Israel rejected global calls on Thursday for a ceasefire with the Hezbollah movement, defying its biggest ally the U.S. and pressing ahead with strikes that have killed hundreds in Lebanon and heightened fears of an all-out regional war.
An Israeli warplane struck the edges of the capital Beirut, killing two people and wounding 15, including a woman in critical condition, Lebanon’s health ministry said. That took deaths from hits overnight and during Thursday to 28.
The strike killed the head of one of Hezbollah’s air force units, Mohammad Surur, two security sources said, the latest senior Hezbollah commander to be targeted in days of assassinations hitting the group’s top ranks.
Smoke was seen rising after the hit near an area where several Hezbollah facilities are located and many civilians also live and work. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV broadcast images of a damaged upper floor of a building.
On the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon, the army staged an exercise simulating a ground invasion – a potential next stage after relentless airstrikes and explosions of communications devices.
Israel’s air force is planning to assist troops in the event of a ground operation and will stop any arms transfers from Iran, Air Force Commander Major General Tomer Bar said late on Thursday.
“We are preparing shoulder to shoulder with Northern Command for a ground manoeuvre. Prepared, if activated. This is a decision to be made above us,” he told soldiers, in a video distributed by the Israeli military.
Reuters
