Hezbollah confirms more than a dozen operatives killed in Israeli strikes

Israel and Hezbollah engaged in heavy back-and-forth strikes during the weekend, with the latter confirming that 15 of its operatives had been killed by Israeli forces.

Akil, the main target, had been wanted by the US for years for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut and the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

The US State Department last year announced a reward of up to 7 million dollars (£5.2 million) for information leading to his “identification, location, arrest, and/or conviction”.

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan called Akil’s death “a good outcome” and said he had “American blood on his hands” for the embassy attack.

“You know, 1983 seems like a long time ago,” Mr Sullivan said. “But for a lot of families and a lot of people, they’re still living with it every day.”

Wahbi was described as a commander who played major roles within Hezbollah for decades and was imprisoned in an Israeli jail in southern Lebanon in 1984.

Hezbollah said he was one of the “field commanders” during a 1997 ambush in southern Lebanon that left 12 Israeli troops dead.

Hezbollah announced overnight that 15 of its operatives had been killed by Israeli forces, but it did not how or where they died.

The Israeli military confirmed that about 90 rockets had been fired at northern Israel and that Israel had struck more than 400 rocket launchers in Lebanon on Saturday during the day.

Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said  16 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Friday’s strike.

Expecting a surge in rocket attacks, Daniel Hagari, another Israeli defence spokesman, announced updated safety guidelines for areas north of Haifa, including caps on gatherings of 30 people in open spaces and 300 in enclosed spaces.

Work and school can continue if people can reach protected areas in a timely manner.

But since students and teachers in some places would not be able to reach shelters in the required time, Sunday classes were cancelled in at least two border regions within an hour of the announcement.

Earlier this week, Israel’s security cabinet said stopping Hezbollah’s attacks on the country’s north, which would allow displaced residents to return to their homes, is now an official war goal, as Israel considers a wider military operation in Lebanon that could spark an all-out conflict.

Israel has since sent a powerful fighting force to its northern border.

Hezbollah has maintained that it will halt its strikes only when a ceasefire is reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire regularly since Hamas’ October 7 attack  on southern Israel ignited the Israeli military’s devastating offensive in Gaza.

But previous cross-border attacks have largely struck areas in northern Israel that had been evacuated and less-populated parts of southern Lebanon.