Israel conducted another devastating airstrike near Beirut airport overnight in an attempt to wipe out Hezbollah‘s heir apparent after former chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed one week ago.
The Israeli air force launched wave upon wave of punishing strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight into this morning, battering the Dahiyeh area where Hezbollah’s underground headquarters are based.
But one enormous cacophony of explosions that shook buildings for miles around suggested Israel had deployed yet more Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) – bombs designed to penetrate deep into underground structures.
IS HASHEM SAFIEDDINE DEAD?
Unconfirmed Israeli media reports said the IAF had targeted Hashem Safieddine, another hardline cleric and cousin of Nasrallah who many analysts believed was a shoo-in to replace the slain Hezbollah leader.
It is unclear whether Saffieddine was present at the site of the attack.
The intense bombardment came after the IDF issued yet another evacuation order for communities across southern Lebanon.
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Lebanese citizens were told to leave Nabatieh, a provincial capital, and other communities north of the Litani River, which formed the northern edge of the border zone established by the UN Security Council after the 2006 war in a resolution that both sides accuse the other of violating.
Israel also conducted one of its most deadly strikes in the West Bank in decades overnight, with at least 18 people said to have been killed at the Tulkarm refugee camp, Palestinian health authorities claim.
The IDF reported its strike killed Hamas leader Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, who it accused of participating in numerous attacks.
