An Israeli strike in Beirut on Friday killed 37 people, the Lebanese Ministry of Defense said
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – At least 37 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Beirut area on Friday, including three children and seven women, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday.
Hezbollah said overnight that those killed in the deadliest strike in the war between Hezbollah and Israel included 16 of its members, and that senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and another senior commander, Ahmed Wahbi, were among the dead.
The Israeli army, in a statement at X, said the strike hit the secret circle of Aqil and the top commanders of Hezbollah's forces in Radwan, and “almost completely disintegrated” the Hezbollah army.
Heavy cross-border strikes continued on Saturday, with Israeli warplanes carrying the heaviest bombardment in 11 months of fighting in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah saying it launched rocket attacks on military targets in northern Israel.
Friday's strike deepened tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed group, dealing another blow to Hezbollah after two days of attacks this week in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members were blown up.
The death toll in those incidents has risen to 39, with more than 3,000 injured.
The attack on the telecommunications equipment is widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
Hezbollah-aligned Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told reporters at the site of Friday's strike that at least 23 people were still missing.
“The enemy of Israel is taking the region to war,” he said.
The department sent vehicles and equipment to help rescuers dig out the collapsed buildings.
“We have been pulling women and children out from under the rubble,” he said.
'A NEW PHASE'
Hezbollah confirmed Aqil's death in a statement shortly after midnight calling him “one of its top leaders”.
During the night, 15 other members were killed, including the commander-in-chief Wahbi, who was responsible for the operation of the Radwan army during the war in Gaza until the beginning of 2024.
The strike on Friday afternoon was aimed at the building next to the kindergarten, which was damaged due to the strike, said a security source on Friday.
A second security source said several missiles hit the opening of the building's garage. The explosion ripped through the lower levels of the building as Aqil met the other officers inside.
In a brief statement Friday evening carried by Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's intentions are clear and its actions speak for themselves.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who said this week that Israel is launching a new phase of the war on the northern border, wrote in X: “The sequence of actions in the new phase will continue until our goal is achieved: the safe return of northern residents to their homes.”
Tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in October in support of the Palestinians in the nearly year-long war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that the airstrip in northern Israel – from the city of Hadera in the north – was closed to private jets, but the move did not affect international flights.
“These restrictions were put in place to maintain aviation safety and in line with operational activities,” the military said.
'DANGEROUS CYCLE OF VIOLENCE'
With at least 70 people killed in Lebanon this week, the country's death toll since October has surpassed 740. The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is at its worst since they fought a bitter war in 2006.
The UN's special envoy for Lebanon, Jeanine-Hennis Plasschaert, said on Friday that the strike in a densely populated area south of Beirut was part of “a very dangerous cycle of violence with tragic consequences. This must end now.”
Friday's strike was the second in less than two months that Israel has targeted a Hezbollah military commander in Beirut. In July, an Israeli airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, the group's military commander.
While the current conflict is largely contained to areas on or near the border, this week's escalation has raised concerns that it could widen and escalate further.
