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An air strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut reportedly resulted in the death of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil and other senior commanders of the movement’s Radwan special forces, according to the Israeli military. Hezbollah has not yet verified the reported deaths.
The Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, killed 14 people and wounded 66, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Read Also: Israel Crossed Lines By Detonating Pagers – Hezbollah Chief
Hezbollah launched around 140 rockets into northern Israel. The Israeli military said the attack came in three waves. Hezbollah said it targeted several sites across Lebanon’s southern border.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk denounced the detonation of Hezbollah’s hand-held devices, which killed 37 people and wounded thousands in Lebanon. At an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York, Turk called for an “independent, thorough, and transparent investigation” into the explosions.
The Israeli military opened an investigation after videos showed its soldiers pushing what appear to be bodies off a rooftop in the occupied West Bank during a raid on Thursday in Qabatiya.
Israeli warplanes carried out late on Thursday their heaviest aerial strikes on southern Lebanon, striking hundreds of multiple rocket launcher barrels.
At least 41,252 Palestinians have been killed and 95,497 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
On Thursday, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, admitted that his group experienced a significant setback due to the attacks aimed at their electronic devices. However, he promised to continue launching daily attacks on Israel. This was his first speech since the recent attacks in Lebanon.
Recent reports have propagated the wide beliefs that Israel orchestrated the explosive attacks targeting Hezbollah but the blasts have also killed civilians, including two children. Explosions on Tuesday targeting pagers killed 12 people and exploding walkie-talkies and other electronics on Wednesday killed 25 people, taking the total death toll to 37, according to Lebanese health ministry figures. More than 2,930 people were wounded over two days of attacks.
Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire Thursday, with Israeli jets bombing southern Lebanon while Hezbollah fired a missile and drone barrage into northern Israel.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat Thursday near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, said the Israeli military.
