Israel Claims Killing Top Hezbollah Missile Commander Amid Escalating Conflict
Israel reported that a senior Hezbollah missile and rocket unit commander has been killed amid intense fighting with the Lebanese militant group. Israel’s military continues to exchange fire with Hezbollah, while the death toll from Israel’s widespread bombardment of Lebanon has climbed almost to 560.
Hezbollah Commander Ibrahim Kobeisi Targeted
“Hezbollah commander”.
Military officials said Ibrahim Kobeisi, identified as responsible for launches of missiles into Israel in recent days, was killed in an Israeli attack on Beirut just after midnight Tuesday. The strike targeted Kobeisi and other high-ranking commanders, although it was not immediately clear if anyone else was injured or killed.
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Mass Displacement in Southern Lebanon
As tensions escalate toward all-out war, thousands of people have fled southern Lebanon. Displaced families are seeking refuge in makeshift shelters set up in schools across Beirut and Sidon.
“Hezbollah commander”
Many end up in a car or in the park or even along the coast because hotels are fully booked and room rates unaffordable for many. Issa Baydoun evacuated from the village of Shihine when it was bombed; he traveled to Beirut with his extended family in a convoy. He found full shelters and had to end up sleeping in their vehicles on the roadside.
“We faced significant challenges on our journey to get here,” Baydoun remarked. He dismissed Israel’s claim that it was only targeting military sites.
“We left our homes because Israel is attacking civilians,” he explained. “Our primary concern was to ensure the safety of our children.”
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UNHCR Staff Among Casualties
“Hezbollah commander”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon reported on Tuesday that one of its staff members and her young son were among those killed in the Bekaa region on Monday. Additionally, a UNHCR-contracted cleaner lost her life in a strike in southern Lebanon, while the husband of a staff member and one of their children sustained serious injuries.
“Hezbollah commander”
Responding to the disaster, well-wishers have been offering empty apartments and rooms through social media, and volunteers established a kitchen at an abandoned Beirut service station for meals in preparation for the displaced. The spot became a volunteer ground after the devastating port explosion was heard in the city late 2020.
“Hezbollah commander”
State-run National News Agency said long lines were forming at bakeries and gas stations in the eastern city of Baalbek as people rushed to stock up on supplies ahead of the Lebanese union’s further strikes Tuesday. Heavy traffic jams were reported at border crossings with Syria as people attempted to flee Lebanon for the neighboring country.
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Hezbollah said it fired at night and again this morning at eight locations in Israel, including an explosives-making factory in Zichron Yaakov, 60 kilometers from the border. In retaliation, the Israeli military said Tuesday morning that 55 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, starting fires and damaging buildings.
Galilee Medical Centre, a hospital in northern Israel, treated two patients with minor head injuries from a rocket that fell near their vehicle. Several others were treated for light injuries resulting from rushing to shelters and traffic accidents during the alarm.
“Hezbollah commander”
Israeli military officials confirmed carrying out dozens of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, including a cell that fired rockets overnight. Tanks and artillery shelled spots near the border. And they reported a “targeted strike” in Beirut, but left details to the imagination. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that six people were killed and 15 were wounded in the strike in a southern suburb known for its strong Hezbollah presence. Reportedly, according to the National News Agency of Afghanistan, three out of six floors in an apartment building were destroyed in the attack.
Renewed shelling today followed Monday’s barrages that claimed the highest toll of deaths in one day since the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Israel said its strikes hit sites where Hezbollah had stashed weapons.
“Hezbollah commander”
Data from American fire-tracking satellites analyzed by The Associated Press Tuesday revealed the expansive scope of Israel’s airstrikes across southern Lebanon, which in four days of bombing covered over 1,700 square kilometers. NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, usually used for detecting and tracking wildfires in the United States, can also track the flashes and burns caused by airstrikes, mainly when they set ablaze flammable material like munitions or fuel.
“Hezbollah commander”
According to data from Monday, “major fires were reported across southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley, particularly near the southern coastal town of Naqoura, which hosts a base for the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL.” Other fires were evident in mountainous rural and villages.
Tensions have been escalating steadily over the last 11 months again and have brought both parties to the brink of war. In solidarity with the Palestinians and its ally Hamas, another Iran-backed militant group in Gaza, Hezbollah has been firing rockets, missiles, and drones into northern Israel.
He is the dominant political and military force in Lebanon, and Hezbollah has often been described as the leading paramilitary group in the Arab world. In return, Israel has intensified airstrikes against Lebanon, targeted killing of Hezbollah’s leadership, and threatened a broader military operation.
“Hezbollah commander”
Thousands of Lebanese fled southern villages yesterday, responding to an Israeli military order for evacuations in areas where it alleges Hezbollah has positioned rocket launchers and other arms. It was the largest exodus since a month long war 18 years ago.
Escalating Conflict and Its Toll
The Lebanese Health Ministry said that the strikes since Monday have left at least 558 casualties, with half of these casualties being children and 94 women, while more than 1,800 people were injured. The staggering toll occurs during the aftermath of communication devices recently being attacked in the country.
Almost a year of border fire has already dislodged tens of thousands of people from communities on both sides of the border. Israel says it will do whatever is necessary to keep its citizens and their return to northern homes safe. Hezbollah, on the other hand, has announced that it will continue rocket attacks until there’s a declaration of a halt to fire established in Gaza, now almost impossible to envision.
While the Israeli military does not have any further plans to launch a ground invasion, it is ready to do so, as thousands of troops were stripped from Gaza in preparation and redeployed to the northern border. Hezbollah has reportedly fired about 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October-including 250 on Monday.
The Israeli military said warplanes attacked 1,600 Hezbollah targets on Monday, including cruise missiles, long and short-range rockets, and attack drones, some of which were hidden in private homes. Lebanese officials reported that most of the casualties were civilians, and over 90 women and children were included among the dead.
Israel says Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking any place in Israel.
Fighting raged on Monday after a particularly heavy bombardment on Sunday by Hezbollah, which fired 150 rockets, missiles and drones at northern Israel. Strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters prompted the retaliatory attacks.
Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon The attack killed 39 people and injured nearly 3,000, many of whom were civilians. While Lebanon attributed the incident to Israel, the Israeli government neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
