An Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday killed a Hezbollah commander who was a leading figure in its rocket division, two security sources in Lebanon said, as fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East mounted.
The sources identified the commander who was killed as Ibrahim Qubaisi. The attack, in which six people were killed, dealt another blow to the Iran-backed group which has faced a series of setbacks at the hands of Israel over the past week.
The pressure on Hezbollah has increased fears that nearly a year of conflict will explode and destabilize the oil-producing Middle East, where a conflict between Hamas and Israel is already raging in Gaza with no end in sight.
Israel struck the Hezbollah-controlled area of the Lebanese capital for a second consecutive day after mounting a new wave of airstrikes on targets in Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets into northern Israel earlier on Tuesday.
After nearly 12 months of war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
The Lebanese health ministry gave an initial toll of six dead and 15 wounded in the Beirut strike, which hit a building in the usually busy Ghobeiry neighbourhood. One of the security sources shared a photo showing damage to the top floor of the five-storey building.
The Israeli military carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah on Monday which Lebanese authorities said killed more than 500 people in the country’s deadliest day in decades.
The Israeli government has made securing the northern border and returning residents there a war priority, setting the stage for a long conflict, while Hezbollah has vowed that it will not back down until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
“The situation requires continued, intense action in all arenas,” Military Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said after holding a security assessment, vowing to keep up pressure on Hezbollah.
Lebanese authorities said 558 people had been killed, including 50 children and 94 women, in Israel’s airstrikes on Monday. A further 1,835 were wounded, they said, and tens of thousands more have fled for safety.
The casualty tolls and the intensity of the attacks by the most powerful and advanced military in the Middle East have spread panic in Lebanon, which suffered from devastating destruction when Israel and Hezbollah fought in 2006.
“We are waiting for victory, God willing, because as long as we have a neighbor like Israel, we can’t sleep safely,” said Beirut resident Hassan Omar.
Afif Ibrahim, a taxi driver from southern Lebanon, said: “They (Israel) want us (Lebanese) to kneel, but we kneel only to God in our prayers; we bow our heads to no one but God.”
