Israel Kills Key Hezbollah Leader After Missile Barrage
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s military said a strike on a suburb of Lebanon’s capital killed Ibrahim Aqil, a prominent Hezbollah leader.
The rare airstrike on Beirut left at least 14 people dead and destroyed one residential building while also damaging another, Lebanese health and civil defense officials said.
The attack escalated a days-long Israeli assault on Hezbollah amid fears of all-out war.
Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah vowed retaliation Thursday against Israel for the detonations of electronic devices that killed at least 37 people this week and left thousands injured.
Shortly after the threat, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets Friday, Israel’s military said, after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37 people, injuring nearly 3,000, and causing panic.
THREE WAVES
The rockets came in three waves Friday afternoon, targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon. Hezbollah said the missiles were in retaliation for Israeli strikes on villages and homes in southern Lebanon.
Amid the ongoing violence, Bulgaria and Hungary have denied involvement in producing or delivering communication equipment that exploded.
The tensions have escalated concerns about a possible regional armed conflict against Israel.
Iran-backed Hezbollah is a close ally of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic group that carried out a major attack on Israel.
The October 7 assault saw some 1,200 people being killed, including babies and raped women, while some 250 people were kidnapped, prompting Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.