Hezbollah confirms one of its commanders killed in Israeli airstrike in Beirut

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel launched a rare airstrike Friday that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated neighborhood in southern Beirut, the deadliest airstrike on the Lebanese capital in decades, with Lebanese officials reporting at least 14 dead and dozens wounded in the attack.

Israeli military chief spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the strike on the Dahiya district in southern Beirut killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan force, along with 10 other Hezbollah members.

“We will continue to hunt down our enemies in order to defend our citizens, even in Dahiya, in Beirut,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, describing the Israeli strike that targeted Akil as part of a “new phase of war.”

Hours later, Hezbollah confirmed Akil's death. In a statement, the Lebanese militant group described Akil as “a great jihadist leader” and said he had “joined the procession of his brothers, the great martyred leaders, after a blessed life, full of jihad, work, injuries, sacrifices, dangers, challenges, achievements and victories.”

Akil served on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah's highest military body. He was sanctioned by the United States for his alleged involvement in the 1983 bombing that killed more than 300 people at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the Marine barracks.

Last year, the U.S. State Department offered a $7 million reward for information leading to his identification, location, arrest or conviction, citing his role in the embassy bombing and the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

The strike comes as a new round of escalation between the enemies raises fears of open war in the Middle East.

Hours before the Israeli strike, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets as the region awaited the revenge promised by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah after the mass explosions of pagers belonging to members of the Shiite militant group this week.

LEARN MORE: Hezbollah leader says Israel has crossed a red line, vows revenge for pager and radio attacks

The Israeli military did not provide the identities of other Hezbollah commanders reportedly killed in its attack on the crowded neighborhood just a few miles from downtown Beirut.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said at least 14 people were killed and 66 others wounded in the attack, which destroyed the building where the Israeli military said Akil had met with other militants in the basement. Nine of the wounded were in serious condition, the ministry added.

Local television channels in Lebanon broadcast footage showing first responders searching through the rubble of a collapsed building in the Jamous neighborhood in the heart of Dahiya, where Hezbollah conducts much of its political and security operations.

The rescue operation continued late into Friday night, hours after the attack, as first responders worked to clear rubble to reach the basement of the building where many bodies were believed to be located.

Friday's airstrike – the deadliest such attack on a Beirut neighborhood since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody month-long war in 2006 – came during rush hour, as people were leaving work and children were returning from school.

At Beirut's St. Theresa Hospital, near the scene of the airstrike, crowds gathered to donate blood to those injured in the attack.

“We are all in this situation together, so it is my duty,” said Hussein Harake, who lined up to donate blood.

From Israel, Gallant said he had briefed senior military officials on the strike and pledged that Israel would continue to pressure Hezbollah “until we achieve our goal of ensuring the safe return of communities in northern Israel to their homes.”

The strike comes after Hezbollah launched one of its most intense bombardments on northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting, targeting mostly Israeli military sites. Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted most of the Katyusha rockets. The few that managed to get through sparked small fires but caused little damage and no Israeli casualties.

Hezbollah has described its latest wave of rocket salvos as a response to past Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon – not revenge for the massive explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed at least 37 people – including two children – and wounded 2,900 others in attacks widely attributed to Israel.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in this week's sophisticated attacks, which signal a major escalation in the past 11 months of simmering conflict along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire regularly since Hamas's October 7 offensive on southern Israel triggered the Israeli military's devastating Gaza offensive. But previous cross-border attacks have mostly hit evacuated areas of northern Israel and less populated areas of southern Lebanon.

The last time Israel hit Beirut was in an airstrike in July that killed top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur.

“The attack in Lebanon is aimed at protecting Israel,” Hagari said at a news conference after Friday's attack, describing Shukr and Akil as the two military officials closest to Hezbollah leader Nasrallah.

Hagari also accused Akil of planning a series of attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians dating back decades, including a never-executed plan to invade northern Israel in a manner similar to the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7.

Following Friday's Israeli airstrike, Hezbollah announced attacks on northern Israel, including two targeting an intelligence base from which it said Israel directed assassinations.

Israel remains on alert, with Nasrallah vowing Thursday to continue his strikes against Israel despite the humiliating “blow” he said he suffered against Hezbollah when his communications devices were sabotaged.

“We are going through a tense period,” Hagari told reporters Friday. “We are ready to face high-level opponents, both offensively and defensively.”

In recent days, Israel has deployed a large combat force to the northern border, declared that its official war goal was the return of tens of thousands of displaced people to their homes in northern Israel, and ordered citizens living near the border with Lebanon to stay close to bomb shelters. Hezbollah has said it will not stop its firing until a ceasefire is established in Gaza.

Hamas, which continues to fight Israel in Gaza, condemned the Israeli strike targeting Akil as a “new crime” and a “violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

As the world's attention turns to rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, Palestinian casualties in the besieged Gaza Strip continue to mount.

Palestinian health officials announced Friday morning that 15 people, including children, were killed in Israeli strikes that targeted a family home and a group of people on the street in Gaza. The Israeli campaign in Gaza has already killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza-based health ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.

In response to a request for comment on the latest strikes in Gaza, the Israeli military insisted Friday that it had taken “possible precautions to mitigate harm to civilians” and accused Hamas of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas.

Israel's bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip, launched in response to the massacre of 1,200 people and the taking of 250 hostages by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, has caused enormous destruction and displaced approximately 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people.

Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut; Fatma Khaled in Cairo; Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Bassam Hatoum in Beirut; and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.