CBS News
Israel says attack hits Iran-backed Hezbollah’s intel unit as Lebanon puts two-week death toll over 2,000
A fierce round of new Israeli airstrikes pummeled buildings in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital overnight, with Israel’s military saying Friday that it had targeted another headquarters of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The strike came hours before Iran said its foreign minister had arrived in Beirut — the first visit by a senior Iranian official to Lebanon since the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah’s longtime leader, and Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.
Lebanese media suggested the target could have been a senior Hezbollah figure considered a potential successor to Nasrallah, who was assassinated in a similar Israeli strike in Beirut exactly one week ago.
NOTE: This article includes an image of a dead child that may disturb some readers.
The Reuters news agency cited Lebanon’s health ministry as saying Friday morning that at least 37 people had been killed and 151 others wounded by Israeli strikes in the country over the preceding 24 hours.
Five days of Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon, near Israel’s northern border, and two weeks of airstrikes in that region and in southern Beirut — both Hezbollah strongholds — had killed more than 2,000 people, the health ministry said. More than 1 million people have been driven from their homes, including tens of thousands under Israel evacuation orders in almost 100 towns and villages near the border.
The blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight sent huge fireballs and plumes of smoke rising over the city. Lebanon’s state news agency said at least 10 consecutive strikes hit buildings in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted the “Hezbollah central intelligence headquarters,” but the country’s Army Radio network said the IDF was still working to determine whether any senior members of the group had been killed in the strikes.
Israel stepped up its assault on Hezbollah — long designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and many other nations — two weeks ago, vowing to push the well-entrenched group’s fighters and weapons back far enough from the border to stop a near-daily hail of rockets and drones targeting Israel.
Hezbollah started launching those attacks in support of its ideological ally Hamas, which is also backed by Iran, the day after Hamas sparked the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel. The IDF says Hezbollah militants have fired over 10,000 rockets across the border since Oct. 8, 2023. The vast majority of them have been intercepted by Israel’s advanced missile defense systems.
Among those killed in Lebanon this week was U.S. national Kamal Ahmed Jawad, from Dearborn, Michigan. His family has said he was a volunteer who was killed in an airstrike in southern Lebanon.
The White House said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by Jawad’s death.
The U.S. government has warned Americans not to travel to Lebanon since mid-September, and urged any citizens in the country to leave via commercial travel routes. The government has been helping to organize seats on flights out of Lebanon for American citizens, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said earlier this week, as other nations book charter flights and make plans for potential evacuations.
Another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway connecting Lebanon and neighboring Syria, Lebanese state media said Friday. Tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting have crossed into Syria since Israel started expanding its military operations in Lebanon.
An Israeli military spokesperson said earlier that Hezbollah had been trying to move military equipment across the border into Lebanon via the highway that was reportedly struck on Friday. Hezbollah is believed to have obtained many of its weapons from Iran via Syria, according to The Associated Press.
Lebanese officials have said most of the roughly half dozen crossings between Lebanon and Syria remain open.
The skyrocketing casualties are pushing Lebanon’s already-frail health care system to the brink. At least 40 paramedics and firefighters have been killed in the Israeli strikes over the past three days alone, according to Lebanon’s health minister. That includes about half a dozen medics killed in a strike late Wednesday night that hit a central Beirut office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated with Hezbollah.
The rapidly escalating violence in Lebanon comes weeks after Israel announced a deliberate shift of its military focus to that northern front, but the IDF has continued its operations in the Palestinian territories, too.
An IDF airstrike overnight in Tulkarem, in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killed 18 people, according to Palestinian officials. Israel has carried out a number of significant raids in the West Bank, including in Tulkarem, over the last year, usually saying the targets are Hamas fighters or commanders.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 678 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military operations in the West Bank between Oct. 7, 2023 and the end of September 2024, while 12 others were killed by Israeli settlers.
President Biden has backed Israel’s right to respond “in proportion” to Iran’s recent missile attack, but he’s also said more must be done to prevent the close ally’s fight with Iran’s so-called proxy groups from spreading into a wider war in the Middle East. Despite repeated U.S. calls for cease-fires, however, neither Israel, nor Hezbollah or Hamas, have shown any inclination to back down yet.
