BEIRUT: Israel killed a top Hezbollah leader in an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, abruptly escalating the year-long war between the group and Israel.
According to Arab News, the target of the airstrike was Hezbollah’s operations commander Ibrahim Aqil, who served on the group’s main military body. Arab News cited sources as saying that Aqil was killed in a 10-story compound in the area of Al-Jamous. It added that the airstrike killed 16 people and injured 66 others. Many people went missing after the airstrike, and families were searching for their kids and relatives.
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Arab News reported that Aqil and his fellows were holding the meeting in an underground room. It added that the rescue workers were not in position to retrieve their bodies four hours following the attack.
The Israeli military described its strike as a “precise operation,” targeting a senior Hezbollah leader.
The attack comes amid a military escalation between Israeli and Hezbollah after mass explosions that targeted communication devices used by Hezbollah men on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in dozens of deaths as well as thousands of injuries.
On Friday, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets toward Israeli army sites, one of which targeted Al-Ulayqa base for the first time, located north of Katzrin in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, about 20 km from the Lebanese border.
The escalation coincided with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s Thursday speech, in which he pledged retaliation against Israel for its crime.
Hassan Nasrallah described the blasts that targeted the party as “major Israeli aggression that will face a severe reckoning and just retribution.”
Lebanon’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib has warned that Israeli strikes on his nation may lead to devastating war in the region. In his speech, at the United Nations, he accused Israel of acting like a rogue state that disregards global legitimacy. He further said that the world should not allow Israel to continue with its exemption.
