Israel targets senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut attack, source claims

BEIRUT:

An Israeli strike targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut’s southern suburbs at dusk Tuesday, a senior Lebanese security source said, adding that the commander’s fate remained unclear.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

A loud explosion was heard and smoke could be seen rising over the southern suburbs – a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – around 7:40 p.m. (1640 GMT), a Reuters witness said.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike targeted the area around Hezbollah’s Shura Council in the capital’s Haret Hreik district.

Beirut has been on edge for days ahead of an expected Israeli attack in retaliation for a strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed a dozen youths.

Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for the attack. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

Earlier, a rocket attack on a soccer field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 people, including children, on Saturday. Israeli authorities blamed Hezbollah and vowed to retaliate against the Iranian-backed Lebanese group.

Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike, which was the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-controlled territory since the Gaza conflict began. The attack escalated tensions, sparking fears of a full-scale conflict between the heavily armed rivals.

The missile hit a soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, territory Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognized by most countries.

Israel responded with strong actions against the attack on the Golan Heights.

Later, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Sunday that there was “every indication” that the Lebanese Hezbollah group was behind a rocket attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 youths.