Middle East latest: Israel kills top Hezbollah commander in missile strike on Beirut

Hezbollah has said a second senior commander, Ahmed Wahbi, was also killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut on Friday.

Wahbi oversaw the military operations of the Radwan special forces during the Gaza war until early 2024.

Hezbollah had earlier confirmed that its senior commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in the strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Palestinian militant group Hamas has described the killing of Aqil as a “crime” and a “folly”, adding that Israel will “pay the price”.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the Middle East, where we have teams in Lebanon and Israel – with tensions appearing only to escalate.

Following on from pager and hand-held radio blasts, Israel said it bombed Hezbollah positions on Thursday and yesterday its military struck a neighbourhood in southern Beirut.

Lebanese authorities said that attack has killed at least 14 people – five of them children, according to the Lebanese National News Agency – with dozens more injured.

Confirmed among the dead is top commander Ibrahim Aqil, who was also wanted by the US for his alleged role in the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut in 1983.

The continued attacks – with Hezbollah also said to have fired rockets into Israel yesterday – were top of the agenda at a meeting of the UN security council.

There, Lebanon’s foreign minister warned “no one in this world is safe anymore” after the attacks on communication devices.

He called on the council to “end the war on all fronts” – warning the world not to be “silent witnesses” to a “great explosion looming on the horizon”.

Israel’s UN envoy hit back – addressing the Lebanese foreign minister directly: “If you continue to ignore Hezbollah’s aggression, the pain and suffering of Lebanese people will be on your shoulders.”

Before we bring you the latest from today, here’s a reminder of other key developments over the past 24 hours.

• The UN’s political affairs chief warned if things continue as they are between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, then “we risk seeing a conflagration that could dwarf even the devastation and suffering witnessed so far”;
• Sky News analysis has found Israeli soldiers pushed at least four apparently lifeless bodies from the roof of a building in the occupied West Bank on Thursday;
• Sky News understands the UK’s foreign secretary chaired an emergency COBRA meeting to discuss the situation in Lebanon and ensure the UK is prepared for any escalation that might require the evacuation of Britons;
• The operation to manufacture the pagers that exploded in Lebanon earlier this week, targeting Hezbollah members, had reportedly been planned for at least 15 years.

The United Nations’ human rights chief says the weaponisation of pagers, walkie-talkies and radios is a violation of international law.

Volker Turk is calling for an independent investigation into the use of electronics in the two attacks in Lebanon earlier this week, which killed at least 37 and injured more than 3,400.

He told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council those behind the attacks “must be held to account” and said the explosions could violate key principles in international law.

The UN chief added the attacks appeared to have failed to distinguish between civilians and combatants, did not appear proportional, and it seemed no precautions were taken to avoid civilian casualties.

“It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians,” he then said. 

“Let me be clear — this method of warfare may be new and unfamiliar, but international humanitarian and human rights law apply regardless and must be upheld.”

Palestinian-American politician Rashida Tlaib has condemned a “racist” cartoon published by conservative magazine National Review showing her with an exploding pager.

In a reference to the attack this week against members of Hezbollah in Lebanon – during which pagers and hand-held radios were detonated remotely – the cartoon portrays Tlaib sitting behind a desk with an exploded pager.

“Our community is already in so much pain right now,” she said on X. 

“It’s disgraceful that the media continues to normalise this racism.”

Ms Tlaib, a Democrat who represents a district from Michigan in the House of Representatives, is the lone Palestinian American lawmaker in Congress. 

The Muslim American advocacy group Emgage Action, Democratic US House members Cory Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, some local officials in Michigan and human rights groups also criticised the cartoon.

National Review did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hedge fund manager Steve Eisman, known for a winning bet against the US housing market that was dramatised in Hollywood movie The Big Short, has been put on leave for a post on social media claiming he was celebrating the devastation in Gaza.

A user on X, formerly Twitter, posted the world was silent about Gaza – to which Mr Eisman responded: “You must be kidding. We are not silent. We are celebrating.” 

His account has since been deleted.

His firm, Neuberger Berman, said Mr Eisman did not speak on its behalf and called his actions “objectionable”. 

According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s nearly year-old war in the enclave.

In comments cited by media reports, he apologised for his remarks and said he had intended to refer to Israel’s attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Mr Eisman himself could not immediately be contacted.

A spokesperson for Neuberger Berman said: “Even though Mr Eisman has acknowledged that he mistook the content of the post he responded to, his actions on social media were irresponsible and objectionable.”

Mr Eisman joined the firm in 2014.

More now on Hezbollah’s confirmation that top commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in an Israeli airstrike today.

While the militant group has not provided further details on his killing, Hamas has described the attack as a “crime” and “folly”.

Israel will pay the price, the group added.

Emergency workers are still on the scene in southern Beirut, where an apartment block was levelled in an Israeli airstrike.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 14 people have been killed, with 66 others injured – nine of whom are in a serious condition.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported earlier today five children are among the dead.

By Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford 

The Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut came as the Lebanese caretaker government was having an emergency meeting to discuss the previous two days of pager and radio explosions.

It caused yet more shock in a nation that considers itself battle-hardened after years of strife, disaster and wars. 

But Lebanon has been truly rocked to its core by the string of attacks over the past few days.

“These are war crimes,” one Lebanese minister told us.

