Another senior Hezbollah commander killed by Israeli airstrike as conflict escalates

Israel’s military said on Sunday it had killed another senior Hezbollah official in an airstrike, as the Lebanon-based terror group reeled from a string of devastating strikes and the killing of its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israel Defense Forces said they killed Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s central district, in an airstrike on Saturday. Hezbollah confirmed his death, making him the seventh Hezbollah leader killed in Israeli strikes in just over a week. These include founding members who have evaded death or detention for decades.

Kaouk was a veteran member of the Hezbollah back in the 1980s and served as Hezbollah’s military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. He often appeared in the local media, where he commented on political and security developments and gave eulogies at the funerals of high-ranking militants. The United States announced sanctions against him in 2020.

The announcement of Kaouk’s death came a day after the Israeli military said he had killed Nasrallah in an airstrike on Friday afternoon in Beirut. On Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed that among those killed in Friday’s airstrike was Ali Karaki, one of the group’s senior commanders.

The Israeli military also said on Sunday that dozens of planes struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the militants’ recent attacks on Israel.

President Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that he believes an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.

“It has to be,” Mr. Biden told reporters on Sunday as he boarded Air Force One for Washington. “We really have to avoid it.”

He did not say when he planned to speak with Netanyahu.

Biden says Nasrallah’s death is a ‘measure of justice’

Saturday, Biden said NasrallahHis death in the Israeli airstrike was a “measure of justice” for his many victims.

In a statement issued by the White House, Mr. Biden said that “Nasrallah and the terrorist group he leads, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans during a four-decade reign of terror,” including thousands of Israelis and Lebanese civilians.

When asked by reporters on Saturday whether an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, Mr Biden replied: “It’s time for a ceasefire.”

More senior Hezbollah commanders were killed in the Israeli strikes of recent weeks. The US-designated terrorist group was also targeted by a sophisticated attack on its pages and walkie-talkies which was widely blamed on Israel.

Thousands of people in shelters after strikes

The wave of Israeli airstrikes in large parts of Lebanon has killed more than 1,000 people, including 156 women and 87 children, in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and rockets into northern Israel, but most were intercepted or fell in open areas, causing few casualties and only scattered damage.

A Lebanese minister leading the country’s emergency response said the government estimated about 250,000 people had fled their homes and taken refuge in government-run and informal shelters.

Environment Minister Nasser Yassin told The Associated Press that the total number was about “four times as many directly affected and/or displaced outside shelters.”

The United Nations said 211,319 people had been forced to move by Friday, and that was before intense Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in recent days.

The Lebanese government turned schools and other facilities into temporary shelters. However, many sleep on the streets or in public squares as the government and non-governmental organizations try to find them accommodation.

Fighting intensifies as airstrikes continue

Amid the escalation in Israel – which is said to be sending ground troops to Lebanon’s border for a possible limited ground incursion next week, according to a US official – the Lebanese army called for calm among the Lebanese “at this dangerous and delicate stage. “

Government officials fear the country’s deep political divisions at a time of war could reignite sectarian strife and violence in the small Mediterranean country.

“The Israeli enemy is working to implement its destructive plans and spread division among the Lebanese,” the army said.

Military vehicles have been deployed in various parts of the capital as thousands of displaced people continue to move from the south to Beirut.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli air strike early Sunday destroyed a house in the northeastern village of al-Ain, killing 11 people. Six of the bodies were recovered from the rubble, while the search continued for the other five, the National News Agency reported.

The back-to-back strikes on Sunday in Ain el-Delb, east of Sidon, were surprised by neighbors in the area. The Health Ministry said the strikes also injured at least 29 people.

Separately, the Health Ministry said Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and wounded at least 47.

In southern Lebanon, the Risala Islamic Scout Association said five of its members were killed while carrying out their duties. Four of the men killed were said to be from the southern village of Tayr Debba, while the fifth was from nearby Kabrikha.

Hezbollah began firing missiles, rockets and drones into northern Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack in Gaza sparked the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies that consider themselves part of an Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel.

Israel responded with waves of airstrikes, and the conflict steadily escalated to the brink of all-out war, raising fears of a region-wide conflagration.

A senior Israeli official said on Friday that Israel is not seeking a wider regional war, but that Hezbollah’s military capabilities have been significantly degraded by the recent series of Israeli military operations and that the objective strike was to leave Hezbollah with a significant leadership gap.

Israel hits Houthi targets in Yemen

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had targeted power plants and seaport facilities in the Yemeni city of Hodeida.

The Houthi press office said the Israeli strikes hit the ports of Hodeida and Rass Issa along with two power plants in the city of Hodeida, which is a stronghold for the Iran-backed rebels. Fire and plumes of smoke were seen in the air over Hodeida after the strikes.

The group said it was taking precautionary measures and that Israel’s strikes would not stop Houthi attacks on shipping routes and Israel.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday as Netanyahu was arriving on a flight from the United States.