Israel kills Hezbollah commander in Beirut, vows more air strikes

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: An Israeli air strike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday (Sep 24) as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East.
Israel’s military said the air strike on the Lebanese capital killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, who it said was the commander of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket force. Two security sources in Lebanon described him as a leading figure in the Iran-backed group’s rocket division.
Israel’s military later said the airforce also conducted “extensive strikes” on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and dozens of launchers that were aimed at Israeli territory.
“Hezbollah today is not the same Hezbollah we knew a week ago. (It) has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, adding the strikes would continue.
Israel struck the Hezbollah-controlled area of Beirut for a second consecutive day. The Lebanese health ministry said at least six people were killed and 15 wounded when a building in the Ghobeiry neighbourhood of Beirut was struck.
Lebanese environment minister Nasser Yassin said 27,000 people were registered as displaced by the bombing campaign launched by Israel on Monday.
“We felt as if we were in a war, a very difficult war,” said Rima Ali Chahine, 50, speaking at a makeshift shelter for displaced people at a Beirut college.
Calls for diplomacy are growing as the conflict worsens, with UN human rights chief Volker Turk urging all states and actors with influence to avert further escalation in Lebanon.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told MSNBC that he believed “a path forward” could still be found to de-escalation and a diplomatic solution.
The fighting has raised fears that the United States, Israel’s close ally, and regional power Iran, which has proxies across the Middle East – Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq – will be sucked into a wider war.
Hezbollah last week suffered heavy losses when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded.
The operation was widely attributed to Israel, which has a long history of sophisticated attacks on foreign soil. It has not confirmed or denied responsibility.