Israeli army claims it hit over 140 Hezbollah targets since Friday evening

By Zein Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it has carried out airstrikes on more than 140 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since Friday evening, including missile launch platforms and strategic weapons belonging to the organization.

"We continue to strike Hezbollah's targets in Lebanese territory. Since last night, the Israeli army has attacked more than 140 targets belonging to the organization," the Israeli army said in a statement on Saturday.

Among the targets were Hezbollah missile launch platforms, as well as buildings storing weapons, the statement claimed.

"In addition to these attacks, strategic weapons of Hezbollah, weapons production sites, and other military infrastructure were also hit, some of which were located beneath residential buildings in the Beirut area," the army claimed.

In an earlier statement on Saturday, the Israeli army claimed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was “liquidated” during an operation targeting the central command of Hezbollah located beneath a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since early Monday with airstrikes that have killed more than 700 victims and injured nearly 2,200, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.​​​​​​​

The ministry also said that the death toll in Lebanon since last October is 1,540, in addition to the more than 77,000 displaced from the southern and eastern parts of the country.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,600 victims, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of turning the Gaza conflict into a regional war.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara