The Israeli military launched a wave of deadly raids across the occupied West Bank overnight and into Tuesday, killing at least three Palestinians who it said were militants.

Hamas said in a statement that one of its veteran commanders, Jaafar Dababsah, was killed by Israeli forces. Israel said one of its soldiers was wounded.

The raids came a day after three Israelis were killed in a shooting attack on a bus in the northern West Bank. Hamas praised the attack in a statement but did not claim responsibility for it.

Meanwhile, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, although there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

French Diplomat Arrives in Lebanon to Help Resolve Political Stalemate

BEIRUT — France’s special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, arrived in Beirut on Tuesday to help mediate the parliament’s latest attempt to elect the country’s president — a position that has been empty for more than two years amid sharp political and sectarian divides.

Lebanon’s parliament is scheduled to meet on Thursday to elect a president. Le Drian will attend the session at the invitation of Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.

His visit comes as part of ongoing efforts to “enable the Lebanese to elect a president, in accordance with the principles agreed upon in Doha in July 2023,” according to a statement from his office. He is working alongside members of the Quintet — France, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt — to push for a resolution to the prolonged stalemate.

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Le Drian urged lawmakers to reach a consensus, emphasizing that electing a president is “the first step toward the urgent reactivation of Lebanon’s institutions and the restoration of the country’s sovereignty,” according to the statement.

It remains to be seen how much Lebanon’s political landscape has shifted in recent months after Hezbollah, a powerful political actor in the country, was severely hobbled after the war with Israel, which killed top officials including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the overthrow of President Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria.

Former President Michel Aoun, an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah, finished his term in October 2022.

First International Commercial Flight Lands in Damascus Since Assad’s Ouster

DAMASCUS, Syria — The first international commercial flight since the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month landed Tuesday at the Damascus airport from Qatar.

Jordanian state-run Petra news agency also reported that a Royal Jordanian Airlines plane was heading to Damascus on a test flight.

The head of Syria’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, Capt. Haitham Misto, who was on board the flight with a team of specialists, said the aim was to evaluate the condition of the Damascus airport before resuming regular flights.

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Israeli Military Conducts Raids in West Bank Following Attack

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military launched a wave of raids across the occupied West Bank overnight and into Tuesday, killing at least three Palestinians it said were militants a day after a deadly shooting attack.

The army said it killed two militants in an airstrike after they fired at troops in the area of Tamun in the northern West Bank. It said another militant was killed in “close-quarters combat” in the nearby village of Taluza and an Israeli soldier was severely wounded. The military said it arrested more than 20 suspected militants.

Hamas said in a statement that one of its veteran commanders, Jaafar Dababsah, was killed by Israeli forces in the area of the two deadly raids.

The Israeli army said the overnight operations were not related to Monday’s shooting in which gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the West Bank, killing two women in their 70s and a 35-year-old policeman before fleeing.