Leading Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli airstrike on Beirut

A senior Hezbollah commander was killed along with about ten senior officials in an Israeli air strike on Beirut on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the death toll from the Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday has risen to 14, with 66 more people injured, nine of them seriously.

Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's operations unit, was killed in the deadly attack on the city's southern suburbs.

He had served on Hezbollah's highest military body, the Jihad Council, and had been sanctioned by the United States for alleged involvement in two attacks on the U.S. embassy in Beirut in 1983 that killed more than 300 people.

“This elimination is intended to protect the citizens of Israel,” he said in a brief press statement, adding that Israel does not seek regional escalation.

In the Israeli attack in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, two residential buildings were razed to the ground. Dramatic images show injured people being rescued from the rubble.

The Iranian embassy also condemned the “Israeli madness” and the attacks on residential buildings in a social media post, while Hamas said in a statement that the Israeli attack represented an “escalation” of Israeli “crimes” in Lebanon.

The previous Friday, Hezbollah fired at least 140 Katyusha rockets in northern Israel, attacking several Israeli military sites along the border, including several air defense bases and the headquarters of an Israeli tank brigade.

The Israeli military said the rockets struck in three waves on Friday afternoon, targeting targets along the devastated border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah said the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli attacks on villages and homes late Thursday night. Israeli forces claimed that more than 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers were hit in their attacks in southern Lebanon.

White House spokesman John Kirby said he was not aware of any attempts by Israel to notify the United States of a deadly attack on Beirut.

“I am definitely not aware of any brief notification of these attacks,” Kirby said in a call with reporters on Friday, adding that Israel's failure to inform the Biden administration was “not atypical.”

He said he would “let the Israeli forces speak on their operations” before reiterating the US travel advisory warning its citizens against traveling to Lebanon.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to meet on Friday afternoon to discuss the recent mass explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon, which the government in Beirut and Hezbollah blame on Israel.

Earlier, at least 37 people were killed and thousands injured in Lebanon after communications equipment used by Hezbollah exploded in what was believed to be a blatant act of sabotage by Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack represented “a criminal Israeli aggression that is a serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by any standard,” according to the state news agency.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's focus had shifted to the northern front as a “new phase” of the war began.

“The center of gravity is shifting north. We are directing forces, resources and energy north,” Gallant added.