Israel’s military claimed to have killed 15 Hezbollah members in south Lebanon on Thursday and to have struck Beirut, following the worst day its soldiers have experienced on the Lebanese front in a year of fighting the Iran-backed group. They were murdered in an attack on the municipality building in the town of Bint Jbeil in the south.
The chairman of the Hamas government in Gaza, Rawhi Mushtaha, and two senior security officers, Sameh al-Siraj and Sami Oudeh, were “eliminated” by Israel’s military three months ago, according to a statement released by the IDF on Thursday.
After two weeks of heavy bombardment, Israel—which has been at war with Hamas in Gaza for nearly a year—sent troops into southern Lebanon, sparking an increasingly dangerous battle that might involve the US and Iran.
The Islamic Health Authority, a civil defense organization associated with Hezbollah, reported that seven of its employees, including two physicians, had died in the Beirut strike, while the health ministry of Lebanon indicated that the number of casualties had risen to nine.
Some witnesses said they heard a huge explosion, and a security source claimed it was directed at a building in the Bachoura neighborhood, a short distance from the parliament. This is the closest an Israeli strike has been to taking place in Beirut’s central business sector.
Israel declared that it had hit the capital of Lebanon with a targeted airstrike.
“Another sleepless night in Beirut. Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what’s next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator in Lebanon, stated on X on Thursday.
Israel reported on Wednesday that during its forces’ advance into its northern neighbor, eight soldiers were slain in ground fighting in south Lebanon.
