Israeli strikes in Lebanon: new toll shows 37 dead including 3 children in bombing in Beirut

According to Reuters on September 21, 2024, the Israeli strike on Beirut left at least 37 dead, including three children.

At least 37 people, including three children and seven women, were killed on Friday in an Israeli bombing of a Beirut suburb, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Saturday, with Hezbollah announcing overnight that the strike had claimed the lives of 16 of its members, including the head of its elite Radwan unit, Ibrahim Aqil.

Two military leaders killed

In addition to Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah said that another of its military leaders, Ahmed Wahbi, was among the dead in the Israeli strike.

The Israeli army said on the social network X that it had bombed the basement of a building where Ibrahim Aqil and military leaders from the Radwan unit were meeting and that it had “almost completely dismantled” the military chain of command of Hezbollah, a Shiite movement supported by Iran.

Bombings intense

The Israeli air force then carried out intense bombardments on Saturday on southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, while the Lebanese movement claimed responsibility for rocket fire against northern Israel.

These exchanges of fire come after the death of 39 people on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lebanon in the almost simultaneous explosion of hundreds of communications devices used by members of Hezbollah.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the explosion of these communications devices, which killed more than 3,000 injured. “The Israeli enemy is dragging the region into war”, said Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamieh, an ally of Hezbollah.