BEIRUT—A rare Israeli strike in central Beirut killed the Hezbollah terrorist group’s chief spokesman on Sunday.
Mohammed Afif al-Naboulsi was killed in a strike on the Arab socialist Baath party’s office in Beirut, Hezbollah confirmed in a statement. He had been especially visible after all-out war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah in September.
Israel’s military in a statement said he “wielded significant influence over Hezbollah’s military operations” and “glorified and incited” attacks on Israel.
On Sunday night, another strike in central Beirut hit a computer shop, killing two people and wounding 22, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered, after warning people to evacuate.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles, and drones into Israel the day after the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes in Lebanon and the conflict steadily escalated.
Israeli forces entered Lebanon on Oct. 1. On Sunday, Israel’s military said mobile artillery batteries had crossed into Lebanon and began attacking Hezbollah targets, the first time artillery was launched within Lebanese territory.
More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and over 1.2 million driven from their homes. It is not known how many of the dead are Hezbollah terrorists.
Hezbollah has fired dozens of projectiles into Israel daily. The attacks have killed at least 76 people, including 31 soldiers, and caused some 60,000 people to flee. Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service said a teenager suffered blast injuries Sunday in Upper Galilee.
Lebanon’s army, largely on the sidelines, said an Israeli strike on Sunday hit a military center in southeastern Al-Mari, killing two soldiers and wounding two others. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
In Gaza
The director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Hosam Abu Safiya, said dozens were wounded in the Israeli strike and other people likely were under the rubble.
An Israeli military statement earlier said it conducted several strikes on “terrorist targets” in Beit Lahiya, and that efforts to evacuate civilians from the “active war zone” continued.
Israeli forces have again been on the offensive in northern Gaza, saying Hamas terrorists have regrouped.
Earlier, officials said Israeli strikes killed six people in Nuseirat and four in Bureij, two built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.
Two people were killed in a strike on Gaza’s main north-south highway, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah.
Israel’s military said two soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Sunday.
The war between Israel and Hamas began after Palestinian terrorists stormed into Israel on Oct. 7. last year, killing about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and abducting around 250 others. Around 100 hostages remain in Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.
On Sunday, Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency said it met with the heads of the army and intelligence to discuss mediation efforts to release the hostages. It was the first public word of any such effort since Qatar announced earlier this month it was suspending its mediation work.
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry says around 43,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war. It does not distinguish between civilians and terorrists.
Around 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced.
3 Arrested After Flares Fired at Netanyahu’s Home
Israeli police arrested three suspects after two flares were fired overnight at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.
Netanyahu and his family were not there, authorities said. A drone launched by Hezbollah struck the residence last month, also when they were away.
The police did not provide details about the suspects, but officials pointed to domestic political critics of Netanyahu.
The prime minister has faced months of mass protests. Critics blame him for security and intelligence failures that allowed the Oct. 7 attack to happen and for not reaching a deal with Hamas to release hostages.
His government also faces anger from the ultra-Orthodox community over military draft notices. Some protested Sunday in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv after the government said 7,000 new notices would be issued.