Israel stepped up its airstrikes on Lebanon as a wave of air raids hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday (September 27), targeting the Iran-backed militant outfit Hezbollah’s command centre that apparently targeted its head Hassan Nasrallah. The unprecedented five-hour continuous strikes before dawn on Saturday followed Friday’s attack, by far the most powerful by Israel on Beirut during nearly a year of conflict with Hezbollah. The latest episode marked a sharp escalation of the conflict which is on the edge of a full-blown war between the two sides as daily missile and rockets continue to be fired from across the borders.
There was no immediate confirmation of Nasrallah's fate after Friday's heavy strikes, but a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters he was not reachable. The Lebanese militant group has not made a statement. Israel has not pinpointed if it attempted to hit Nasrallah, however, according to a senior Israeli official, top Hezbollah commanders were targeted.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the United States and was returning home instead of waiting until the end of Sabbath on Saturday evening, his office said. Hours earlier, Netanyahu addressed the United Nations, and vowed that Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah would continue.
"I think it's too early to say... Sometimes they hide the fact when we succeed," the Israeli official told reporters when asked if the strike on Friday had killed Nasrallah.
Earlier, a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah was alive. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was checking his status. The Israeli military said in a statement that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah's missile unit, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy Hossein Ahmed Ismail.
Lebanese health authorities confirmed six dead and 91 wounded in the initial attack on Friday - the fourth on Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs in a week and the heaviest since a 2006 war.
The toll appeared likely to rise much higher. There was no word on casualties from the later strikes. More than 700 people were killed in strikes over the past week, authorities said.
Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported seven buildings were destroyed. Security sources in Lebanon said the target was an area where top Hezbollah officials are usually based.
(With inputs from agencies)
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