ADDS STATEMENT FROM LEBANON'S HEALTH MINISTRY ON NEW CASUALTIES, ISRAELI ARMY STATEMENT CLAIMING ASSASSINATION OF HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER
By Anadolu staff
BEIRUT (AA) - A loud explosion was heard Tuesday in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut following an Israeli strike amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel, local media reported.
The strike was reported in the vicinity of the Hezbollah Shura Council’s headquarters in Haret Hreik, the state-run National News Agency reported.
It said the attack was carried out by an Israeli drone that fired three missiles into a building, destroying two floors.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said a woman and two children were killed and 69 others injured, three critically, in the attack.
The Israeli army confirmed the strike, claiming that it targeted a Hezbollah commander responsible for a missile attack Saturday that killed 12 people in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
While Israel blamed Hezbollah for Saturday’s attack, the Lebanese group denied any responsibility.
There was no comment from Hezbollah on the Israeli attack.
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that there was no confirmation on the success of the assassination operation.
The target of the attack was Fuad Shukr, who is in charge of Hezbollah's military operations, said the Axios news website, citing an unnamed Israeli official.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority, KAN, said there is still no confirmation that the elimination of Hezbollah's number two man was successful, citing unnamed official Israeli resources.
Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs instructed government ministers not to comment on the operation in the Lebanese capital until an official statement is released by the military.
The directive comes from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, KAN reported.
Following the attack on Beirut, Netanyahu arrived at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv and was set to conduct a security assessment later Tuesday with top security officials following the attack, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
“Whether war breaks out with Lebanon depends on Hezbollah. We have no intention of starting a regional war,” an unnamed senior official was quoted as saying.
Similarly, Channel 13 reported that an unnamed high-ranking Israeli official said that “if Hezbollah does not respond to the attack on southern Beirut, we will not escalate to war.”
Israeli Army Radio also reported that the military instructed residents in towns near the Lebanese border to remain in shelters in anticipation of potential retaliation from Hezbollah.
Following the army's statement on the strike in southern Beirut, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on X that “Hezbollah crossed the red line.”
The Israeli army later claimed that it assassinated Shukr in the strike.
A military statement said that Shukr, also known as Sayyid Muhsan, served as “Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah's right-hand man and was Nasrallah's adviser for planning and directing wartime operations.”
The army claimed the commander "has directed Hezbollah's attacks on the State of Israel since October 8th, and he was the commander responsible for the murder of the 12 children in Majdal Shams in northern Israel on Saturday evening.”
Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip which has killed more than 39,300 people since last October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio