Israel Says it Attacked Hezbollah's Intelligence HQ in Beirut

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
TT

Israel Says it Attacked Hezbollah's Intelligence HQ in Beirut

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Israel carried out at least three air raids on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday after issuing evacuation orders.

Israel said its air force attacked Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and an underground workshop for the production of weapons in Beirut.

In a statement, the Israeli military said its fighter jets killed three Hezbollah commanders, including Alhaj Abbas Salameh, a senior figure in the group's southern command, Radja Abbas Awache, a communications expert, and Ahmad Ali Hussein, who it said was responsible for strategic weapons development.
It was not clear if the three were killed in the attack on the headquarters or in separate actions.

A day earlier, Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations in Beirut's southern suburbs, leaving thick plumes of smoke hanging over the city into the evening.

The strikes targeted "a number of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and a Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center,” Israel's military said.

Israel had issued evacuation orders for four separate neighborhoods within the suburbs, urging residents to get 500 meters away, but carried out strikes in other areas as well, witnesses said.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the southern suburbs - once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations - since Israel began regular strikes there about three weeks ago.

An Israeli air attack on Sept. 27 killed Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, and strikes nearby have killed other top figures from the Iran-backed group.



Israeli Military to Target Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hasan in Lebanon

People drive next to a building, targeted in an Israeli airstrike the night before, in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
People drive next to a building, targeted in an Israeli airstrike the night before, in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
TT

Israeli Military to Target Hezbollah's Al-Qard Al-Hasan in Lebanon

People drive next to a building, targeted in an Israeli airstrike the night before, in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)
People drive next to a building, targeted in an Israeli airstrike the night before, in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Israel will carry out targeted strikes on sites belonging to Hezbollah's financial arm in Lebanon in coming hours and Lebanese residents should evacuate areas close to those facilities, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Sunday.

"We will attack a number of targets in the coming hours," spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a news briefing.

"In the coming hours we will issue an evacuation warning to Lebanese residents in Beirut and other locations to evacuate from sites that are used to fund Hezbollah's terrorism activities."

A senior Israeli intelligence official added that they were going to be attacking different branches of Iran-backed Hezbollah's financing arm Al-Qard Al-Hasan.

No details were given about the locations of the sites that would be targeted.

The United States imposed sanctions on Al-Qard al-Hasan in 2007, saying it was used by Hezbollah "as a cover to manage the terrorist group's financial activities and gain access to the international financial system.”