BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military says it has killed a top commander with Hezbollah’s missile and rocket unit in a strike in Beirut. Military officials made the announcement Tuesday about Ibrahim Kobeisi. They said he was responsible for launches towards Israel. The military also said “other key commanders” were with Kobeisi at the time of the strike, but officials did not say whether any of the others were killed or wounded.… Continue Reading
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli strikes on Monday killed more than 490 Lebanese, including more than 90 women and children, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah. Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006. The health ministry said the strikes killed 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, and wounded 1,645 people — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.… Continue Reading
NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah has launched more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel and Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem said Sunday that his group is now in an open-ended battle with Israel. The rocket barrage overnight was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that have killed dozens, including a veteran Hezbollah commander, and an unprecedented attack targeting the group’s communications devices. Air raid sirens echoed across northern Israel, sending hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into shelters. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was actively engaged “quiet, assertive diplomacy” in hopes of preventing an all-out war.… Continue Reading
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s military says a top Hezbollah leader was among those killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut apartment block. Lebanese officials on Saturday raised the death toll from Friday afternoon’s airstrike to 37, including seven women and three children. Lebanon’s health minister told reporters Saturday that 68 people were also wounded, including 15 who are hospitalized. The Israeli military says that among those killed was Ibrahim Akil, one of Hezbollah’s most senior leaders and the commander of its special forces group the Radwan Force. Israel claims the strike killed 16 Hezbollah fighters who were meeting in the building’s basement. On Saturday, Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade fire across the border.… Continue Reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Israel has launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated southern Beirut neighborhood. It was the deadliest such strike on Lebanon’s capital in decades, with Lebanese authorities reporting at least 14 people killed and dozens more wounded in the attack. The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiya district killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, as well as 10 other Hezbollah operatives. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant described the Israeli strike that targeted Akil as part of “a new phase of war.” Several hours later, Hezbollah confirmed Akil’s death.… Continue Reading
BEIRUT (AP) — A new Hezbollah volley into northern Israel signals the group is keeping up its drumbeat of exchanges with the Israeli military. Lebanon was still reeling from this week’s unprecedented mass bombings via electronic devices, widely believed to be an attack by Israel. Over two days hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies largely used by Hezbollah detonated, killing at least 32 people, including two children, and wounding 3,000 others. The latest Hezbollah volley, which wounded eight in Israel, was a signal it would continue the fire after the attack and even as Israeli has warned of a possible escalated military operation in Lebanon.… Continue Reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Israel’s defense minister declares a “new phase” of war as Hezbollah officials and Lebanon’s state media say explosions went off in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices. The Hezbollah officials and state media said Wednesday that walkie-talkies and even solar equipment detonated a day after hundreds of pagers blew up. Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 14 people were killed and 450 were wounded. Israel’s defense minister made no mention of the mysterious waves of exploding devices in his remarks.… Continue Reading
CAIRO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed frustration at surprise escalations that threaten to derail efforts to broker a cease-fire deal in Gaza. Speaking Wednesday in Egypt, Blinken said the U.S. is assessing a deadly attack that caused pagers used by Hezbollah to explode in Lebanon. The U.S., Egypt and other international partners are working for an agreement between Israel and Hamas to halt nearly a year of fighting in Gaza and release hostages held by the militant group. The U.S. says such a deal is the best chance at tamping down wider regional tensions, with Israeli leaders threatening to step up military action against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and the pager attack risking further escalation.… Continue Reading
BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously in parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a young girl. Officials in Lebanon say more than 2,700 were wounded on Tuesday, 200 critically. Hezbollah officials tell The Associated Press that the explosions affected a new brand of pagers used by the militant group. The explosions occurred in the suburbs of Beirut and in other areas that are Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel. AP has reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.… Continue Reading