Israeli strikes on Lebanon causing ‘carnage’ – health minister

Hagari also said the head of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket unit, Ibrahim Qubaisi, had been killed in an air strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday afternoon, along with at least two other commanders who were with him at the time.

Qubaisi was “a key figure in activating missiles” and was “responsible for a series of attacks on Israeli territory”, he added.

Hezbollah confirmed in a Telegram post that Qubaisi had been “martyred” in a strike.

The Lebanese health ministry said six people were killed and 15 others injured in an “Israeli enemy raid” that partly destroyed the top two floors of a block of flats in Beirut’s Ghobeiry neighbourhood.

Hezbollah said that its fighters had fired barrages of rockets towards more than a dozen Israeli towns and military bases, as well as an explosives factory. It also claimed that a new type of rocket had been used to strike the IDF’s Samson unit.

Sirens continued to sound throughout the day across northern Israel and interceptor rockets from Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system were seen streaking into the sky.

Some of the approximately 300 rockets landed, causing damage and injuring six civilians and soldiers, most of them lightly, according to Hagari.