The Israeli military has reported the elimination of a member of Iran’s elite Quds Force during a strike in Lebanon on Thursday. The individual was accused of orchestrating attacks against Israel.

Identified by the military as Hussein Mahmud Marshad al-Jawhari, he was described as “a key terrorist in the operational unit of the Quds Force,” which serves as the foreign operations wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

According to the military, “Hussein was involved in terror activities, directed by Iran, against the state of Israel and its security forces” from bases in Lebanon and Syria.

This incident follows a significant escalation in June when Israel initiated a 12-day conflict with Iran. The conflict began with Israeli strikes targeting military, nuclear sites, and residential areas in an effort to disrupt Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

In retaliation, Iran launched drone and missile attacks on Israel. The conflict saw the United States join Israel in targeting Iranian nuclear facilities before a ceasefire was eventually declared.

Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has persistently accused it of engaging in sabotage operations against its nuclear sites and the assassination of Iranian scientists.

It also backs militant groups around the region as part of its so-called axis of resistance, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian movement Hamas, both of which Israel has fought major conflicts with in the past two years.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel announced the arrest of an Israeli man on suspicion of committing security offences under the direction of Iranian intelligence services.

A man sits in front of a damaged building as displaced residents return following a ceasefire deal in Dahieh, southern Beirut, Lebanon, 29 November 2024

Faithful attend Christmas mass held at St. Georges Church in the town of Yaroun, a Christian-populated area in southern Lebanon near the Lebanon-Israel border on December 25, 2025

Israeli bulldozers level land at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Sanur, near the West Bank city of Jenin, 25 December 2025

It comes after Pope Leo XIV condemned the ‘rubble and open wounds’ left behind by wars, singling out the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza in his first Christmas homily.

The 70-year-old pope, the first American ever to lead the Catholic Church, presided over the Holy Mass at 10am on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord inside St Peter’s Basilica, as thousands gathered in Rome and millions watched around the world.

In a sermon heavy with imagery and moral urgency, Leo drew parallels between the vulnerability of the infant Jesus and the suffering of civilians trapped in war zones today.

‘Fragile is the flesh of defenseless populations, tried by so many wars, ongoing or concluded, leaving behind rubble and open wounds,’ the pope said.

Reflecting on the Nativity story of Christ being born in a stable, Leo said it showed how God had ‘pitched his fragile tent’ among humanity – a symbol he quickly linked to the modern reality of displacement and suffering.

‘How, then, can ‌we not think of the tents in Gaza, exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold?’ he ⁠asked.

The remarks marked a notable moment for the newly elected pontiff, who was chosen in May by the world’s cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis.

Known for a more cautious and diplomatic tone than his predecessor, Leo typically avoids explicit political references in sermons.

Yet despite that reputation, the pope has repeatedly lamented the plight of Palestinians in Gaza in recent weeks and has stated that the only viable resolution to the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include the creation of a Palestinian state.