Israel strikes southern suburbs of Beirut

Photo: Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, Beirut/AP Photo/Hussein Malla

Israeli warplanes struck the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight and early Sunday morning, the heaviest bombing of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply stepped up its campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group last month.

Israel said its air force “carried out a series of targeted strikes on a number of weapons depots and terrorist infrastructure facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the Beirut area,” Reuters reported.

The intense bombing this weekend came on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.

Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and a ground invasion of the country's south have targeted the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Iran's main ally in the region. The attacks have killed hundreds of people, including civilians, and displaced 1.2 million, Lebanese officials say.

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For days, Israel bombed the Beirut suburb of Dahiya, considered a Hezbollah stronghold but also home to thousands of ordinary Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian refugees, killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.

A Lebanese security source said on Saturday, October 5, that Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah's potential successor, had not been contacted since Friday, October 4, following an Israeli airstrike on Thursday near the city's international airport. The strike was said to have targeted him.

Israel continues to bomb the area, preventing rescuers from reaching him, Lebanese security sources said.

Hezbollah does not comment on the situation with Safieddin.

His death will be another blow to the group and its patron Iran. Israeli strikes across the region over the past year, which have intensified sharply in recent weeks, have led to the elimination of the leadership of Hezbollah.

Prepared by: Sergei Daga