Israel-Lebanon latest: Top Hezbollah commander and 10 senior leaders killed in strike on Beirut, Israeli military says

About 10 senior Hezbollah commanders were killed along with Ibrahim Aqil, the Israeli military have said.

The leader of the movement’s Radwan special forces unit was attacked in an Israeli air strike in Beirut on Friday.

“This elimination is intended to protect the citizens of Israel,” he said in a brief statement to the press, adding that Israel was not seeking regional escalation.

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon condemned Israel’s attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday as “Israeli madness that crossed all lines” by targeting residential buildings, it said in a post on X.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the strike shows Israel “gives no weight to any humanitarian, legal or moral considerations”.

The Israeli military has said it killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil.

“The IDF eliminated Ibrahim Aqil, head of Hezbollah’s operations system and the actual commander of the Radwan Force and the leader of Hezbollah’s plan to occupy the Galilee,” the military said in a statement.

Americans have been strongly urged to leave Lebanon after attacks were launched at it’s capital of Beirut, a White House national security spokesman has said.

John Kirby said Americans have also been told not to travel to the country.

Speaking to reporters, he reiterated that the Biden administration was trying to avoid an escalation in the region, and

He said he was not aware of any Israel notification to the US before its strike in Beirut earlier today.

The woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria this week is under the protection of the Hungarian secret services, her mother told The Associated Press.

Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono has not appeared publicly since the deadly simultaneous attack that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday, which has been widely blamed on Israel.

She is listed as the chief executive of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which the Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers said was responsible for the manufacture of the devices.

Her mother, Beatrix Barsony-Arcidiacono, said that her daughter had received unspecified threats and “is currently in a safe place protected by the Hungarian secret services”.

The “Hungarian secret services advised her not to talk to media” she said by phone from Sicily.

Earlier on Friday, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets, as the region awaited the revenge promised by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

In a speech, Nasrallah had warned of retaliation for this week’s mass bombing attack on pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members, which injured around 3,000 people. Hezbollah said that its attacks had targeted several Israeli miltiary sites along the border with Katyusha rockets, including multiple air defense bases as well as the headquarters of an Israeli armored brigade they said they’d struck for the first time.

The Israeli military said that 120 missiles were launched at areas of the Golan Heights, Safed and the Upper Galilee, some of which were intercepted. Fire crews were working to extinguish blazes caused by pieces of debris that fell to the ground in several areas, the military said. The military didn’t say whether any missiles had hit targets or caused any casualties. Another 20 missiles were shot at the areas of Meron and Netua, and most fell in open areas, the military said, adding that no injuries were reported.

A top Hezbollah commander has reportedly been killed in an Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital of Beirut just hours after the militia launched over 100 rockets at Israel.

Hezbollah’s operations commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in the strike on southern Beirut on Friday afternoon, security sources said. Lebanese officials said eight were killed and 50 were injured in the attack.

Mr Aqil was involved in Hezbollah’s bombing of the US embassy in Beirut which killed 63 people in April 1983, according to the US State Department.

The target of the strike was Hezbollah operations commander Ibrahim Aqil, according to two security sources.

Mr Aqil was involved in Hezbollah’s bombing of the US embassy in Beirut which killed 63 people in April 1983, the US State Department said.

He also over saw an attack on the US Marine Corps barracks seven months later which killed 231 US personnel.

In 2013, Washington put a $7million bounty on his head for any information leading to his location, arrest or conviction.

UK foreign minister David Lammy has chaired an emergency meeting to discuss the ongoing conflict in Lebanon.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The Foreign Secretary has chaired a meeting of Cobr this morning on the latest situation in Lebanon and to discuss ongoing preparedness work, with the risk of escalation remaining high.”