Israeli airstrikes resulted in significant explosions in Beirut, notably one near the international airport, during another night of assaults aimed at Hezbollah. The airport is adjacent to Dahieh, a stronghold of Hezbollah within the capital. On Friday morning, smoke was visible rising over the city. According to reports from U.S. media citing Israeli officials, the strikes were aimed at Hashem Safieddine, a relative of Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Safieddine is widely considered a potential successor to Nasrallah following his death in an Israeli attack the previous week. The Lebanese public health ministry reported that 37 individuals had lost their lives due to ground and air assaults in the past 24 hours, with an additional 151 sustaining injuries. Furthermore, the Lebanese army announced the deaths of two of its soldiers in the southern region as Israeli forces continued their offensive against Hezbollah, prompting the evacuation of another 20 towns and villages. While the Israeli military has not issued a statement, it did confirm that its troops had engaged and killed Hezbollah fighters near the border, while Hezbollah claimed to have targeted Israeli forces on both sides of the frontier.
The two deadly assaults on Lebanese army personnel occurred just hours apart on Thursday, marking the third full day of the invasion. According to the army, the first incident resulted in the death of one soldier and injuries to another due to an attack by the Israeli forces during an evacuation and rescue mission conducted in collaboration with the Lebanese Red Cross in Taybeh village. This escalation followed Israel’s recent airstrikes on Beirut, which took place a day after a residential building in the capital was struck. A civil defense agency associated with Hezbollah reported that seven of its first responders were among the nine fatalities resulting from the airstrike. Subsequently, Lebanon’s health minister indicated that over 40 paramedics and firefighters had lost their lives due to Israeli fire in the preceding three days.
On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force targeted sites it claimed were linked to Hezbollah, including the group’s intelligence headquarters, weapons production facilities, and storage sites. Over the course of two weeks, Israeli strikes and other operations aimed at Hezbollah have resulted in more than 1,300 deaths across Lebanon and displaced over one million individuals, as reported by local authorities. The organization further stated that it had aimed at “enemy assemblies” and residences across the border, while simultaneously maintaining its rocket fire into northern Israel. The Israel Defense Forces reported that over 230 projectiles were fired into Israeli territory throughout the day. The majority of these projectiles were either intercepted or landed in uninhabited areas, with no reports of casualties. The areas adjacent to Israel’s northern border fence have now been designated as a closed military zone.