UPDATE – Hezbollah confirms top commander Nabil Qaouk killed in Israeli strike in Lebanon

UPDATES WITH HEZBOLLAH CONFIRMATION, CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE, ADDS DETAILS

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – The Lebanese group Hezbollah confirmed Sunday that its military commander Nabil Qaouk was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut.

The group said Qaouk lost his life in the attack that targeted the vicinity of Chiyah in southern Beirut on Saturday.

The Israeli army claimed early Sunday to have killed Qaouk, describing him as the head of Hezbollah’s preventive security unit.

The Israeli army has pounded Lebanon against what it called Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 816 people and injuring over 2,500, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, along with several group commanders, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

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

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the ongoing Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara