Israel targets Lebanon again; top Hezbollah commander reportedly killed

Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Sept 24, a day after 558 people, including about 50 children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006.

"In the last hour, warplanes bombed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including missile launchers, military buildings and buildings where weapons were stored," Lieutenant-Colonel Avichay Adraee, an Israeli army spokesman, said in a post on social media platform X on Sept 24.

A Lebanese security source said an Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept 24, killing six people, including Ibrahim Qubaisi, a top Hezbollah commander who oversaw the deployment of missile batteries.

"An Israeli strike targeted two floors in a residential building in the Ghobeiri area," the security source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The Israeli military said it killed a large number of militants when it hit about 1,600 suspected Hezbollah targets around Lebanon on Sept 23.

Hezbollah said, in response, that it launched volleys of missiles at Israeli military bases on Sept 24. It said 180 of its projectiles and an unmanned aerial vehicle crossed into Israeli airspace, sending people in the city of Haifa running for shelter.

The raids in Lebanon on Sept 23 also killed 94 women, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad. He said that the vast majority, if not all, of the 558 individuals killed in these attacks were unarmed people in their homes.