Israel will intensify its attacks on Lebanon’s Hezbollah as more than 550 people have died

Israel said on Tuesday it was stepping up its bombing campaign in Lebanon after two days of airstrikes targeting Shiite Hezbollah fighters have left the death toll at more than 550 and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.

The dead included a Hezbollah rocket commander and two UN aid workers.

“We must not let Hezbollah rest. We must continue with all our strength,” said the Israeli commander, General Herzi Halevi, according to military sources.

The attack will be intensified and more troops will be deployed, he said. The Israeli Air Force said it struck “Hezbollah terrorist sites in southern Lebanon, including explosives, terrorist infrastructure sites and buildings where weapons were stored.”

A Hezbollah rocket commander was killed

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) later announced that it had killed a Hezbollah rocket commander in the Beirut neighborhood of Ghobeiry.

They said Ibrahim Qabisi was the one who attacked Israel with rockets and attacked civilians. Apart from Qabisi, other commanders of the rocket division were also killed, the statement said.

The IDF said Qabisi “planned a terrorist attack on Mount Dov in the 2000s” in which three Israeli soldiers were “captured and killed.” The bodies of Omar Suwad, Benny Avraham and Adi Avitan were returned to Israel in 2004 in a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah that was brokered by Germany.

Hezbollah later confirmed Qabisi’s death in a statement.

The Ministry of Health in Lebanon said six people died and 15 were injured in the strike. Witnesses reported that two floors of the building were destroyed and videos showed huge clouds of smoke.

On Tuesday, four civilians and a Syrian refugee were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese area of ​​Duair south of Beirut, while six people were killed in airstrikes in Nabatijeh, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported.

Tens of thousands fled

Tens of thousands of people in Lebanon have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes, according to official figures released on Tuesday.

Of those who have left, 27,000 have sought refuge in emergency shelters in the south and the Bekaa Valley in the east, said Nasser Jassin, acting environment minister.

More than 250 schools have been converted into emergency shelters for this purpose. Since then, basic relief supplies, hygiene items and food have been distributed to around 20,000 people.

The aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that teams are distributing mattresses and hygiene products in emergency areas throughout the country. There are also telephone counseling centers for displaced persons to receive psychological support.

Many MSF workers remain in their homes in the south and east due to ongoing Israeli attacks, while others are fleeing.

The soldiers retaliated

Hezbollah, based in Lebanon but backed by Iran, said it had carried out several attacks, including a military base in northern Israel near the city of Safed. The Israeli army also claimed to have recorded about 300 shells fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory in the past two days.

The military said it had sent dozens of rockets to Israeli military bases, including the heaviest Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 rockets.

The Iran-backed group said it was targeting near the Israeli city of Haifa, a military base west of Afula and other areas including the town of Rosh Pina.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched more than 8,800 rockets and drones in less than a year. Until the recent escalation, Hezbollah had mostly used small rockets and drones against Israel.

Days of death in Lebanon

The number of people killed in two days of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon has risen to 558, while 1,835 were injured, said Lebanon’s Health Minister Firas Abiad.

About 50 children were among the dead, he said. The wounded are being treated in more than 54 hospitals and medical centers in Beirut and southern Lebanon, added Abiad, who is the minister of health in the ruling government.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said two of its staff were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, adding that it was “deeply angered and saddened” by their deaths.

Dina Darwiche, from their office in Bekaa in eastern Lebanon, died after the building she lived in was hit by an Israeli missile on Monday, UNHCR said in a statement.

“Her husband and her child were rescued and are being treated at the hospital for serious injuries. Dina and her young son were found in pain today,” said the statement.

It added that Ali Basma, who also worked at the UNHCR office in Tire in southern Lebanon, was confirmed dead on Monday.

As the war in Gaza approaches its first anniversary, the Israeli offensive marks a dramatic escalation in the conflict with Hezbollah in the north.

In another major Hezbollah incident last week, hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded across Lebanon. Many observers attribute the attack to Israel, although Israel has not officially claimed responsibility.