The latest Israeli air strike reportedly hit a Hezbollah rescue facility in central Beirut, killing at least six people. Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, triggering Iran to launch its largest missile attack yet on Israel.
Israel, whose military has said it is conducting “targeted ground raids” in south Lebanon, reported eight deaths in combat operations with Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a condolence message, said, “We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran’s Axis of Evil, which wants to destroy us.”
“This will not happen because we will stand together and with God’s help, we will win together. We will return our abductees in the south, we will return our residents in the north, we will guarantee the eternity of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
The clashes between Israel and Hezbollah came hours after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into Israel.
Iran described Tuesday’s missile attack – its biggest-ever assault on Israel – as a response to Israeli killings of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday virtually addressed the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and said Israel’s assault on Gaza coupled with its aggressive expansion into the West Bank, is driving the region to the brink of a “serious crisis”.
The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) on Wednesday expressed “strong concern” over the crisis in the Middle East and said a diplomatic solution was still viable and a region-wide conflict was in no one’s interest.
Over 1,900 people have so far been killed and about 9,000 injured in Lebanon since Hezbollah engaged in cross-border fire with Israel after Hamas attacked Israeli towns on October 7 last year, triggering a war in Gaza as well.
According to Lebanon caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, about 1.2 million Lebanese had been displaced by Israeli attacks.