BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Sept 21 (Askume) – At least 37 people, including three children and seven women, were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a Hezbollah commander in a Beirut suburb on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said, with rescue teams still searching for the missing. . under the rubble on Saturday.
Hezbollah said overnight that 16 Hezbollah members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqeel and another top commander Ahmed Wahbi, were killed by Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah .
The Israeli military tweeted that the strike targeted an underground gathering of senior commanders of Aqil and Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit and “almost completely destroyed” Hezbollah’s military command.
The attack collapsed a multi-storey residential building in the crowded suburb and damaged a neighbouring nursery, a security source said.
Massive cross-border attacks continued on Saturday, with Israeli warplanes carrying out the heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since the 11-month war began and Hezbollah claiming rocket attacks on military targets in northern Israel.
The Israeli military said it struck nearly 180 targets and destroyed thousands of rocket launchers.
Friday’s attack escalated the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and was another blow to Hezbollah following two days of attacks on Hezbollah this week in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members were blown up.
The total number of deaths in these attacks has reached 39 people, and more than 3,000 people have been injured.
It is widely believed that the attack on communications equipment was carried out by Israel, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office said in a statement that he had cancelled his planned trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York because of the escalating conflict.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said he was concerned about rising tensions between Israel and Lebanon but that Israel’s killing of a senior Hezbollah leader served as justice for the group, which Washington has designated a terrorist organisation.
Sullivan told reporters in the US state of Delaware: “Although the risk of escalation is real, we believe there is a different path to end hostilities and find lasting solutions so that people on both sides of the border feel safe.”
Hezbollah says it will continue to fight Israel unless it agrees to a war with Hamas in Gaza, Palestinian territory
Missing Persons
Hezbollah-allied Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told reporters at the site of Friday’s attack that at least 23 people were still missing.
He said, “Israel’s enemies are leading the region toward war.”
Hezbollah issued a statement after midnight confirming Aqil’s death and describing him as “one of its top leaders”.
Fifteen other members were also said to have been killed overnight, including senior commander Wahbi, who oversaw military operations for Radwan’s forces during the Gaza war until early 2024.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief statement Friday night that Israel’s goals are clear and its actions speak for themselves.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant said this week that Israel was beginning a new phase of the war on its northern border, tweeting: “This new phase of action will continue until our goal is achieved: the safe return of Israelis.
Thousands of people have fled their homes on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese border since October, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in sympathy with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel’s airspace north of the city of Hadera in northern Israel has been closed to private flights, the Israeli military said on Saturday, but the move will not affect international flights.
“These restrictions have been imposed to maintain flight safety and are consistent with operational activities,” the military said.
‘A dangerous cycle of violence’
At least 70 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, bringing the country’s death toll since October to 740. The current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is the most serious since the all-out war in 2006.
Jean-Henis Presshat, the UN special coordinator in Lebanon, said on Friday that the attack in a densely populated area on the southern outskirts of Beirut was “part of an extremely dangerous cycle of violence that will have devastating consequences. It must stop now.”
Friday’s attack was the second Israeli strike targeting a prominent Hezbollah military commander in Beirut in less than two months. In July, the organization’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli airstrike .
While the current conflict is largely confined to border areas or border regions, this week’s uprising has raised concerns that it could become more widespread and intense.
