Israeli airstrikes killed 10 senior Hezbollah commanders, together with the top of the elite Radwan Unit, Ibrahim Aqil, in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Friday.
“Following precise intelligence, the Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out a targeted strike in the Beirut area, eliminating Ibrahim Aqil, commander of the Radwan unit” together with different “senior figures in the operations network and command chain” of Radwan, the army stated in an announcement.
One of the safety sources in Lebanon stated he was killed together with members of the Radwan unit as they held a gathering.
The strike killed 9 individuals and wounded 59 others, Lebanon’s well being ministry stated, in a preliminary toll.
The strike inflicted one other blow on Hezbollah after the group suffered unprecedented Israeli assaults earlier this week during which pagers and walkie-talkies utilized by its members exploded, killing 37 individuals and wounding hundreds.
The civil protection stated its rescue groups have been looking for individuals underneath the rubble of two buildings hit in Friday’s strike.
It marks the second time in lower than two months that Israel has focused a number one Hezbollah army commander in Beirut. In July, an Israeli airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, the group’s high army commander.
Aqil had a $7 million bounty on his head from the United States over his hyperlink to the lethal bombing of Marines in Lebanon in 1983, in keeping with the U.S. State Department web site.
The Israeli army reported warning sirens sounded in northern Israel following the Beirut strike. Israeli media reported heavy rocket fireplace in northern Israel.
Hezbollah stated it had fired Katyusha rockets at what it described as the principle intelligence headquarters in northern Israel “which is responsible for assassinations.”
White House nationwide safety spokesman John Kirby stated he was not conscious of any Israeli notification to the United States earlier than the Beirut strike, including that Americans have been strongly urged to not journey to Lebanon, or to go away in the event that they have been already there.
“War is not inevitable up there at the Blue Line, and we’re going to continue to do everything we can to try to prevent it,” stated Kirby, referring to the frontier between Lebanon and Israel.
Reuters witnesses heard jet noise over Beirut across the time of the assault, and a cloud of smoke may very well be seen rising from the world of the strike.
Footage confirmed a badly broken constructing and a avenue strewn with rubble and burnt-out vehicles.
On Thursday night time, the Israeli army carried out its most intensive airstrikes in southern Lebanon because the battle erupted nearly a yr in the past.
The battle between Israel and Hezbollah is the worst since they fought a battle in 2006. Tens of hundreds have needed to go away properties on either side of the border.
While the battle has largely been contained to areas at, or close to the frontier, this week’s escalation has heightened considerations that it may widen and additional intensify.
The Israeli army stated Army Chief General Herzi Halevi met the top of the Northern Command and different division commanders on Friday morning.
Israeli newspapers reported that as a result of present scenario, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had delayed his journey to New York for the United Nations General Assembly subsequent week by a day and would arrive on Wednesday.
The Iranian embassy in Lebanon stated it “condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli madness that crossed all lines with targeting residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com