Israel Heavily Strikes Beirut, Hezbollah Says Its Next Chief 'Out Of Contact': Top Updates

Israel launched airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, targeting Hezbollah locations causing widespread destruction and displacement.

Massive Israeli airstrike shook Lebanon's capital Beirut on Sunday.

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Massive airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs from late Saturday into Sunday shook up the Lebanese capital as Israel continued to target Hezbollah locations. The strikes sent booms across the city sparking flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.

According to a Reuters report quoting sources, Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor to Hassan Nasrallah as Hezbollah chief had been out of contact since Friday after an Israeli airstrike near the city's international airport was reported to have targeted him. 

Israel has been expanding its operation in Lebanon with the northern city of Tripoli being the fresh target after locations in the south of the country including Bekaa Valley and Beirut. 

On Sunday, at least eight strikes rocked Beirut's southern suburbs following a warning by the Israeli military for residents to flee.

The Israeli military has said that its forces have killed more than 400 Hezbollah fighters since its ground operations inside southern Lebanon, reported AFP. 

"Since the beginning of the (ground) manoeuvre, forces have eliminated some 440 terrorists from the ground and from the air, including 30 commanders of various ranks," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing.

Last month, the Israeli military said it eliminated Nasrallah in a strike on the group's central command headquarters in Beirut on September 27. While Hezbollah had confirmed Nasrallah's killing, it has made no comment so far on Safieddine. 

The Israeli offensive has killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and forced 1.2 million people, almost a quarter of the population, from their homes.

The violence comes amid the first anniversary of the Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage. The subsequent attack by Israel on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry and displaced nearly all of its population of 2.3 million. 

An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza mosque early on Sunday killed 18 people while 20 others were injured, as per AlJazeera. 

In a statement, the Israeli military said it "conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded in a structure that previously served as the 'Shuhada al-Aqsa' Mosque in the area of Deir al Balah," reported Reuters.