Hezbollah confirms leader killed in Israel airstrike, UNSC meets urgently

Lebanon's Hezbollah on Friday night mourned the acting commander of its elite Radwan force, Ibrahim Akil, who was killed earlier in the day by an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs. "Today, the great jihadist leader Ibrahim Akil joined the procession of his brothers, the great martyr leaders, after a blessed life full of jihad, work, wounds, sacrifices, risks, challenges, achievements, and victories," read a statement released late Friday by the militant Islamic outfit.

The local MTV channel reported that Akil's body was found along with seven other members of Hezbollah's Radwan force. The channel reported earlier that the whole command committee of the force was meeting in the building targeted by the Israeli airstrike. Civil defence teams are still looking for bodies under the rubble, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the health ministry, the Israeli airstrike has killed 14 people and injured 66 others.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has met in an emergency session on Lebanon, following an uptick in cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, and deadly wireless device explosions targeting members of the militant group, which has accused Israeli intelligence agency Mossad of orchestrating the explosions.

In retaliation, Hezbollah reportedly launched over 100 rockets at more than 30 settlements in western Galilee and a key intelligence base in northern Israel, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The Israeli strike hit a building in the Jamous area of Dahieh. Rescue teams were clearing rubble to find casualties, the ministry was quoted on Friday as saying by Xinhua. Local TV footage showed extensive damage and chaos in the densely populated neighbourhood.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli military said about 120 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, triggering alarms in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Safed, and Upper Galilee. Some were intercepted, with debris causing fires. No injuries in Israel have been reported.

Rosemary DiCarlo, UN under secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said on Friday that alarming developments in Lebanon and the region have come after nearly one year of hostilities on an almost daily basis across the Blue Line, a buffer zone separating Israel and Lebanon, Xinhua reported. "These exchanges have been a repeated breach of the cessation of hostilities and in violation of (Security Council) resolution 1701," she said.

Lebanon's foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib said "Israel, through this terrorist aggression, has violated the basic principles of international humanitarian law ... and indiscriminately targeted civilians." Denouncing Israel as "a rogue state," he called on the council to condemn the recent attacks, implement resolution 1701 and stand on the right side of history. "Isn't this terrorism when you target a whole population while they tend to their daily life and (are) not fighting on the front?" he asked.

Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations Koussay Aldahhak said the devastating recent attacks were deployed without any regard to international law or humanity. He said the Arab Group demands the UNSC condemn this "cyberterrorism and Israel's aggressions" against the Palestinian people in Gaza and attacks on other countries, including Syria. In his national capacity, Aldahhak said Syria condemns the aggression and ongoing terrorism against the Lebanese people.

Speaking in his national capacity, Samuel Zbogar of Slovenia, which holds the UNSC presidency for September, said, "We are stepping in a dangerous new territory and as new technology is being used and developed, we underline the need to respect the existing legal obligations." He called on the council to act before the situation in the region spirals beyond control, emphasising that diplomacy must be the only path forward.

Danny Danon, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, said his country did not seek the war, stating that on 8 October 2023, when Israeli citizens in the south were being "slaughtered" by Hamas, Hezbollah "unleased hundreds of rockets" in the north against civilians. He said since then, more than 8,000 rockets have "rained down" on Israel, killing 46 people and injuring a further 294.

Danon added that Israel's objective is to "restore security to our northern borders" and "bring our people home".

"We are very concerned at the heightened escalation across the Blue Line, including the deadly strike we saw on Beirut today," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, said at a daily briefing.

He urged all parties to de-escalate immediately, exercise "maximum restraint" and "immediately return to the cessation of hostilities and to fully implement Security Council resolution 1701." Warning that the region is "on the brink of a catastrophe," he said all efforts should focus on finding a diplomatic solution.

On a third front, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has condemned Israel's targeting of a populated residential area, describing it as a continuation of "what can be called genocide". Information minister Ziad Makari told reporters on Friday after a cabinet session that Mikati made the remarks at the beginning of the meeting, Xinhua reported.

Mikati said "targeting a populated residential area proves once again that the Israeli enemy does not give importance to any humanitarian, legal or moral considerations, but rather is proceeding with what can be called genocide".

"The unprecedented security earthquake, which Lebanon was exposed to this week, and which caused thousands of victims, is a shameful and condemnable criminal act and is similar to a genocide and a terrible massacre," the prime minister said.

"We are raising this issue to the international community and the human conscience as an indictment of the Israeli enemy, demanding a clear position on these horrific massacres," he added.

With IANS inputs