Reuters TV via REUTERS.
Israel said it conducted a strike in Beirut on Tuesday targeting a Hezbollah commander who it deemed responsible for a deadly rocket attack in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend.
The retaliatory strike in the Lebanese capital targeted Fuad Shukr, a senior advisor to Hezbollah's secretary-general Hasan Nasrallah who has a $5 million US government bounty on his head. It was not immediately clear whether he survived the strike.
Video and images from the scene revealed extensive damage to at least one multi-story building, debris in the streets, and smoke rising above the city. There are reportedly dozens of casualties.
"The IDF carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians," the Israeli military said in a statement.
REUTERS/Ahmed Al-Kerdi
"At the moment, there are no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines. If any changes will be made, an update will be released," it added.
Israel and the US blamed Iran-backed Hezbollah for a rocket attack that killed 12 children and teenagers in Majdal Shams, a town located in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on Saturday. The Lebanon-based militant group denied involvement.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged regular cross-border fire since Israel declared war on Hamas following the October 7 massacre, but Saturday's attack in Majdal Shams raised concerns that the situation could spiral into an all-out confrontation, with Israeli officials vowing a harsh response.
"Hezbollah crossed the red line," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday.
Shukr, the man who was targeted in Tuesday's strike in Beirut, serves on Hezbollah's Jihad Council, which is its highest military body, according to the US State Department's Rewards for Justice program.
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Shukr also "played a central role" in the October 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, which killed more than 240 American service members, the US said. The State Department has offered a reward of $5 million for credible information on Shukr, who was marked a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" in 2019.
It's still unclear what effects Tuesday's strike will have on the routine exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah and whether it will lead to an escalation in hostilities. It marked the second time the IDF has targeted Beirut since October 7.
John Kirby, a White House spokesperson, said on Monday that Israel has "every right to respond" to Saturday's attack in Majdal Shams but downplayed concerns about an all-out conflict.
"Nobody wants a broader war, and I'm confident that we'll be able to avoid such an outcome," he told reporters.
