Rescuers are working intensely in search for survivors in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut after an Israeli airstrike killed at least 31 on Friday.
Lebanese health minister said on Saturday that an additional 68 people were injured in the strike, and among the 31 victims, there are three children, seven women, and three Syrians.
Israel Defense Forces said Ibrahim Akil, a Hezbollah Jihad Council member, was killed along with other senior commanders in the Lebanese group during the operation.
Hezbollah has confirmed Akil's death in the attack late on Friday.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack "proves again that the Israeli enemy does not value any human, legal or moral considerations," according to Al Jazeera reports released on Friday.
Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets at more than 30 settlements in western Galilee and a key intelligence base in northern Israel on Friday, retaliating against the Israeli airstrike, Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.
Earlier on Tuesday and Wednesday, Lebanon experienced two waves of explosions from wireless communication devices, resulting in at least 42 deaths, the Guardian said on Friday. Hezbollah has attributed the explosions to Israel, while Israel has made no response to the charge.
Rescue underway after Israeli airstrike kills at least 31 in southern Beirut
The United States is behind the explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon as "it's hard for Israel to do it by itself," a Lebanese political and military strategic analyst said Friday.
General Georges Saghir, also a former brigadier general in the Lebanese Army, shared his view on this series of attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 30 people, including children, and injuring about 3,000. He said Israel has been helped by the United States to do that.
The Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah blamed Israel for the deadly blasts of pagers and walkie-talkie devices, but Israel has not commented directly on the explosions.
"This is the manipulation of an electromagnetic spectrum. It's very advanced, very technological. And it's hard for Israel to do it by itself. The technique is possessed only by very advanced (countries) like the United States. Israel, I think, it has been helped by the United States," Saghir said.
The expert said such a cyber attack is less costly and risky than an attack on Lebanon.
"If you take your own mobile, it's a lithium battery and we have heard of so many accidents, incidents happening. When the battery was so warm and after this heat, there was an explosion. So it's the same thing, but it's like a beam projected on the area where people have a lithium battery on their mobile or on their pagers. And they manipulate the frequency until they hit it, and then it explodes. The cyber attack, they use it now because it is less, by cost, than can do to people," he said.
Tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border have intensified since Oct 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas. Israel responded with artillery fire into southeastern Lebanon. The conflict has since resulted in significant casualties on both sides.
US behind Lebanon wireless device blasts: expert
US behind Lebanon wireless device blasts: expert
