At least 12 people including Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Syria

At least nine people were killed in Lebanon and Syria by Israeli strikes on Saturday, with Israel claiming to have killed three Hezbollah commanders on Sunday.
2 min read
20 October, 2024
Israel hit southern Lebanon with over 50 airstrikes on Sunday [Getty]

Seven people in Lebanon and two Syrian regime soldiers on the Lebanese frontier were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Saturday, with Israel continuing airstrikes on Sunday and saying that it had killed three Hezbollah commanders in Beirut.

Israel claimed its air force attacked Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut on Sunday as well as an underground workshop for the production of weapons.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its fighter jets killed three Hezbollah commanders, including Alhaj Abbas Salameh, a senior figure in the group's southern command, Radja Abbas Awache, a communications expert, and Ahmad Ali Hussein, who it said was responsible for strategic weapons development.

It was not clear if the three were killed in the attack on the headquarters or in separate actions.

The seven victims of Saturday’s strikes included a paramedic and a local mayor. At least 21 people were also injured.

The strikes targeted southern and eastern Lebanon as well as the Aley area of central Lebanon. One strike targeted a motorcycle in the town of Siddiqine, east of Tyre in south Lebanon, killing a paramedic.

Four more people were killed and 13 injured in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the town of Baaloul in the Bekaa Valley area of eastern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

One of the victims was identified as Haidar Shahla, the mayor of the town of Sohmor.

Two people were also killed and five injured when an Israeli strike destroyed a house in Al-Bazaliyah near Baalbek, the health ministry said.

Israeli strikes also hit the Tawfiq Dandash border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, which is located near the town of Qusair in Homs province.

One member of the Syrian regime border guard and a soldier from the regime’s notorious Fourth Division were killed.

Israel continued its strikes overnight into Sunday morning, with Lebanese state media saying that more than 50 towns and villages were hit, with an unspecified number of casualties.

The city of Nabatiyeh was struck for the third time this week.

"Warplanes struck... the city of Nabatiyeh seven times," Lebanon's official National News Agency said.

Israel began a ruthless air campaign against Lebanon on September 23, following months of border clashes with Hezbollah which coincided with its war on Gaza.

Over 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since September, and around 1.3 million displaced