CBS News
Hurricane Helene satellite images show major devastation in North Carolina as death toll continues to rise
A week after Hurricane Helene tore through the U.S. Southeast and devasated western North Carolina with heavy rains and severe flooding, satellite images are showing the extent of the damage.
Officials have previously said hundreds of roads in western North Carolina have been inaccessible because of the storm’s effects, hindering rescue efforts. Residents reported seeing water as high as the roofs of some homes.
At least 219 people have been confirmed dead, and officials say they expect the death toll to continue to rise as recovery efforts continue.
Satellite images show washed-out streets and buildings. One image shows mud and debris near Old Fort Elementary School in Old Fort, North Carolina.
Old Fort is one of the hardest-hit areas, CBS affiliate WNCN-TV reported. Cars, homes and more were pushed along by strong floodwaters. Power, water and other essential services are still yet to be fully restored.
Another satellite image from the town shows empty space where homes once were, and downed trees and power lines.
In the town of Spruce Pine, the local North Toe River overflowed, flooding the region that is also the source of quartz used in microchips, according to NPR.
The town received over two feet of rain, according to the National Weather Service, and images show muddy roads, wrecked homes and more devastation.
President Joe Biden viewed the damage and cleanup efforts in Florida and Georgia on Thursday, and said that the work to rebuild will cost “billions of dollars.” On Wednesday, he visited the Carolinas and surveyed damage by air.
Mr. Biden said then that the federal government will cover 100% of all debris removal and emergency protective measure costs in North Carolina for six months, and will do the same for Florida and Georgia for the next 90 days.
“In moments like this, it’s time to put politics aside,” the president said against the backdrop of a damaged Ray City, Georgia. “There are no Democrats or Republicans out here.”
CBS News
Child dies from rabies after bat found in room, Canada officials say
A child in Canada has died from rabies after being exposed to a bat in their room, health officials said this week.
Dr. Malcolm Lock, the chief medical officer from Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit in Ontario, said Wednesday the child was exposed to the virus in their room from a bat.
“They woke up with a bat in their room,” Lock said, as quoted by Canadian media. “The parents looked, didn’t see any signs of a bite or scratches or saliva, and didn’t seek getting a rabies vaccine, so unfortunately, that child is now deceased.”
The child was hospitalized in early September, according to a statement by Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer, confirming the first domestically acquired case of human rabies in the province since 1967.
“Brant County Health Unit has received laboratory confirmation of a human case of rabies in a resident of Brantford-Brant. The illness is suspected to have been acquired from direct contact with a bat in Ontario.” Dr. Moore said.
No other details, including the child’s age and gender, have been released.
“Due to reasons of personal health information and patient confidentiality, I cannot comment further on the case mentioned,” a spokesperson from Health Ontario told CBS News in an email.
How is rabies spread and what are the symptoms?
Rabies is a deadly viral infection that attacks the nervous system in humans and animals, causing brain and spinal cord inflammation. It is typically spread to humans through direct contact with the saliva of an infected animal through scratching or biting.
Rabies is commonly found in bats, raccoons, foxes, skunks and some household pets. Without proper and prompt treatment after symptoms appear, rabies is nearly 100 percent fatal in both animals and humans, according to Haldimand and Norfolk Health Services, where the child was admitted. Bats pose a unique risk because their scratches can be hard to notice due to their small teeth, and bats cannot be vaccinated through provincial programs, health officials said.
If bitten by an animal suspected of carrying the virus, health officials advise washing the wound thoroughly with soap and water for 15 minutes and immediately seeking medical attention.
According to the CDC, the incubation period of rabies may last from weeks to months, depending on the location of exposure, severity of exposure and age.
“The first symptoms of rabies, called prodrome, maybe like the flu, including weakness, discomfort, fever, or headache. There also may be discomfort, prickling, or an itching sensation at the site of the bite. These symptoms may last for several days,” the CDC says.
In Canada, there have been 28 known cases of rabies in humans since reporting began in 1924, according to the federal government’s data. All the cases were fatal.
Just last week, a U.S. citizen died due to rabies exposure after being exposed to a bat in western Minnesota in July.
CBS News
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