Israel-Lebanon tensions at boiling point as attacks ongoing

Lebanon's health ministry said that three people have been killed and 17 wounded in Israeli strike on south Beirut.

A source close to Lebanon's Hezbollah said an Israeli strike on Friday killed the group's elite Radwan unit chief, while Israel said it had conducted a "targeted strike".

"The Israeli air strike killed Radwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil, its armed force's second-in-command after Fuad Shukr," who an Israeli strike killed in July, also in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold, said the source who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

At least five people, including children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on south Beirut targeting Hezbollah on Friday afternoon, according to Lebanese state news agency National News Agency.

NNA said an Israeli jet struck a building on Jamous Street which killed five children.

Sources close to Hezbollah said the strike killed an elite unit chief, without revealing who.

The strikes hit the densely population Dahiyeh area, recognised for its affiliation with Hezbollah as well as communities of Shia, Sunni and migrant families.

Footage of the aftermath shows chaotic scenes with streets strewn with debris, ambulances and smashed cars.

The target of Israel's strike in Beirut on Friday was Hezbollah's operations commander Ibrahim Aqil, Israeli Army Radio reporting, citing an unnamed security source, Reuters reported.

Aqil was placed on the United States sanction list in 2015 alongside Hezbollah official Fuad Shukr, who was killed by Israel in in a strike on Beirut on 30 July.

Israeli strike on southern Beirut's suburbs known as Dahiyeh has killed and wounded people, according to a report from Hezbollah affiliated Al-Manar TV.

The attack hit al-Qaim area of Dahiyeh with footage of the aftermath showing streets strewn with rubble, cars damaged and smoke rising from a residential building which appears to have been the target.

Early reports are indicating that a senior Hezbollah member was the targeted. Israel said it had conducted a strike on Beirut but did not reveal further details.

Local media has reported an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's Dahieh neighbourhood.

The Israeli military has confirmed on Telegram that it carried out a "targeted strike" in Beirut and said there are "no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines".

Israel's military has said it has captured the bodies of two Hezbollah fighters who had attempted to plant an explosive device near an Israeli outpost along the Lebanon-Israel border.

The army released footage it says was taken from the GoPro camera of the fighters. A third fighter escaped back into Lebanon, according to the army.
 

Israeli public broadcaster Kan said on Friday around 150 rockets were fired from Lebanon across the border.

Israeli ambulance service said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Lebanon's Hezbollah announced on Friday they launched seven separate attacks on Israeli targets with Katyusha rockets. 

Hezbollah said it fired barrages of rockets at Israeli military bases Friday in retaliation for strikes on south Lebanon, as tensions soared following deadly sabotage attacks on its communications devices.

The group said it launched "salvos of Katyusha rockets" against at least six Israeli "army headquarters" and bases, including a "main air defence base", while the Israeli army said some 60 rockets were fired into Israeli territory.

The Israeli military said some 60 rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon on Friday, as sirens rang out in northern Israel.

"A barrage of some 60 rockets was fired at 1:02 pm (1002 GMT)," a military spokeswoman told AFP.

The incoming fire came after the Israeli military said it struck dozens of rocket launchers overnight.

The batteries of the walkie-talkies used by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah that blew up this week were laced with a highly explosive compound known as PETN, a Lebanese source familiar with the device's components told Reuters.

Lebanon’s Health Minister has said Israel's attacks in the country have "failed" to undermine the will of the Lebanese people.

“I want to send a message to anyone who thinks that these attacks will undermine the will and determination of this people. I say to them that your plan has failed,” Firas Abiad was quoted by by Lebanon’s National News Agency as saying.

Palestinian factions issued statements on Thursday hailing the speech given by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Hamas said that it appreciated what was stated in Nasrallah's speech, and hailed "the honourable position of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon", according to a Telegram statement.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)  also expressed its "deep appreciation and pride", adding that Hezbollah's position represents "the failure of the plans that aim to target the resistance".

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said that the speech reflected "the confidence in the ability of the resistance to overcome the blows, continue to develop its capabilities and learn lessons".

The Israeli army has lifted restrictions on northern residents instructing them to stay near bomb shelters after the military alleged it had struck dozens rocket launchers belonging to Hezbollah, Israeli media reported this morning.

Yesterday, the Israeli army had issued instructions for residents of numerous northern towns and cities to remain near bomb shelters throughout the night amid an escalation with Hezbollah.

The Ynet news site described the instructions as "unusual". 

The Israeli army said early on Friday that it had struck 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers and other military infrastructure and about 1,000 launch barrels. 

Hezbollah leader has vowed to inflict retribution against Israel after explosions of communication devices used by the group killed more than 30 people, including children, and injured thousands others.

In a televised address on Thursday, Hassan Nasrallah called the explosions a "massive terror attack" and a "massacre".

He said that Israel aimed to kill "thousands" of people within moments, with no regard for how or where the devices would detonate.

He acknowledged the group had suffered an "unprecedented and heavy blow", but added that in conflict, "one day is in favour of the enemy and one day is in favour of us".

He added that the full circumstances of the device blasts were still under investigation, from manufacturing, to distribution, up to the time of the blasts. 

Nasrallah vowed that Israelis would not be able to return to their homes in northern Israel before an end to the conflict in Gaza.

During his address, Israeli warplanes caused sonic booms over Beirut and others struck targets in southern Lebanon.

The armed wing of the Palestinian Fatah faction, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, has announced that two senior commanders were killed by an Israeli army raid in Qabatiya, near Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The brigades said in a Telegram statement that in addition to Mustafa Faisal Zakarna and Shady Sami Zakarna, five other fighters were also killed by Israeli forces. 

Another Telegram post carried the photos of both senior members.