Beirut: Israel hit a Beirut suburb with an airstrike Friday, not long after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets following a vow by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a “targeted strike” in Beirut. An Israeli official confirmed that their military targeted Ibrahim Akil, a senior Hezbollah military official, in the airstrike.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Akil was killed in the Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that killed at least 8 people and wounded 59 others, according to Lebanese health officials. The Israeli official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a behind the scenes security matter.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to speak to the media, confirmed tthat Akil was supposed to be in the building when it was targeted Friday. The official couldn’t confirm if Akil was killed. The strike came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets, which the Israeli military said came in three waves targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.
Following the attacks, the Israeli military said that it had struck areas across southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, but didn’t provide details of damage.
Hezbollah said its attacks had targeted several sites along the border with Katyusha rockets, including multiple air defence bases as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade they said they’d struck for the first time.
The Israeli military said 120 missiles were launched at areas of the Golan Heights, Safed and the Upper Galilee, some of which were intercepted. Fire crews were working to extinguish blazes caused by pieces of debris that fell to the ground in several areas, the military said.
The military didn’t say whether any missiles had hit targets or caused any casualties.
Another 20 missiles were shot at the areas of Meron and Netua, and most fell in open areas, the military said, adding that no injuries were reported.
Hezbollah said the rockets were in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages and homes in southern Lebanon, not two days of attacks widely blamed on Israel that set off explosives in thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies.
On Thursday, Israel said its military had struck “hundreds of rocket launcher barrels” in southern Lebanon, saying that they “were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory.”