Beirut, Nov 18: An uncommon strike by Israel in central Beirut has claimed the life of chief spokesman of Hezbollah on Sunday, while a strike on northern Gaza in Beit Lahiya by Israeli forces has claimed 30 people’s lives, a hospital doctor disclosed this to the media.Mohammed Afif al-Naboulsi, a senior Hezbollah figure, was killed in a targeted strike on the Arab Socialist Baath Party’s office in Beirut, Hezbollah confirmed. The attack occurred as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted in September, have continued to intensify.
Israeli military reported that al-Naboulsi “exerted important influence over Hezbollah’s conduct of war” and “praised and encouraged” attacks against Israel. It was the fifth Hezbollah’s senior leader assassinated in targeted killings.
The bombing did not stop there as central Beirut computer shop was bombed, resulting in the death of two and injuring 22 more citizens, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The Israeli military has not commented on the new attack. The attack came while Lebanese officials have been studying a US-sponsored proposal of a draft international ceasefire resolution. Faisal Al Sayegh, a member of Lebanon’s parliament, called attacks “This confirms the crimes of the Israeli enemy, and that it wants to negotiate under fire and is expanding and targeting safe and safer areas.
Witnesses in Beirut described scenes of chaos following the blast that killed al-Naboulsi. “I was asleep and awoke from the sound of the strike, and people screaming, and cars and gunfire,” said Suheil Halabi, a local resident. Following a second strike in the Mar Elias neighborhood, firefighters battled flames caused by the explosion, while bystanders reported hearing another explosion.
Hezbollah fired rockets, missiles, and drones into Israel the day after the attack on October 7, 2023 – which had triggered the larger war in Gaza – as retaliations to the continued attacks. Israel retaliated with airstrikes in Lebanon, escalating the conflict further. The Israeli military confirmed Sunday that mobile artillery batteries crossed into Lebanese territory and fired on Hezbollah targets – the first time during the conflict that artillery was used inside Lebanon.
The conflict has been very deadly, killing more than 3,400 people in Lebanon alone, the Health Ministry said, while over 1.2 million were displaced. How many of these casualties are Hezbollah fighters, however is unknown. It has been two weeks since the Hezbollah attacks against Israel began in earnest, leaving at least 76 dead, including 31 soldiers, and displacing at least 60,000. On Sunday, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service reported that a teenager was suffering from blast injuries in Upper Galilee.