Israel’s air force on Sunday launched a series of attacks targeting Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut and an underground weapons production facility. The Israeli military issued a statement claiming that the airstrikes successfully killed three senior Hezbollah commanders. Among them was Alhaj Abbas Salameh, a high-ranking figure in Hezbollah’s southern command, Radja Abbas Awache, a communications expert, and Ahmad Ali Hussein, responsible for strategic weapons development. However, it remains unclear whether the commanders were killed in the strike on the intelligence headquarters or in separate operations.
Hezbollah is yet to release a statement in response to these claims.
On Saturday, Israel reported additional strikes in southern Lebanon, destroying tunnel shafts and underground infrastructure. Israeli forces also killed Hezbollah’s deputy commander in the Bint Jbeil region the day before.
In the early hours of Sunday, two Israeli airstrikes targeted the Harat Hreik neighbourhood in southern Beirut, close to Bahman Hospital. Lebanon’s state-run national news agency confirmed that a residential building in the area was hit. Smoke could be seen rising from Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to Reuters witnesses, though it was unclear if this was the result of the same strikes.
Cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified since last year, with Hezbollah launching rocket attacks in support of Hamas. Since October 2023, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 2,400 people in Lebanon, displacing more than 1.2 million, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Meanwhile, 59 people have been killed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, Israeli authorities report.