Hezbollah confirms the death of a top commander in an Israeli strike in Beirut

Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah confirms the death of a top commander in an Israeli strike in Beirut.

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not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping," the statement said.In a defiant televised speech, Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said the only solution was a ceasefire while threatening to expand the scope of its missile strikes across Israel."Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place" in Israel, he said.Early Wednesday Israel's military reported around 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the country's north, without any reports of casualties.Iran-backed Hezbollah said it launched "a large salvo of missiles" at the town of Safed.Israel's military bombed several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, including in the Bekaa Valley where a hospital in Baalbek city was put out of service, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported.It also said it had captured three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon.Lebanon's health ministry said nine people were killed Tuesday evening in strikes on the country's south, and five others in the east, including three children.Asked about Israeli air strikes in Lebanon in which residential buildings in central Beirut were hit on October 10, the US State Department voiced open criticism."We have made clear that we are opposed to the campaign the way we've seen it conducted over the past weeks" in Beirut, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.In a letter sent to the Israeli government on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also warned that the United States could withhold weapons deliveries unless more humanitarian aid was delivered to Palestinians in Gaza.The letter made "clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make again to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today," Miller said.- 'Worst restrictions' -Despite the need for food, medical supplies and shelter in 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sleeping in the covers, all burned and cut up," she said.Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures, including hostages killed in captivity.The Israeli campaign has killed 42,344 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.- Lebanon strikes -Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon from September 23 and then launched a ground offensive a week later intended to push the group back from its northern border.Hezbollah has been firing thousands of projectiles into Israel over the last year in support of Hamas, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis.At least 1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel escalated its bombing last month, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.The war in Lebanon, which has suffered years of economic crisis, has displaced at least 690,000 people, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration.Israel is also weighing how to respond to Iran's decision to launch around 200 missiles at the country on October 1.Netanyahu's office said that Israel -- and not its top ally the United States -- would decide how to strike back. "We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest," it said Tuesday.The Iranian barrage was in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Lebanon's Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another that killed Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan on September 27.US President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel's top arms supplier, has warned Israel against striking Iran's nuclear or oil facilities. According to a Washington Post report on Monday citing unnamed US officials, Netanyahu 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