Hezbollah chief killed in Israeli strike | EUROtoday

LThe battle continues. A supply near Hezbollah mentioned on Friday, September 20, {that a} senior chief of the motion had been killed in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, whereas Israel confirmed a “targeted” strike on the town, because the entrance of the battle in Gaza shifts towards Lebanon.

Twelve individuals had been killed, based on the Lebanese Health Ministry. According to the Civil Defense, the strike prompted the collapse of two buildings in a densely populated space. In a press release, the ministry mentioned the toll was “14 dead and 66 wounded, including 9 in critical condition.” Israel claims to have eradicated a dozen Hezbollah commanders, together with the pinnacle of an elite unit. A earlier toll put the loss of life toll at 9.

The strike was the third on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, claimed or attributed to Israel because the Iranian-backed Lebanese Islamist motion opened up southern Lebanon almost a 12 months in the past “in support” of the Palestinian Hamas in its battle towards Israel within the Gaza Strip. According to a supply near Hezbollah, the pinnacle of the Al-Radwan power, the motion's elite unit, Ibrahim Aqil, was killed within the strike.

The Israeli navy mentioned it was not searching for “a broad escalation” within the area after the strike. “Our enemies have nowhere to hide, not even the (southern) suburbs of Beirut,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned on X (previously Twitter).

140 rockets fired at Israel

Following the spectacular explosions, attributed to Israel, of transmission gadgets utilized by members of Hezbollah on Tuesday and Wednesday, the change of fireside has intensified since Thursday between the Israeli military, which carried out dozens of strikes in southern Lebanon, and the Islamist motion.

The military mentioned Friday that about 140 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into Israel by noon. Hezbollah claimed duty for rocket assaults on six Israeli navy websites. In southern Lebanon, residents of border cities described shelling the evening earlier than as “of an intensity never seen before” prior to now 12 months. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah mentioned Thursday that Israel would obtain “a terrible punishment” after the explosions of the communications gadgets.

Israel has not commented on the assault, which hit Hezbollah strongholds within the southern suburbs of Beirut and in southern and japanese Lebanon, killing 37 individuals and wounding 2,931 in two days. The UN Security Council is because of maintain an emergency assembly on Friday following the assault, which has additional fuelled fears of a conflagration within the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will delay his deliberate journey to the United States due to the scenario within the north of the nation, an official mentioned.

Air raids in Lebanon

On Thursday evening, Israel stepped up air raids in southern Lebanon, saying it had focused Hezbollah rocket launchers and struck “about 100 launchers” and different infrastructure “representing about 1,000 cannons.” According to the Lebanese information company Ani, the Israeli air power struck the area at the very least 52 instances.

“I counted more than 50 raids,” mentioned Elie Rmeih, a 45-year-old shopkeeper from the city of Marjayoun, whose home is positioned in an uncovered space. “I took my children and went to a friend’s house” to shelter them, he mentioned, describing “a terrifying scene that had nothing to do with what we have seen” because the begin of cross-border firefights between Hezbollah and the Israeli military in October 2023. “The bombings last night were very strange, in their density, the colors and the smoke they gave off,” recalled Zeina Harb, a trainer in Zawatar El Sharqiya. She describes the “panic” that has gripped residents because the beepers exploded, however nonetheless hopes “that the war will not spread.”

The first wave of pager blasts got here Tuesday shortly after Israel introduced it was increasing its battle goals to the northern entrance, the border with Lebanon, to permit the return dwelling of tens of hundreds of residents displaced by the violence. The principal acknowledged goals thus far have been the destruction of Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since 2007, and the return of hostages held within the Palestinian territory.

“You will not be able to bring the people of the north” again dwelling, Hassan Nasrallah retorted. “Lebanon's front with Israel will remain open until the end of the aggression in Gaza,” he mentioned.

Trapped beepers

A Lebanese safety official mentioned the transmission gadgets utilized by Hezbollah members “were pre-programmed to explode.” A preliminary investigation by Lebanese authorities exhibits that the gadgets had been booby-trapped earlier than getting into the nation, based on a letter from the Lebanese mission to the UN seen by AFP on Thursday. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib introduced that he was submitting a criticism with the Security Council following “the Israeli cyberterrorist aggression which constitutes a war crime.”

The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's ideological military, have vowed “a crushing response from the resistance front,” the identify Iran provides to armed teams within the area hostile to Israel. Meanwhile, bombings proceed within the besieged Gaza Strip, the place two Israeli strikes killed at the very least 14 individuals Friday morning, based on the Civil Defense.

One of them focused a home within the Nusseirat camp within the middle of the territory, killing eight individuals, whereas six individuals, together with youngsters, had been killed within the bombing of a constructing in Gaza City within the north, based on this supply. The battle broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas commandos carried out an unprecedented assault on Israeli soil, which resulted within the loss of life of 1,205 individuals, principally civilians, based on an AFP depend primarily based on official Israeli figures that features hostages who died or had been killed in captivity within the Gaza Strip.