West Asia crisis: Top Hezbollah commander, head of missile unit, killed in Israeli strike on Beirut

The Israeli military said on Tuesday (Sept 24) that it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon overnight. Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned Lebanese militant group, said on Tuesday that it launched volleys of missiles at Israeli military bases.

As per reports, Ibrahim Qubaisi, a top Hezbollah commanderresponsible for directing missile attacks towards central Israel, was killed in the attack.Ibrahim Qubaisi, also known as Abu Musa, was the head of the terror group's missile unit.

He was killed Tuesday in one of the strikes on Beirut’s Dahieh district,whena six-storey residential buildingwas hit by the IDF.

The Israeli military said more than 50 projectiles were fired into northern Israel in less than 10 minutes on Tuesday morning, most of which were intercepted.

These attacks by the Israeli military and Hezbollah came a day after Lebanon said thatIsraeli airstrikes killed nearly 500 people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety.

A look at Monday's airstrikes in Lebanon

On Monday, Israel launched air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon that killed492 people, including 35 children, while more than 1,600 people were injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

A Lebanese official told the news agency Reuters that this was the country'shighest daily death toll from violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.

After almost a year of war against Hamas in Gaza on its southern border, Israel is shifting its focus to the northern frontier, from where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of the Palestinian militant group, also backed by Iran.

After some of the heaviest cross-border exchanges of fire since hostilities flared in October 2023 as the Gaza war erupted, Israel warned civilian people in Lebanon to evacuate areas and move away from locations where Hezbollah has storedweapons.

Thousands of people from south Lebanon fled for safety.The United Nations (UN)said on Tuesday that tens of thousands of people had fled their homes in Lebanon since Monday, amid Israeli strikes.

"Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow," UN refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva.

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Israeli Army chief Herzi Halevi said Monday's strikes hit the combat infrastructure that Hezbollahhad been building for two decades, while Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called Monday "a significant peak" in the operation.

'89 temporary shelters set up'

Speaking to Reuters, Lebanese Minister Naseer Yassin said that 89 temporary shelters in schools and other facilities had been set up, with thecapacity for more than 26,000 people as civilians fled what he called "Israeli atrocities."

This development came after Lebanese Prime MinisterNajib Mikati urged the United Nations and world powers to deter what he called Israel's "plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns."

(With inputs from agencies)