Israel ‘kills elite Hezbollah unit chief with $7m bounty’ in devastating Beirut airstrike after 150 terror rocket blitz --[Reported by Umva mag]

A WANTED Hezbollah unit chief has reportedly been killed in a deadly Israeli airstrike on Beirut.

The devastating strike came just moments after the militant group launched 150 of their own rockets at northern Israel – with one even blasting a playground.

AFP

The damage after an Israeli strike in Beirut today[/caption]

AP

People stand on cars which were hit in the blast[/caption]

US Government

Hezbollah official Ibrahim Aqil was targeted in the Israeli airstrike[/caption]

Reuters

People inspect the site of an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon[/caption]

At least eight people have been killed with another 59 being wounded in the capital, Lebanon’s health ministry announced.

Eight of those injured are said to be in a critical condition.

Images from Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighbourhood shows a high rise apartment block with smoke billowing out from it after it was hit at around 4pm local time.

Dozens of residents can be seen standing outside the crumbling building as cops and emergency officials assess the damage.

Other images from Lebanon show debris from collapsed walls piling up outside as locals watch on stood on top of decimated cars.

A source close to Hezbollah revealed Radwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil was one of those eliminated.

They said: “The Israeli air strike killed Radwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil.”

The IDF has announced it conducted a “targeted strike” with the main aim being to hit Aqil inside a key Hezbollah facility.

They are yet to confirm Aqil’s death.

The Hezbollah chief was seen as the second in command of the Iran backed militia.

He also sits on the Jihad Council which is seen as the highest military body for Hezbollah members.

He is believed to have a $7million bounty placed on him by the US after his alleged involvement in a terrorist bombing in 1983.

The Islamic Jihad Organization attacked the US Embassy in Beirut and killed 63 people.

A few months later another bombing on a US Marines barracks in the capital led to the tragic deaths of 241 Americans.

Aqil was seen a key member of the terror group at the time.

The US Department of State also say he has been involved in a number of other terror related plots as well as kidnapping US and German hostages in the 1980s.

They labelled him as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2019 and offered the bounty in return for information on the commander.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby says the US wasn’t aware of any plan from Israel’s military to target a Hezbollah commander.

He said: “I’m not aware of any prenotification of those strikes. That is not atypical.”

US officials were reportedly briefed moments after the strike hit.

AP:Associated Press

Soldiers help to rescue those trapped under debris at the US Embassy in Beirut[/caption]

AP

A man injured after his handheld device exploded waiting for treatment in Beirut[/caption]

AFP

The wanted poster for Ibrahim Aqil handed out by the US security service[/caption]

The Israeli air attack came just before Hezbollah launched their own menacing attack across the border.

Three separate Hezbollah barrages, made up of Katyusha rockets, were recorded today with the first being made up of over 60 missiles.

Minutes later the biggest collection of rockets was let off from Lebanon with 70 being reported by the IDF.

Another 20 were then reportedly launched at the Mount Meron region in Israel.

Israeli police confirmed one person had suffered minor injuries so far.

The IDF announced that “their impressive Iron Dome had intercepted some” of the rockets.

Several of the missiles are believed to have been able to breach the Israeli defence system with billowing smoke seen rising across northern Israel.

But just moments after the revenge hit by Hezbollah, Israel launched a ‘targeted’ counterstrike in Beirut.

The strike was intended to hit a senior Hezbollah figure but it was unclear who and if they had been killed, security forces said.

Residents in the southern suburbs of the city heard a loud blast and saw clouds of smoke, according to Reuters.

Images show a children’s playground near the Israeli city of Safed on fire with a thick, black cloud soaring from it.

Reuters

Hospital workers scramble to the scene of the strike[/caption]

Twitter

A playground in northern Israel was reportedly hit in the rocket blitz by Hezbollah earlier in the day[/caption]

Reuters

A firefighter battles against flames near to Golan Heights following a rocket attack from Lebanon[/caption]

Israel says many of the fires seen across the targeted regions are as a result of fallen debris rather than direct hits.

Air raid sirens were raised across the north after the first sightings were recorded with the Iran-backed militia saying it was targeting army sites.

The group announced they had fired towards Israel’s missile and artillery battalion at the Yoav barracks.

Air and missile defence headquarters in Kila and the air defence missile base in Beria was also struck.

Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was a major target but the IDF say they successfully intercepted all attacks in the region.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the Israeli-Lebanon border in parallel with the war Israel has waged in Gaza against Hamas after October 7.

Israel’s bombing of hundreds of targets overnight claimed to have destroyed 100 rocket launchers and around 1,000 launch barrels.

Black and white footage posted to social media showed the country blowing up targets with precision strikes.

Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the border area on both sides since the deadly fighting started 11 months ago.

Hezbollah has reportedly killed 26 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced another 80,000 Israelis to head south to escape the blitz.

Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has also declared the start of a “new phase” of war as the country’s army moved north in recent weeks.

The announcement paves the way for the first full-scale invasion of southern Lebanon since 2006 in a drive to push back the terror group and allow Israelis to return home.

Reuters

Several rockets managed to evade Israel’s defence systems and struck regions in the north of the country[/caption]

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