Lebanon latest: Death toll rises from strike that kills Hezbollah commanders

The death toll from an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday has risen sharply, Lebanese officials said, with several children and women among the dead.

Throughout the day on Saturday, rescuers searched the ruins after a high-rise building collapsed and others were partially damaged in the attack.

Excavators were brought in to help clear the debris while medical workers searched the area and people waited for news of those still missing.

The attack, which hit the densely populated area of ​​Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut, killed at least 37 people, including three children, and wounded 68 others, in said Lebanon’s health ministry.

The airstrike was Israel’s third in the Lebanese capital this year and is seen as a major escalation in the region, adding to fears of a general war. The top UN official, Rosemary Di Carlo, has warned that the Middle East is at risk of conflict that could “undo” the damage seen in the region so far.

Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian-backed military and political group, has confirmed the death of Ibrahim Aqil, a senior commander of Radwan’s elite forces. The group also confirmed that Ahmed Wahbi, himself Radwan’s key figure, died in the attack.

Responding to the attack, Lebanon’s health minister, Dr Firass Abiad, said it was a “crime of international humanitarian law”.

He said: “The truth is that those children and women who were killed were not members of Hezbollah.” “Those were the neighbors”.

The Israeli army released information about Friday’s attack in southern Lebanon, saying it killed twelve senior commanders in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan army.

In what it described as a “correct strike”, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said those targeted in Beirut had met in Dahieh, a known stronghold of the Iran-backed group in the capital. Lebanon.

In a separate post on X, an IDF spokesman added 12 of those killed in the Beirut strike were senior members of the Iranian-backed group “above the leadership of Hezbollah”.

In addition to Aqil’s death, Hezbollah also confirmed that Ahmed Wahbi, who himself was a member of Radwan, died in an attack that hit the densely populated area of ​​Dahieh – the group’s stronghold.

How Hezbollah will respond is unclear. It does not want to provoke a wider war with Israel.

Hezbollah’s main sponsor, Iran, also does not want a major conflict.

But the latest airstrikes took place days after a blast of pagers and walkie-talkies used by this group killed many, injured thousands and caused panic in a country already weary from almost a year of war.

Since the explosion of the equipment on Tuesday and Wednesday, 152 people are still in serious condition and another 777 are being treated in hospital for their wounds, Dr Abiad said.

The death toll in the two days of the explosion has risen to 39.

Twelve people were killed in the attack on Tuesdayas the number of those killed on Wednesday reached 27, he added.

On Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah blamed Israel for the attacks, saying it had crossed “red lines” and vowed “only punishment”.

Israel has not claimed responsibility.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies this week in Lebanon violated international humanitarian law.

The border war between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on October 8, 2023 – the day after an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from Gaza – when Hezbollah shoot Israeli positions in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Since then, hundreds of people, mostly Hezbollah fighters, have been killed in the area fighting over boundarieswhile tens of thousands have also been relocated on both sides of the border.

Israel recently added the return of displaced people from the north of the country to the list of war targets.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday Israel was entering a “new phase of war”is focusing more of its efforts in the north.