People fleeing Israeli bombings in Lebanon wait to cross the border with Syria through the Masnaa crossing is eastern Lebanon. AFP
"Since 5:00 am (0200 GMT) enemy warplanes have launched strikes" on several areas of southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency said, adding that "the air aggression continued overnight" on other parts of the south, reporting unspecified casualties.
It also reported that "enemy warplanes and drones" targeted multiple locations the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after midnight, also reporting casualties there.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah announced the death of a commander hours after the Israeli army said it had killed him in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, which Lebanese authorities said left six people dead.
In a statement, the group announced the death of "commander Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi", who was "martyred on the road to Jerusalem", the phrase Hezbollah uses to refer to fighters killed by Israeli forces.
Hezbollah said Wednesday it had fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which was responsible for the targeted killing of its senior leaders. Israel said it struck the site the missile was launched from in southern Lebanon.
Families that fled southern Lebanon flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach. Some sought to leave the country, causing a traffic jam at the border with Syria, AP reported.
Issa Baydoun fled the village of Shihine when it was bombed and drove to Beirut with his extended family. They slept in vehicles on the side of the road because the shelters were full.
“We struggled a lot on the road just to get here,” said Baydoun, who rejected Israel’s contention that it hit only military targets. “We evacuated our homes because Israel is targeting civilians and attacking them.”
Volunteers cooked meals for displaced families at an empty Beirut gas station that first became a hub for relief after a devastating port explosion in 2020.
Asked about the duration of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said at a news conference that it aims to keep them “as short as possible, that’s why we’re attacking with great force. At the same time, we must be prepared for it to take longer.”
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Lebanon for Wednesday at the request of France.
The Israeli army says it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion but is prepared for one. It has moved thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border.
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