Israel 'kills two Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in drone strike in Syria', in move that could increase Middle East tensions after Tehran president's helicopter crash death

Israel is understood to have killed two fighters from Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in a drone strike in Syria - a move that could increase tensions in the Middle East following the death of Tehran's president in a helicopter crash. 

The drone fired two missiles at a Hezbollah car and truck near the town of Qusayr in the Homs province, a war monitor in the region has said.  

This is a third Israeli strike against Hezbollah targets in Syria in about a week.

Israel killed eight pro-Iranian fighters in a strike in the Qusayr area, which is close to the Lebanese border on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another strike on May 18 targeted 'a Hezbollah commander and his companion' but no casualties were reported. 

And on April 2, the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus was targeted -killing seven people including a top commander and his deputy.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.

The strikes have increased since Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7. 

Pictured: The aftermath of an Israeli missile attack on the Iranian embassy's consulate building in Damascus

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah on May 7

Palestinians fleeing from Jabalia in the northern region pictured arriving in Gaza City May 24, 2024

The missile attack today comes as Israel also bombed the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, just one day after the top UN court ordered the IDF to halt its military operations in the southern city. 

The bombing came as efforts got underway in Paris to seek a ceasefire in the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded the immediate release of all hostages still held by Palestinian militants hours after the Israeli military announced troops had recovered the bodies of three more of the captives from northern Gaza.

The Hague-based court, whose orders are legally binding but lack direct enforcement mechanisms, also ordered Israel to keep open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which it closed earlier this month at the start of its assault on the city.

Israel gave no indication it was preparing to change course in Rafah, insisting that the court had got it wrong.

'Israel has not and will not carry out military operations in the Rafah area that create living conditions that could cause the destruction of the Palestinian civilian population, in whole or in part,' National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a joint statement with Israel's foreign ministry spokesman.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, welcomed the ICJ ruling on Rafah but criticised its decision to exclude the rest of war-torn Gaza from the order.

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office this week said the war cabinet had asked the Israeli delegation 'to continue negotiations for the return of the hostages'.

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip May 24, 2024

Israel has bombed the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, just one day after the top UN court ordered the IDF to halt its military operations in the southern city May 24, 2024

CIA chief Bill Burns was expected to meet Israeli representatives in Paris in a bid to relaunch negotiations, a Western source close to the issue said.

Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron received the prime minister of Qatar and the Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers on Friday 'to press for a ceasefire', according to Cairo.

The French presidency said they held talks on the Gaza war and ways to set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The five countries discussed 'the effective implementation of the two-state solution', it added.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken also spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about new efforts to achieve a ceasefire and reopening of the Rafah border crossing as soon as possible, Washington said.

Palestinian witnesses reported Israeli strikes in Rafah and the central city of Deir al-Balah.

'We hope that the court's decision will put pressure on Israel to end this war of extermination, because there is nothing left here,' said Oum Mohammad Al-Ashqa, a Palestinian woman from Gaza City displaced to Deir al-Balah by the war.

'But Israel is a state that considers itself above the law. Therefore, I do not believe that the shooting or the war will stop other than by force,' said Mohammed Saleh, also in the central Gaza Strip city.

Israeli troops took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, further slowing sporadic deliveries of aid for Gaza's 2.4 million people.

In a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide, ICJ president Nawaf Salam delivered the ruling of the 15-strong panel of judges at The Hague

A lone demonstrator waves the Palestinian flag outside the Peace Palace, rear, housing the International Court of Justice, or World Court, in The Hague

Smoke rises during an Israeli air strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 24, 2024

But on Friday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed in a call with his US counterpart Joe Biden to allow UN aid through the other entry point into southern Gaza, the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel, the White House said.

The US military has also installed a temporary jetty on the Gaza coast to receive aid by sea that a UN spokesman said had delivered 97 trucks of aid after 'a rocky start' a week ago.

The security and humanitarian situation in the territory remains alarming, with a risk of famine, hospitals out of service, and around 800,000 people, according to the United Nations, having fled Rafah in the last two weeks.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the situation had reached 'a moment of clarity'.

'Aid workers and UN staff must be able to carry out their jobs in safety,' he posted on social media site X late Friday.

'At a time when the people of Gaza are staring down famine... it is more critical than ever to heed the calls made over the last seven months: Release the hostages. Agree a ceasefire. End this nightmare.'