The Evening Wrap: Israel, Hezbollah in deadly fighting on Lebanon border

Israeli forces battled Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, with Israel announcing the first death of a soldier since it launched cross-border raids. Confirmation of the fighting in two border areas came hours after Iran launched its second-ever direct attack on Israel, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn the Islamic republic would pay for its “big mistake”. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli unit with an explosive device near a southern border village, as the group clashed with Israeli forces entering Lebanon. “As the Israeli enemy army tried to sneak around the village of Yaroun... (Hezbollah) fighters surprised them by detonating an explosive device,” it said, reporting Israeli casualties. Israeli military confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed in combat operations in Lebanon, marking the first loss since its forces crossed the border to target Hezbollah. “Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, aged 22... fell during combat in Lebanon,” the military said in a statement. Meanwhile, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett called for a decisive strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities after the Islamic republic fired a barrage of missiles at Israel. “We must act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,” Bennett wrote on X just hours after the attack on Israel. “We have the justification. We have the tools. Now that Hezbollah and Hamas are paralysed, Iran stands exposed,” wrote Bennett. In a related development, police in Denmark and Sweden said they were probing explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in their capitals which took place amid spiralling Middle East tensions. In Denmark, police said three Swedish nationals had been arrested after two blasts were reported in the “immediate proximity” of the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen in the early hours of Wednesday. Sweden said the Israeli embassy in Stockholm had been targeted in a shooting on Tuesday just before 6:00 pm. No injuries were reported from the incidents but both came amid heightened international fears as Iran fired missiles at Israel, which has vowed to respond to the attack. Amid heightening tensions, Israel’s Foreign Minister said on Wednesday that he was barring U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because he had not “unequivocally” condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel. Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday amid an escalation in fighting between its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel. Many were intercepted mid-air but some penetrated missile defences. No casualties were reported. Guterres on Tuesday issued a brief statement referencing only the “latest attacks in the Middle East” and condemning the conflict “with escalation after escalation”. Earlier on Tuesday, Israel had sent troops into south Lebanon. Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz, said Guterres’ failure to call out Iran made him persona non grata in Israel. “Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil,” Katz said. Badlapur accused encounter: Maharashtra government appoints single member commission to probe shooting The Maharashtra government has formed a single-member inquiry commission consisting of a retired Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, to probe into the shooting of the Badlapur assault accused. The commission consisting of Chief Justice (retired) Dilip Bhosale will have to submit a report within three months. Akshay Shinde had died in an alleged police encounter last month. He was an alleged accused in the sexual assault of two minor girls at a Badlapur school. “The Home Department had sent the proposal to the Chief Minister’s Office. We approved it immediately after we received it,” a top official of the Chief Minister’s Office told The Hindu. The inquiry commission has been set up to probe into “the sequence of events that happened at Mumbra Bypass, Thane on the 23rd September 2024 regarding the exchange of fire between the accused person Akshay Shinde and the Police Escort Party, which resulted into the death of accused Akshay Shinde, and the causes and consequences thereof.” Giving the background behind the reason for the formation of the commission, the notification stated, “Whereas, an incident occurred at Mumbra Bypass, Thane on the 23rd September 2024, wherein there was an exchange of fire between one accused person named Akshay Shinde, and the accompanying Police Escort Party, resulting into injuries to both, the accused and one Police Officer. The accused Shri Akshay Shinde was taken to the Hospital for treatment where he was declared dead on arrival.” The shooting of the Badlapur accused had led to a political controversy in Maharashtra. While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis had come out in support of the police action and the party workers had put out hoardings applauding them, the opposition had claimed that this was a bid to protect the other accused who are allegedly associated with a ruling party. U.P. govt to bear entire fee of Dalit student in IIT Dhanbad The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday said it will help Dalit student Atul Kumar, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, to get admission to IIT Dhanbad and its social welfare department will bear the entire fee through a scholarship. “Under the state’s scholarship scheme, the Social Welfare Department will bear the entire fee of IIT through scholarship so that Atul’s education can be ensured,” an official statement said here. Atul Kumar, the son of daily wage labourer Rajendra Kumar, could not secure admission to IIT Dhanbad due to non-payment of fees. Atul, a resident of Titoda village of Khatauli tehsil of Muzaffarnagar district, had performed well in the IIT JEE exam and got a seat in the Electronics Engineering branch, but his admission got stuck due to non-payment of fees by June 24. The family approached the Supreme Court after making all efforts. After the intervention of the Supreme Court and the matter coming to the notice of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the government decided to provide full help to the student. “The chief minister immediately gave instructions to ensure all possible assistance for Atul,” the statement said. Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun spoke to the student’s family over the phone and assured them that the state government would provide financial assistance for his entire education. “The state government has also contacted IIT Dhanbad and taken necessary steps to complete the admission process,” it said. Under this initiative of the Uttar Pradesh government, not only will the initial fees of Atul be deposited, but the fees for the entire four-year study will also be paid through a scholarship. Pune helicopter crash: All three onboard killed; police investigation underway A helicopter crash in the Bavdhan area of Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday morning around 7.00 A.M. claimed three lives, including two crew pilots and an engineer. The helicopter Agusta A109S Grand (VT EVV), belonging to a Delhi-based private firm Heritage Aviation, took off from the Oxford Golf Course helipad here and was heading to Juhu in Mumbai, an official said. The helicopter collapsed near the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL). The chopper was scheduled to pick up Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) State Chief Sunil Tatkare from Mumbai. Calling the incident unfortunate, Tatkare said, “The flight was booked by the party to travel to Raigad district for the election campaign.” Speaking to The Hindu, Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinoykumar Choubey, said, “The technical reason behind the crash is yet to be ascertained, but as per primary information, this region experienced heavy fog this morning.” Preliminary information suggested the deceased comprised two pilots and an engineer. The deceased identified are Captain Girish Kumar Pillai (53) a pilot from Andhra Pradesh, Captain Pritamchand Bhardwaj (56) an engineer from Navi Mumbai. and Captain Paramjit Singh (64) from Delhi. The deceased have been taken to Sassoon Hospital for autopsy. “The chopper was heavily damaged, however, our teams have responded and the fire is controlled,” Choubey added. A case of accidental death will be registered at Hinjewadi Police Station. A team from Delhi will arrive to conduct a technical investigation into the accident, and the police are searching for the black box (flight data recorder). In briefPrashant Kishor floats Jan Suraaj Party Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced the launch of his political outfit Jan Suraaj Party, a much-anticipated move by which he hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm. The party was launched at Veterinary College Ground in the state capital in presence of many renowned figures, including former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma and ex-MP Monazir Hassan. The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long ‘padayatra’ of the State, from Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the first Satyagraha in the country, in a bid to mobilise the people for a “new political alternative”. In Delhi’s biggest drug bust, police seizes over 500kg cocaine worth ₹2,000 crore The Delhi Police has made one of the biggest drug busts ever seen in the city, seizing over 560 kilograms of cocaine estimated to be worth around ₹2,000 crore, officials said in Delhi. A Delhi Police Special Cell team nabbed four people from South Delhi’s Mehrauli and confiscated the consignment weighing over 565 kilograms. The officials said those arrested had planned to sell the cocaine in Delhi and the National Capital Region. They said the Special Cell team had been working for over two months based on a tip-off which led to the bust just before the festive season. The four people are being interrogated and a probe is on, police said. The Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 02 October 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [View in browser]( [More newsletters]( Israel, Hezbollah in deadly fighting on Lebanon border [Israeli forces battled Hezbollah militants in Lebanon]( with Israel announcing the first death of a soldier since it launched cross-border raids. Confirmation of the fighting in two border areas came hours after Iran launched its second-ever direct attack on Israel, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn the Islamic republic would pay for its “big mistake”. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli unit with an explosive device near a southern border village, as the group clashed with Israeli forces entering Lebanon. “As the Israeli enemy army tried to sneak around the village of Yaroun... (Hezbollah) fighters surprised them by detonating an explosive device,” it said, reporting Israeli casualties. Israeli military confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed in combat operations in Lebanon, marking the first loss since its forces crossed the border to target Hezbollah. “Captain Eitan Itzhak Oster, aged 22... fell during combat in Lebanon,” the military said in a statement. Meanwhile, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett called for a decisive strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities after the Islamic republic fired a barrage of missiles at Israel. “We must act now to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime,” Bennett wrote on X just hours after the attack on Israel. “We have the justification. We have the tools. Now that Hezbollah and Hamas are paralysed, Iran stands exposed,” wrote Bennett. In a related development, police in Denmark and Sweden said they were probing explosions and gunfire around Israeli embassies in their capitals which took place amid spiralling Middle East tensions. In Denmark, police said three Swedish nationals had been arrested after two blasts were reported in the “immediate proximity” of the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen in the early hours of Wednesday. Sweden said the Israeli embassy in Stockholm had been targeted in a shooting on Tuesday just before 6:00 pm. No injuries were reported from the incidents but both came amid heightened international fears as Iran fired missiles at Israel, which has vowed to respond to the attack. Amid heightening tensions, Israel’s Foreign Minister said on Wednesday that he was barring U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country because he had not “unequivocally” condemned Iran’s missile attack on Israel. Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday amid an escalation in fighting between its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel. Many were intercepted mid-air but some penetrated missile defences. No casualties were reported. Guterres on Tuesday issued a brief statement referencing only the “latest attacks in the Middle East” and condemning the conflict “with escalation after escalation”. Earlier on Tuesday, Israel had sent troops into south Lebanon. Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz, said Guterres’ failure to call out Iran made him persona non grata in Israel. “Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil,” Katz said. Badlapur accused encounter: Maharashtra government appoints single member commission to probe shooting The [Maharashtra government has formed a single-member inquiry commission]( consisting of a retired Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, to probe into the shooting of the Badlapur assault accused. The commission consisting of Chief Justice (retired) Dilip Bhosale will have to submit a report within three months. Akshay Shinde had died in an alleged police encounter last month. He was an alleged accused in the sexual assault of two minor girls at a Badlapur school. “The Home Department had sent the proposal to the Chief Minister’s Office. We approved it immediately after we received it,” a top official of the Chief Minister’s Office told The Hindu. The inquiry commission has been set up to probe into “the sequence of events that happened at Mumbra Bypass, Thane on the 23rd September 2024 regarding the exchange of fire between the accused person Akshay Shinde and the Police Escort Party, which resulted into the death of accused Akshay Shinde, and the causes and consequences thereof.” Giving the background behind the reason for the formation of the commission, the notification stated, “Whereas, an incident occurred at Mumbra Bypass, Thane on the 23rd September 2024, wherein there was an exchange of fire between one accused person named Akshay Shinde, and the accompanying Police Escort Party, resulting into injuries to both, the accused and one Police Officer. The accused Shri Akshay Shinde was taken to the Hospital for treatment where he was declared dead on arrival.” The shooting of the Badlapur accused had led to a political controversy in Maharashtra. While Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis had come out in support of the police action and the party workers had put out hoardings applauding them, the opposition had claimed that this was a bid to protect the other accused who are allegedly associated with a ruling party. U.P. govt to bear entire fee of Dalit student in IIT Dhanbad The [Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday said it will help Dalit student Atul Kumar]( a resident of Muzaffarnagar, to get admission to IIT Dhanbad and its social welfare department will bear the entire fee through a scholarship. “Under the state’s scholarship scheme, the Social Welfare Department will bear the entire fee of IIT through scholarship so that Atul’s education can be ensured,” an official statement said here. Atul Kumar, the son of daily wage labourer Rajendra Kumar, could not secure admission to IIT Dhanbad due to non-payment of fees. Atul, a resident of Titoda village of Khatauli tehsil of Muzaffarnagar district, had performed well in the IIT JEE exam and got a seat in the Electronics Engineering branch, but his admission got stuck due to non-payment of fees by June 24. The family approached the Supreme Court after making all efforts. After the intervention of the Supreme Court and the matter coming to the notice of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the government decided to provide full help to the student. “The chief minister immediately gave instructions to ensure all possible assistance for Atul,” the statement said. Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun spoke to the student’s family over the phone and assured them that the state government would provide financial assistance for his entire education. “The state government has also contacted IIT Dhanbad and taken necessary steps to complete the admission process,” it said. Under this initiative of the Uttar Pradesh government, not only will the initial fees of Atul be deposited, but the fees for the entire four-year study will also be paid through a scholarship. Pune helicopter crash: All three onboard killed; police investigation underway [A helicopter crash in the Bavdhan area of Maharashtra’s Pune]( district on Wednesday morning around 7.00 A.M. claimed three lives, including two crew pilots and an engineer. The helicopter Agusta A109S Grand (VT EVV), belonging to a Delhi-based private firm Heritage Aviation, took off from the Oxford Golf Course helipad here and was heading to Juhu in Mumbai, an official said. The helicopter collapsed near the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL). The chopper was scheduled to pick up Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) State Chief Sunil Tatkare from Mumbai. Calling the incident unfortunate, Tatkare said, “The flight was booked by the party to travel to Raigad district for the election campaign.” Speaking to The Hindu, Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinoykumar Choubey, said, “The technical reason behind the crash is yet to be ascertained, but as per primary information, this region experienced heavy fog this morning.” Preliminary information suggested the deceased comprised two pilots and an engineer. The deceased identified are Captain Girish Kumar Pillai (53) a pilot from Andhra Pradesh, Captain Pritamchand Bhardwaj (56) an engineer from Navi Mumbai. and Captain Paramjit Singh (64) from Delhi. The deceased have been taken to Sassoon Hospital for autopsy. “The chopper was heavily damaged, however, our teams have responded and the fire is controlled,” Choubey added. A case of accidental death will be registered at Hinjewadi Police Station. A team from Delhi will arrive to conduct a technical investigation into the accident, and the police are searching for the black box (flight data recorder). In brief Prashant Kishor floats Jan Suraaj Party Political strategist-turned-activist [Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced the launch of his political outfit Jan Suraaj Party]( a much-anticipated move by which he hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm. The party was launched at Veterinary College Ground in the state capital in presence of many renowned figures, including former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma and ex-MP Monazir Hassan. The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long ‘padayatra’ of the State, from Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the first Satyagraha in the country, in a bid to mobilise the people for a “new political alternative”. In Delhi’s biggest drug bust, police seizes over 500kg cocaine worth ₹2,000 crore The [Delhi Police has made one of the biggest drug busts ever seen in the city]( seizing over 560 kilograms of cocaine estimated to be worth around ₹2,000 crore, officials said in Delhi. A Delhi Police Special Cell team nabbed four people from South Delhi’s Mehrauli and confiscated the consignment weighing over 565 kilograms. The officials said those arrested had planned to sell the cocaine in Delhi and the National Capital Region. They said the Special Cell team had been working for over two months based on a tip-off which led to the bust just before the festive season. The four people are being interrogated and a probe is on, police said. 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