TRANSCRIPT
Crowds and emergency staff surrounding the site of an Israeli air strike in a southern Beirut suburb.
Israel's military says it has killed 10 senior Hezbollah commanders along with Ibrahim Aqil, leader of the movement's Radwan special forces unit in the air strike.
The commanders died when multiple missiles slammed into the opening of a building's garage.
The explosion tore into the building's lower levels as Akil met other commanders inside.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud whistling and several consecutive blasts.
Security sources in Lebanon say the attack has also killed civilians, including children and injured more than 66 people.
I-D-F spokesman Daniel Hagari says that the military is determined to achieve its goals on behalf of the Israeli people.
"The goals of the war are to dismantle Hamas, return the abductees and act decisively in the north in order to change the security reality so that we can safely return the residents. These are the goals set for us by the political leadership. We are not acting for a wide escalation in the region. We are acting towards the defined goals and will continue to do so."
Ibrahim Aqil served on Hezbollah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council.
He had been sanctioned by the United States for being involved in two terrorist attacks in 1983 that killed more than 300 people at the U-S. Embassy in Beirut and the U-S. Marine Corps barracks.
Tensions have increased between Israel and Hezbollah following suspected Israeli attacks earlier this week which wiped out a large portion of the militant group's communications network while killing and wounding some civilian bystanders.
This strike has inflicted another blow on Hezbollah after those earlier attacks which saw pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members explode, killing 37 people and wounding thousands.
This Beirut resident says he is worried that these attacks are just the beginning of a new war.
"We are not afraid, but we want a solution. We cannot continue with the country like this. We cannot say we know what will happen today. No one knows what will happen. The situation is not reassuring, but we are not afraid of anything except the future. What will happen in the future. We want to see what the future holds. We are not afraid for ourselves, we are afraid of the future, afraid for our children, the schools, all these things we are afraid of. We want to see a proper solution to know where we are going. War? I don't know if it started or not, but nothing is reassuring. It is clear that the two sides will not stop."
Tens of thousands of people have fled from homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since Hezbollah began rocket attacks against Israel in what it says is a show of support for the Palestinians people.
Volker Türk the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says the recent attacks in Lebanon are spreading terror among the Lebanese people.
"These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where communication tools become weapons simultaneously exploding across marketplaces on street corners and in homes as daily life unfolds. International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby-trapped devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material. It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians. I call again for an independent, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of these explosions. Those who ordered and carried out these attacks must be held to account. Let me be clear. This method of warfare may be new and unfamiliar, but international humanitarian and human rights law apply regardless and must be upheld."
The strike marked the second time in less than two months that Israel has targeted a leading Hezbollah military commander in Beirut.
In July, an Israeli airstrike killed Fuad Shukr, the group's top military commander.
The Israeli military said Aqil had been head of Hezbollah operations since 2004 and was responsible for a plan to launch a raid on northern Israel, similar to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October that triggered the war in Gaza.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people during the group's October 7 attack on Israel, taking around 250 hostages.
The Israeli military's retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people.
