Israel expands airstrikes to bombard northern Lebanon

More than one million people flee homes as fate of man thought to be replacement for Hezbollah leader unclear

- BEL TREW

Israel has expanded its intense bombing campaign in Lebanon, pounding a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country and unleashing dozens of strikes on the suburbs of Beirut.

Israeli warplanes hit areas as far north as the Beddawi camp, outside the city of Tripoli, yesterday. The strikes killed a member of Hamas’s military wing in Lebanon, along with his wife and two daughters, according to the Palestinian militant group.

Israel said he served Hamas’ executive authority in Lebanon and had been directing attacks in the occupied West Bank.

This marks the first time Israel has struck northern Lebanon since the 2006 war with Hezbollah.

The strikes come amid swirling rumours about the fate of Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was himself killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh in the Lebanese capital last week.

Hezbollah has yet to comment on the alleged death of Nasrallah’s heir, but if true, it would be another blow to the group and its patron, Iran.

A Lebanese security source told Reuters that Mr Safieddine has been out of contact since Friday, and ongoing Israeli strikes have prevented rescue workers from searching the site of the attack. Axios, citing three Israeli officials, reported that Mr Safieddine was in an underground bunker that was the focal point of the raid.

In a briefing, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Friday that they were still assessing the outcome of the raid, which he said targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.

Israel has sharply escalated its bombing campaign in Lebanon and launched a ground invasion after a year of exchanging fire with Hezbollah, that was triggered by Hamas’ 7 October attacks on southern Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.