Israel says Beirut strike killed top Hezbollah official; 14 dead, Lebanon says   

Israel launched a uncommon airstrike Friday connected the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, sidesplitting a elder Hezbollah subject official, the Israeli service said.

Lebanese wellness authorities said astatine slightest 14 radical were killed successful the attack, with dozens much wounded.

The onslaught connected the densely populated confederate Beirut territory of Dahiya killed Ibrahim Akil, a commandant of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, said Israeli subject spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. He said 10 different Hezbollah operatives were killed successful the attack.

Hezbollah confirmed aboriginal Saturday that Akil had been killed, without providing details connected his death.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the onslaught was portion of a caller signifier of the war. “We volition proceed pursuing our enemies successful bid to support our citizens, adjacent successful Dahiya, successful Beirut,” helium said.

Lebanon Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib told the U.N. Security Council that those killed successful Friday’s onslaught included children. He said 66 radical were wounded.

The Israeli onslaught was portion of a volley of traded strikes betwixt Israel and Hezbollah crossed the Israel-Lebanon borderline Friday successful immoderate of the astir aggravated exchanges since the struggle successful Gaza began much than 11 months ago.

Israeli media reported that Hezbollah shelled bluish Israel with 150 rockets aboriginal Friday, though officials said determination were nary reports of injuries, arsenic galore of the projectiles were intercepted. The Times of Israel reported the Israeli service told civilians to bounds their question extracurricular homes and debar gatherings.

Lebanese media connected Friday reported a caller question of Israeli strikes successful retaliation, which followed a likewise aggravated question of Israeli strikes precocious Thursday.

The struggle betwixt Israel and Hezbollah intensified importantly this week aft an unprecedented onslaught successful which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded crossed Lebanon. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied engagement successful those attacks.

Enes, a Beirut nonmigratory who did not privation to springiness his past name, told VOA’s Turkish Service, “We are not acrophobic of war, but we bash not privation war. On the contrary, we privation to unrecorded successful peace. Regarding the explosions successful the past days, cipher expected them to spell this far.”

Another Beirut resident, Iman, said, “I deliberation that each this unit volition detonate sooner oregon later. It has reached specified a signifier that determination is simply a anticipation of war.”

Calls for restraint

The exchanges precocious Thursday and Friday came contempt planetary calls for restraint. The United Kingdom has called for a cease-fire betwixt Israel and Hezbollah, and White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday that the United States was “afraid and acrophobic astir imaginable escalation.”

Other apical U.S. officials said they did not judge specified an escalation was inevitable.

“We inactive judge that determination is clip and abstraction for a diplomatic solution,” White House nationalist information spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Friday.

“War is not inevitable up determination astatine the bluish enactment [between Israel and Lebanon], and we're going to proceed to bash everything we tin to effort to forestall it,” helium added, saying the U.S. was continuing with what helium described arsenic “intense diplomacy” to little tensions.

As for the Israeli airstrike targeting Beirut, Kirby said the U.S. was not progressive and was not notified successful beforehand by Israel.

“I americium surely not alert of immoderate pre-notification of those strikes,” helium said, calling it “not atypical.”

David Makovsky, the Ziegler distinguished chap astatine the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told VOA, “I don’t cognize if this is the archetypal shots successful a full-scale war. If so, it volition beryllium a overmuch much lethal warfare … due to the fact that Hezbollah has the capableness to deed Israel astir anywhere.”

Pager explosions

At the U.N. Security Council connected Friday, nations reacted to the detonations of physics devices successful Lebanon that killed astatine slightest 37 radical this week. The attacks besides wounded 3,000 radical arsenic unsuspecting Hezbollah militants and others answered messages connected their pagers and tried to transportation connected conversations via walkie-talkie, lone to person them detonate successful their hands.

Lebanon’s Bouhabib told the Security Council that the onslaught was “nothing but terrorism.” He said it was “an unprecedented method of warfare successful its brutality and terror, targeting thousands of radical from antithetic property groups successful densely populated areas.”

Several assembly members expressed interest astir this caller benignant of warfare.

South Korean Ambassador Hwang Joonkook said the attacks raised “the alarming imaginable for immoderate user electronics to beryllium exploited and transformed into lethal weapons that transcend our imaginations.”

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon said that since October 8, Hezbollah has fired much than 8,000 rockets toward Israel, forcing 60,000 Israelis from their homes successful the north. He said Israel would bash “whatever it takes” to instrumentality their citizens backmost to their homes on the border.

Volker Türk, the U.N. precocious commissioner for quality rights, said that helium was “appalled by the breadth and interaction of the attacks” and that they “represent a caller improvement successful warfare.”

VOA’s Turkish Service, Jeff Seldin, Margaret Besheer and Kim Lewis contributed to this report. Some accusation came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.