Beirut Strike Death Toll Reaches 37

Lebanon has said more than 30 people, including three children, were killed in a strike on a Beirut suburb. Israel confirmed the attack and said a senior Hezbollah commander was among those killed.

The Lebanese Health Ministry Firass Abiad says the death toll from a strike in the suburbs of Beirut has now risen to 37. Three children were among the dead, and seven women. Hezbollah has confirmed that a second top commander was also killed in the strike.
Abiad told reporters that 68 people were also wounded with some 15 still in hospital. The attack is the deadliest airstrike on Beirut since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Several Hezbollah members, including top leaders, were also killed in the strike, according to Israel.

Ibrahim Akil, a Hezbollah commander who was in charge of the group's elite Radwan Forces and about a dozen members of the militant group who were meeting in a basement were also killed, the Israeli government said.

Israel said it had targeted Hezbollah fighters in the strike that followed threats from the militant group's top leadership that came after hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in what is believed to be an Israeli operation.

The series of attacks in Lebanon mark an escalation of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, although Israel has carried out strikes in other parts of the country before.

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Israel confirms Hezbollah commander killed
The Israeli military has confirmed a Hezbollah announcement that Ibrahim Akil, one of the Islamist group's commanders, was among those killed in an attack on the Lebanese capital's southern Dahiya district. He is the second leading Hezbollah figure to be confirmed killed in Friday's attack.

The strike on the crowded district came during rush hour, as people headed home from work and children left school. Media showed footage of at least two buildings completely flattened.

Iran says Beirut attack was a 'criminal act'
Iran has strongly condemned the Israeli strike that hit the suburbs of Beirut on Friday. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Israel was committing "shameless crimes" against children and the Lebanese Health Ministry said three children were among the 31 dead from Friday's strike.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also condemned the killing of a military commander in the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, Ibrahim Akil, but he added that Iran, which is Hezbollah's main backer, was not planning a direct act of revenge.

"The incident is a matter for Hezbollah, and it will certainly show an appropriate reaction in due course," the Iranian chief diplomat said, according to a report published by Iran's ISNA news agency.Araghchi said Friday's targeted killing of Hezbollah commander Akil was "a criminal act of desperation."

Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli air base
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has targeted an Israeli air base with dozens of missiles, it said on early Sunday. The missile attack on the Israeli Ramat David air base near Haifa was in response to "repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon," the group said in a statement.

Israel's emergency medical services (MDA) said a 60-year-old man was lightly wounded by shrapnel from a missile shot from Lebanon. The missile was intercepted in a village in the lower Galilee.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a short statement that around 10 rockets were detected, most of which were intercepted. Alerts had been activated in the area. "A rocket was also monitored falling in the area and the incident is being investigated," the statement said.