Second Hezbollah chief killed in Israeli missile strike on Beirut

A second senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli air strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the terror group announced on Saturday.

Ahmed Mahmud Wahbi headed operations against Israel from the onset of the Gaza war in October 2023 until the start of this year, according to Hezbollah.

Wahbi was the second major Hezbollah figure confirmed dead from the missile strike after Ibrahim Akil, the group’s second-in-command.

The killings took place on Friday when Israeli fighter jets fired a salvo of missiles at a multi-storey building in the south of the Lebanese capital, where Akil was holding a meeting with his senior lieutenants.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 37 people were killed in the attack, a figure that is understood to include at least 16 Hezbollah fighters.

Rescuers were still searching the rubble for survivors – and bodies – on Saturday night.

Earlier in the day, Brett McGurk, the White House’s coordinator for the Middle East, said nobody “sheds a tear” for the death of Akil, who had a $7 million bounty on his head for his role in the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut in 1983, which killed 63 people.

He was also said to be involved in the twin bombing attacks on the US Marine barracks in Lebanon the same year which killed 241 US personnel and 307 people in total.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan admitted that he was worried about spiralling tensions between Israel and Lebanon but said that the Israeli killing of Akil was “a good outcome”.

“That individual has American blood on his hands and has a Rewards For Justice price on his head,” Mr Sullivan told reporters on Saturday.

“You know 1983 seems like a long time ago,” Mr Sullivan said. “But for a lot of families and a lot of people, they’re still living with it every day.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday’s strike had “completely dismantled” Hezbollah’s military chain of command and vowed to keep operating against “any terrorist organisation” that threatens its citizens.

Throughout Saturday, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged cross-border fire.

The Israeli military pounded Hezbollah targets across Lebanon with artillery and fighter jet missiles.

Photos showed smoke plumes rising from the hills around the southern Lebanese towns of Marjayoun and Jabal al-Rihan.

According to Lebanese media, Jabal al-Rihan, Jezzine district, the coast of the village of Adloun, Saida and the outskirts of Houmin Fawqa were among the areas hit by Israeli strikes.

Hezbollah launched its own barrage of missiles at Israel in response.

The terror group said it fired rockets at the “main air defence missile base” of the Israeli northern command and the Israeli military barracks in Zarit.

The IDF said nearly 100 missiles rained down on northern Israel within the space of a few hours.

In the first barrage at 2pm local time, it said around 25 rockets were fired towards the towns of Safed and Kiryat Shmona.

By 3pm local time, 10 more rockets had been fired towards the Arab al-Aramshe area and another 25 had been launched towards the Golan Heights.

A short while later, 30 more rockets were reported to have been fired in the Upper Galilee.

There were no reports of any injuries but Israeli police said the rockets had caused damage and started fires.

The Israeli military said its jets had struck some 180 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Saturday, taking out what it said were thousands of rocket launcher barrels.

It added that the barrels were primed for imminent attacks on Israel and released video footage showing their destruction.

In Gaza, 21 people were reported by the Hamas-run health ministry to have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a school that had been sheltering displaced people.

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for the Hamas-run civil defence agency, said more than half the dead at the Gaza City school were children.

“Civil defence crews recovered [the bodies of] 21 people, including 13 children and six women, one of whom was pregnant,” said Mr Bassal.

The IDF said the attack was “a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command-and-control centre... embedded inside an adjacent school”.

It added that it had taken steps “to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence”.

TV footage showed the ground floor of the school covered with concrete rubble and mangled chairs and tables, and a gaping hole in the ceiling of a classroom.

03:50 PM BST

Pictured: Top Hezbollah commander killed in Friday’s Israeli strike

Hezbollah said on Saturday that Ahmed Wahbi, a top commander during the Gaza war until early 2024, was killed in an Israel strike on Beirut on Friday.

Lebanon’s health ministry said the strike killed at least 37 people, including 16 senior Hezbollah leaders.

03:39 PM BST

US: Israel-Lebanon escalation is worrying, but justice was served in Beirut strike

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said he was worried about spiralling tensions between Israel and Lebanon, but that the Israeli killing of a top Hezbollah commander was “a good outcome”.

Israel killed Ibrahim Akil, Hezbollah’s second-in-command, in an air strike on Beirut on Friday. He had been wanted by the US for years for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut.

“That individual has American blood on his hands and has a rewards for justice price on his head,” Sullivan told reporters on Saturday.

“You know 1983 seems like a long time ago,” Sullivan said. “But for a lot of families and a lot of people, they’re still living with it every day.”

03:26 PM BST

‘Nearly 100 rockets launched at Israel in past few hours’

Nearly 100 rockets were launched from Lebanon at Israel over the past few hours, Israel’s military has said.

According to the Israel Defence Forces, the first barrage saw around 25 rockets fired towards Safed and Kiryat Shmona at 2pm local time.

By 3pm local time, 10 more rockets had been fired towards the Arab al-Aramshe area, and another 25 had been launched towards the Golan Heights.

A short while later, 30 more rockets were reported to have been fired at the Upper Galilee area.

There are no reports of any injuries.

03:17 PM BST

Hezbollah’s military chain of command ‘completely dismantled’, IDF says

Hezbollah’s military chain of command has been “completely dismantled”, Israel’s military has claimed in a post on X.

The Israel Defence Forces vowed to continue operating against any terrorist organisation that poses a threat to its civilians.

01:17 PM BST

Pictured: Israeli bombardments of southern Lebanon and cross-border clashes with Hezbollah

Israeli forces have attacked Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon.

In response, Hezbollah said it had fired rockets fired Katyusha rockets at the “main air defence missile base” of the Israeli Northern Command.

01:00 PM BST

Watch: Aftermath of Israeli air strike on Gaza school that ‘killed at least 13’

At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City that was sheltering displaced people, Palestinian media said.

12:57 PM BST

Cyprus calls on Lebanon and Israel to show restraint

Cyprus has called on Lebanon and Israel to show restraint amid the threat of all-out war between Israel and Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.

President Nikos Christodoulides “expressed his strong concern” at recent events in the region in phone calls to Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, a spokesman said.

Cyprus was ready to act as a conduit for diplomacy as well as facilitate contacts between the sides, the spokesman added.

31 were people, including 16 Hezbollah members, were reported to have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut on Friday.

12:32 PM BST

Hezbollah ‘appoints replacements for assassinated commanders’

Hezbollah has appointed replacements for two senior commanders killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut on Friday, Saudi media has reported.

According to Al-Hadath, Ali Karaki and Talal Hamia will take command of Hezbollah’s operations after the assassination of Ibrahim Akil and Ahmed Mahmud Wahbi, who were killed when Israeli fighter jets launched a salvo of missiles at a multi-storey building in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.

Both Karaki and Hamia already sit on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah’s top military body.

Karaki is the head of Hezbollah’s southern command, and Hamia is the head of Hezbollah’s Unit 910, the group’s foreign operations unit.

11:47 AM BST

13 civilians killed in Israeli Gaza City strike, Palestinian media reports

At least 13 people were killed by an Israeli air strike that a hit a school sheltering displaced people in southern Gaza City, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Saturday.

A number of other people were wounded in a separate strike that hit another nearby school, the agency added.

10:49 AM BST

Watch: Scene at site of Israeli strike on southern Beirut suburb

10:32 AM BST

Pictured: Damaged cars at the site of Friday’s Israeli air strike on Beirut

10:29 AM BST

Israel is committing ‘shameless crimes against children’, Iran says

Israel is committing “shameless crimes” against children, according to Iran’s supreme leader.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the comments on Saturday after an Israeli air strike on Beirut on Friday that Lebanon’s health ministry said killed 31 people, including three children.

Hezbollah has reportedly identified at least 16 senior commanders killed in the strike, including Ibrahim Akil, the group’s second-in-command.

10:22 AM BST

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