The Israeli military said it had targeted and killed a senior Hezbollah military commander. 

They named him as Ibrahim Aqil – a man with a $7m US bounty on his head. 

He’s been on the US most wanted list for more than 40 years after being accused of involvement in the bombing of the US embassy and US marine barracks in 1983, which killed hundreds.

But the Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh is a heavily populated crowded residential area, packed with shops, markets, and high-rise apartments.

Number of dead rises

The strike appeared to have flattened an entire block, flipping cars and leaving other vehicles covered in a heavy blanket of thick dust and rubble. 

Several people were seen in video footage, filmed by neighbours, trapped under piles of rubble. 

The Lebanese health authority keeps on updating the death toll with the latest figures at the time of writing reaching 14. 

There are more than 60 injured, with a number believed to be in a critical condition and children among the dead, missing and injured.

The Israeli military immediately claimed success – claiming that, along with Aqil, the strike had wiped out around 10 of his special elite Radwan Force and, according to an IDF spokesman who did not provide any evidence, the team was planning an attack into northern Israel similar to the Hamas attack on 7 October.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a very short statement on X, stating: “Our goals are clear and our actions speak for themselves.” 

Both the prime minister and the defence minister have vowed to restore security to the north of Israel so the 60,000 residents who’ve fled the cross-border attacks can return to their homes.

An estimated 120,000 Lebanese have been forced out of their homes along the border.

The airstrike in the capital is the second in Beirut in two months – both, according to the IDF, targeted at senior commanders.

According to sources being quoted in Lebanese media, the Hezbollah group of senior leaders was meeting in an underground basement of a large housing block when the missile penetrated.

‘It’s a new war crime’

It is unlikely to be seen as a justifiable precision attack or a “targeted strike” as described by the Israeli military if the Lebanese government ministers’ reactions are anything to go by.

We spoke to several as they arrived for their emergency cabinet meeting in the hour before the attack. 

They were already incensed by the back-to-back co-ordinated booby trap explosions of communication devices across the country.

Referring to the pager and radio explosions, the head of the country’s disaster management, Nasser Yassin, told us: “It’s genocidal, it’s indiscriminate and a violation of international humanitarian law and every other law… we have an insane leadership on the southern end of our borders who don’t want to be indicted by the International Court of Justice.”

The information minister, Ziad Makary, said of the explosions: “It’s a new crime… it’s a war crime and not something that would pass easily trying to kill 3,000, 4,000 civilians as we see them.”

And the economy minister, Amin Salam, warned: “Things are escalating by the minute… there’s more tension, more provocation… we have been doing our best to get to a peaceful solution, but the escalation is unprecedented… it’s an act of terror, regardless of who was targeted.”

Lebanese attacks

The airstrike in Beirut came after a marked increase in cross-border exchanges – the most intense in nearly a year. 

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had spent the early part of the day firing nearly 200 rockets across the border into Israel. Most were circumvented by the Iron Dome. 

This followed an overnight Israeli bombing of more than 50 targets in the south of Lebanon – which the IDF said hit launchers and weapons stores. 

The Israeli military is suffering losses too – there were two funerals today for Israeli soldiers killed on their northern border – but it’s Hezbollah that seems to be paying a far heavier price right now.

Hezbollah unilaterally entered this latest war on 8 October, much to the frustration of the country’s caretaker government and a day after the Hamas attack into Israel. 

They have repeatedly said their actions are in support of Gaza and have continued to insist they will only stop once there’s a ceasefire. 

But, right now, the fighting group allied to Iran and designated a terror group by the US and UK appears to be very much on the backfoot after three attacks in four days and Israel ploughing on despite the cries of indignation and condemnation from the international community.

Additional reporting from Beirut with camera Jake Britton, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Lebanon producers Jihad Jineid and Sami Zein

Hezbollah has confirmed top military commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

As we reported at 4.50pm, the Israeli military claimed it had “eliminated” Ibrahim Aqil, described as the head of Hezbollah’s operations system and the “actual commander of the Radwan Force”. 

The IDF claimed warplanes had carried out the “precise raid” in the Beirut area.

The US had been offering a reward of $7m (£5.3m) for information about Aqil, who it said was the “principal member” of the group that bombed the US embassy in Beirut in 1983, killing 63 people, and the US Marine barracks in the same year, killing 241 US personnel.

More now from the UN security council meeting, where Lebanon’s foreign minister has just warned “no one in this world is safe anymore” after attacks on communication devices in the country.

Abdallah bou Habib also held up a picture showing gruesome injuries he said were sustained in the attack, when pagers were blown up remotely by – security sources say – Israel.

“We do not seek revenge,” he added. “We are only seeking justice.”

He called on the council to “end the war on all fronts” – warning the world not to be “silent witnesses” to a “great explosion looming on the horizon”.

“Today, and before it is too late, you have to understand that this explosion will spare neither east nor west and will take us back to the dark ages,” he added.

“The choice is yours – will your august council intervene swiftly and decisively to silence the drums of war?”

‘Their pain will be on you’

Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon hit back – addressing the Lebanese foreign minister directly: “If you continue to ignore Hezbollah’s aggression, the pain and suffering of Lebanese people will be on your shoulders.”

He accused Lebanon of allowing a “terrorist organisation to create a state within your state”, which brings “ruin” to their people.

“Instead of blaming us, your peaceful neighbours, you should take action now,” he said.