Lebanon is currently observing three days of mourning following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, but Israeli warplanes have continued to bomb Beirut. The Health Ministry reported 33 people killed across the country on Saturday.
The Israeli military said Sunday it had killed another senior Hezbollah official in an airstrike.
The army stated that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s central council, was killed in an airstrike on Saturday. Hezbollah confirmed this later in the day.
The Islamist group also confirmed that another of its main commanders, Ali Karaki, was killed in the Israeli airstrike that killed its main leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Friday.
Several senior Hezbollah officials have been killed in Israeli strikes in recent weeks, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallahin Beirut on Friday.
The group was also the target of‘a sophisticated attack on its pagers and walkie-talkiesand Israel has carried out waves of airstrikes over the past week across large areas of Lebanon. Hezbollah continued to fire hundreds of rockets and missiles into northern Israel, but most were intercepted or fell in open areas.
Mr. Kaouk had been a senior member of Hezbollah since the 1980s and had previously served as Hezbollah’s military commander in southern Lebanon. The United States announced sanctions against him in 2020.
The Lebanese National News Agency reports thatAn Israeli airstrike destroyed a house early Sunday in a village in northeast Lebanon, killing 11 peoplea day after the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah confirmed the deaths of several commanders, including longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Six of the bodies were found under the rubble while the search continues for the other five in the village of al-Ain, the agency reported.
In southern Lebanon, Islamic Association of Scouts Risala said five of its members were killed in the line of duty. She said four of the killed men were from the village of Tayr Debba, in the south of the country, while the fifth was from the neighboring village of Kabrikha.
More than 700 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23when Israel intensified its airstrikes across the country, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh.
The Israeli army claims to be carrying out attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Israel has deployed troops near the border with Lebanon, a day after airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had “settled its scores” with Nasrallah’s death, calling it a “historic turning point.”
The troop buildup follows comments by the Israeli army on Wednesday that it was preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon.
Addressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the Israeli airstrikes were intended to “prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah “.
Lebanon is currently observing three days of mourning following Mr Nasrallah’s assassination, but Israeli warplanes have continued to bomb Beirut. The Health Ministry reported 33 people killed across Lebanon on Saturday.
The Israeli Defense Forces released footage on Saturday showing strikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that “among the targets struck were Hezbollah launchers that aimed at Israeli territory, structures in which weapons were stored, and other Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure.”
The number of displaced people in Lebanon exceeds 200,000
Meanwhile, the number of people displaced by the conflict in southern Lebanon has more than doubled and now stands at more than 211,000, according to the United Nations.
Hundreds of displaced families have been sleeping in public spaces in Beirut as the Israeli air assault continues.
Many families took refuge in public squares, beaches or in their cars in the city center, which has so far been spared the barrage.
“We just want a safe place, we don’t need clothes, we don’t need help, we don’t need food or drink. We just want a safe place so our children won’t be afraid, we left the Syrian war for the sake of the children, we came here and the same war happened,” said Fatima Ziyada, a Syrian refugee.
This wave of displacement comes alongside a rapid escalation over the past week, which has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon and culminated in a massive barrage of strikes Friday and overnight that razed at least six buildings multi-storey.
Across the border in Israel, residents of Tel Aviv took shelter as sirens rang out across the city.
The Israeli army stated thata missile launched from Yemen was intercepted shortly after the sirens went off.
No injuries were reported.
It is not yet clear whether the missile strike was aimed at the flight of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who interrupted his trip to the United States to return to Israel.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily strikes since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, after the Palestinian militant group stormed into Israel on October 7, sparking fears of a regional war.