last month in a similar operation.

His comments come amid escalations between Hezbollah and Israel that have been brewing since October 2023, when the Israel-Palestinian war began.

It marks Israel’s fourth invasion of Lebanon since 1978.

Hezbollah has significantly ramped up its rocket attacks into northern Israel, resulting in civilian casualties. Just this week, a Hezbollah rocket killed a foreign worker near Israel’s northern city of Acre, according to Israeli medics.

One attack last week killed seven people, including four Thai farmworkers.

In response, Israel has increased its airstrikes on Lebanese targets, resulting in heavy casualties.

Lebanon’s Civil Defense Service said Wednesday that 30 bodies were pulled from the rubble of a residential building struck by an Israeli air raid in the town of Barja.

Mustafa Danaj, a Lebanese civil defense representative, said search operations were ongoing and that it was unclear how many people remained trapped under the debris.

“We hope that there isn’t anyone else, but the neighbors have said that there are still people [missing],” Danaj said.

Crisis Response Migration From Lebanon to Syria

Lebanese health officials report over 3,000 fatalities from Israeli airstrikes, primarily since mid-September 2023. As violence surges, hundreds of thousands of residents are fleeing the region. Lebanon’s crisis response unit reported that 361,300 Syrians and more than 177,800 Lebanese crossed into Syria from Lebanon between September 23 and November 1.

In Baalbek, Lebanon, a UNESCO-listed Roman temple complex is at risk as Israeli airstrikes draw dangerously close. Bachir Khodr, governor of Baalbek-Hermel province, stated in a post on social media, “This is the closest raid on Baalbek Temple since the beginning of the aggression.”

Khodr reported that a missile struck the temple’s parking lot, sparking fears about potential structural damage. “The temple has not yet been inspected to determine if there is any damage inside it,” he added.

Possible Collapse in ‘U.N. Humanitarian Response’

Casualties from Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday alone include 38 killed and 54 wounded in northeastern Lebanon, according to Khodr.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said that 37 people were killed and 105 injured on Tuesday as violence persisted.

Approximately 13,658 people have been wounded in total since the hostilities began.

Meanwhile, as conflict grows in Lebanon and Gaza, the United Nations has managed to vaccinate a large majority of children in Gaza against polio, reaching 94 percent of children under 10 years old, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The agencies noted that vaccination coverage fell to 88 percent in northern Gaza, where ongoing military operations have left some children inaccessible.

In New York, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, called on the General Assembly to prevent Israel from enforcing a proposed ban on U.N. relief operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

He warned that a ban “will collapse the U.N. humanitarian response” in Gaza, halting education for 650,000 children and severely impacting millions dependent on relief services.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press