In defiance of the deadly Israeli air-strikes on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, the Lebanese have said the Israeli assaults will only strengthen the Lebanese people's resolve to fight back and boost their support for the Palestinians in Gaza.
Lebanon's Hezbollah has confirmed in a statement that Ibrahim Akil, the acting commander of its elite Radwan Force, was among those killed in the Israeli air-strikes late on Friday.
The air-strikes hit a building in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh in what the Lebanese militant group called a "treacherous Israeli assassination."
Two Lebanese who witnessed the deadly Israeli assaults recalled the chaos after Israel bombed Beirut on Friday that killed the Hezbollah commander and 13 others.
At least 66 others were also wounded in the Israeli air-strikes, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
It marked yet another deadly attack by Israel on Lebanon's capital since the outbreak of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And it came after this week's deadly sabotage of Hezbollah members' communication devices, an act which the militant group called "a declaration of war by Israel."
"We were in an area close to the attacks when the explosion occurred. Then people started running and the ambulances arrived later. I was a little further way [compared with others] from the explosion. I wasn't there. Only one person near me got injured. Every injury that happens to us increases our determination and gives us more strength and spirit to [fight back]," Hassan Alian, one the two witnesses,told the China Global Television Network (CGTN)two hours after the attacks.
"All the attacks and crimes committed by the enemy have not affected the people on the suburbs, including those in the south and the Al-Qaa area. They will not back down because of this. We are with Gaza, with the children of Gaza and with the resistance of Palestine until the demise of our enemy. If Israeli is thinking of going into a full-scale war, it will be, as the secretary-general [of Hezbollah] said, strategically stupid. Because the war is on our side and when they think of entering our territory, they will see thousands of Mujahedeen (holy warriors) waiting for them," said Dada Alian, another witness.
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets at over 30 settlements in western Galilee and a key intelligence base in northern Israel later on Friday, in retaliation for the deadly Israeli air-strikes.
Lebanese defiant of deadly Israeli attacks, vowing to fight back
Lebanese defiant of deadly Israeli attacks, vowing to fight back
Lebanese defiant of deadly Israeli attacks, vowing to fight back
Lebanese defiant of deadly Israeli attacks, vowing to fight back
