Israel on Tuesday conducted a rare airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut that killed two people and wounded others, according to Lebanese security sources. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior Hezbollah commander allegedly responsible for the deaths of 12 children and teens over the weekend in Majdal Shams, a town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
In an initial report posted on X, the Israeli military said it carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, "on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians".
It said it had issued no new instructions for civil defence in Israel following the strike.
A loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, at around 7:40pm local time, according to witness reports.
Lebanon's state-run national news agency said an Israeli strike had targeted the area around Hezbollah's Shura Council in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of the capital.
An AFP photographer at the scene saw an eight-storey building that had partially collapsed in the strike, while ambulances struggled through crowds and rescue workers combed through the rubble of the building for survivors.
Two people were killed in the strike, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP.
The Israeli military targeted Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander, "who is considered number two in Hezbollah and in charge of the organisation's military activities," Israeli daily Haaretz reported.
A source close to Hezbollah told the AFP that Shukr had "survived the Israeli strike". AFP was not immediately able to confirm that report.
However Saudi-owned news channel Al Hadath and Israeli public broadcaster Kan said Shukr was killed in the strike.
Shukr has a $5 million price on his head from the US Treasury, which describes him as a "senior adviser" to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and says he played "a central role" in the deadly 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.
Lebanese PM condemns ‘blatant Israeli aggression’
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the Israeli strike, calling it a "criminal act" in a "series of aggressive operations killing civilians in clear and explicit violation of international law".
Iran, Hezbollah’s backer, also condemned what it called a "vicious" Israeli strike in Lebanon.
"The vicious and criminal action of the Zionist criminal gang in the suburbs of Beirut certainly cannot stop ... Lebanon's proud resistance from continuing the honourable path of supporting the oppressed Palestinians and standing against the aggression of the Israeli apartheid regime," said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani in a statement
At a press briefing in Washington DC, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it was up to Israel "to speak for their own military operations", adding: "We do not believe that an all-out war is inevitable."
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have spiked since Saturday when a rocket strike killed 12 children and teenagers at a football pitch in a Druze village in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah and vowed a harsh response. Hezbollah has denied involvement.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said 10 rockets had been fired from Lebanon and one hit Kibbutz Hagoshrim, causing one casualty. Israel's ambulance service said the 30-year-old male died of shrapnel wounds.
Tens of thousands of people have fled or been evacuated from towns and villages on both sides of the Israeli-Lebanese frontier since cross border firing began in October.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
