JERUSALEM – Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed scores of people on Sunday as the Hezbollah terrorist group attacked a series of buildings, including killing its general leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah confirmed that Nabil Kaouk, deputy head of the Central Council militant group, was killed on Saturday, making him the seventh Hezbollah leader to be killed in Israeli strikes in less than a week. They included founding members who had avoided death or imprisonment for decades.
Hezbollah had previously confirmed that Ali Karaki, another top commander, was killed in Friday’s strike that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 Hezbollah fighters were killed, including one who was in charge of Nasrallah’s security detail.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes and drones carried out deadly strikes across Lebanon on Sunday. Two consecutive strikes near the city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and wounded at least 47.
The Israeli military said it had carried out another strike targeting Beirut, but did not immediately provide details.
Lebanese media reported a number of strikes in the center, east and west of the Bekaa and south, apart from the strikes in Beirut. These strikes were aimed at residential buildings and it is expected that the number of dead will increase.
In a video of the Sidon strike, verified by the Associated Press, the building swayed before collapsing as neighbors filmed. Another television channel asked viewers to pray for the family trapped under the rubble, and post their photos, as rescuers failed to reach them. The Ministry of Health in Lebanon reported that at least 14 doctors were killed in two days in the south.
President Joe Biden said on Sunday he will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that a serious war in the Middle East must be avoided.
“It has to be,” Biden told reporters at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as he boarded Air Force One for Washington.
Meanwhile, the remnants of Friday’s strike that killed Nasrallah are still smoldering. AP reporters saw smoke over the rubble when people flocked to the area, some to check what was left of their homes and others to pay their respects, pray or to see the damage.
In response to a sharp increase in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah greatly increased its attacks last week, from a few dozen to several hundred daily, the Israeli military said. These attacks injured a few people and caused damage, but most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems or fell into open areas.
The force says its strikes have reduced Hezbollah’s capabilities and that the number of launches would have been much higher had Hezbollah not been struck.
Israel is attacking the Houthis in Yemen
Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said dozens of its warplanes struck the Houthis in Yemen in response to the latest Israeli attack. The military said it was targeting power plants and seaports in the city of Hodeida.
The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday when Netanyahu arrived. The Houthi press office said the Israeli strikes hit the ports of Hodeida and Ras Issa, as well as two power plants in the city of Hodeida, which is a stronghold of the Iran-backed rebels. The Houthi Ministry of Health said the strikes killed four people and injured 40 others.
The Houthis said they had taken precautionary measures before the strikes, spilling oil from the ports, according to Nasruddin Ammer, deputy director of the Houthi press office. He said that the X strike site will not stop the rebels from attacking the shipping lanes and Israel.
US warns Hezbollah will work quickly to rebuild
Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon had “destroyed” the Hezbollah structure, but warned the group would work quickly to rebuild it.
“I think people are safer without him walking around,” Kirby said of Nasrallah. “But they will try to recover. We look at what they are doing to try to fill this leadership gap. It will be difficult. … Much of their command structure has now been removed.”
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kirby sidestepped questions about whether the Biden administration agreed with how the Israelis targeted Hezbollah leaders. The White House continues to call on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day ceasefire imposed by the US, France and other countries as world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly last week.
Netanyahu added a former rival to his Cabinet
Netanyahu on Sunday appointed his former rival, Gideon Saar, to his Cabinet. The move expands Netanyahu’s ruling coalition and helps cement the Israeli leader in office.
Under their agreement, Netanyahu said Saar would be given a place in the Security Cabinet, the body responsible for managing the ongoing war.
Saar was hoping to replace Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, another Netanyahu rival. But the deal to become the defense minister fell through after the escalation of the war with Hezbollah.
Airstrikes are driving thousands from their homes in Lebanon
Earlier this month, Hezbollah was hit again by a sophisticated attack on pagers and walkie-talkies that was widely blamed on Israel. A wave of Israeli airstrikes in large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people – including 156 women and 87 children – in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven from their homes in Lebanon by recent strikes. The government estimates that around 250,000 are in shelters, with three to four times as many staying with friends or relatives, or pitching tents on the streets.
Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party backed by Iran, Israel’s arch regional rival, rose to prominence in the region after fighting a devastating month-long war with Israel in 2006 that ended in a draw.
Kaouk was a veteran member of Hezbollah dating back to the 1980s and served as Hezbollah’s military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. The United States announced sanctions against him in 2020.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel after the Oct. 7 of Hamas leaving Gaza and the war started there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies that consider themselves part of the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel.
The conflict slowly escalated to the brink of an all-out war, raising fears of a global conflagration.
Israel says it is willing to return about 60,000 of its citizens to northern communities that were displaced nearly a year ago. Hezbollah has said it will only stop firing rockets if there is a ceasefire in Gaza, which has proved difficult despite months of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
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