Hezbollah confirms senior commander killed in Israeli air strike in Beirut suburb

Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday killed its high-ranking commander, Fouad Shokor, and four civilians and injured 80 other.

Fouad Shokor is the highest-ranking Hezbollah figure to be killed since its decades-long conflict with Israel intensified following Hamas attacks on southern Israel in October last year.

Israel claims Shokor was behind the July 27 strike on the Golan Heights that killed 12 children, a charge Hezbollah denies.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah issued a statement mourning its top military commander and said that it would provide more details about Shokor's death during his funeral on Thursday. Meanwhile, operations to clear rubble from the attack site are progressing slowly.

Local residents in Dahieh, the southern suburb of Beirut which is known as a Hezbollah stronghold, recalled the horrifying moment of the Israeli strike and expressed their anger over the incident.

"The first couple of seconds you don't understand and comprehend what's happening, but then I knew that it was Israel and a bomb from Israel. First of all, you feel some kind of fright, but we're not afraid. Let's be honest, we're not afraid of Israel, obviously. But yeah, that's about it. Just a bomb. They were trying to kill somebody," said one young man who had been near the residential building when it was hit.

"What happened in Dahieh is that people were going about their normal lives and I was in Haret Hreik, and suddenly we heard a loud noise and some people said they bombed. They bombed a building in the area. Even if Israel targets us more than once, we will come back stronger," said a female resident.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the attack on Beirut risked escalating the situation from a conflict with Israel to one of open danger, with all officials in the caretaker government strongly condemning the Israeli strike.

Israel's assassinations of Shokor in Lebanon on Tuesday and of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday, have raised alarm concerns around the world of a rapid and deadly escalation of conflict in the Middle East.

Hezbollah confirms senior commander killed in Israeli air strike in Beirut suburb

Hezbollah confirms senior commander killed in Israeli air strike in Beirut suburb

The gold price fluctuated above 3,140 U.S. dollars per ounce on Thursday, after President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping new tariffs against most U.S. trading partners.

The price of gold has jumped nearly 18 percent this year, as traders piled into the safe haven asset amid a steep decline in stock market futures.

Amid widespread opposition, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs," imposing a 10-percent "minimum baseline tariff" and higher rates on certain trading partners.

All imports would be subject to 10 percent additional tariffs, except as otherwise provided, the executive order said. This will take effect on April 5.

Trump will impose an "individualized reciprocal higher tariff" on the countries and regions with which the United States "has the largest trade deficits," according to a White House document. This will take effect on April 9.

Some goods will not be subject to the reciprocal tariff, including steel and aluminum, autos and auto parts already subject to Section 232 tariffs, copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and lumber, the White House noted.

For Canada and Mexico, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) compliant goods will continue to see a 0 percent tariff, non-USMCA compliant goods will see a 25 percent tariff, and non-USMCA compliant energy and potash will see a 10 percent tariff, according to the White House.

In his speech at the White House Rose Garden, Trump presented a chart on "reciprocal tariffs." The chart shows that different countries and regions face different tariff rates.

For example, China will face a 34-percent tariff, the European Union 20 percent, Vietnam 46 percent, Japan 24 percent, India 26 percent, South Korea 25 percent, Thailand 36 percent, Switzerland 31 percent, Indonesia 32 percent, Malaysia 24 percent, and Cambodia 49 percent.

Gold price fluctuates after Trump tariffs announcement