Gaza live: Several dead including Hezbollah commander after Israeli strike on southern Beirut

Sources have told news agencies that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut suburb on Friday.

An Israeli security source told Israel's Army Radio the target of the attack was Ibrahim Aqil, who had been Hezbollah's second-in-command since the killing of Fuad Shukr, also in a strike on Beirut, in July.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that Aqil had been killed in the attack, also confirmed by two sources to Reuters.

An Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed three people on Friday, Lebanon's health ministry said on Friday.

"The Israeli enemy's strike on Beirut's southern suburbs led, according to a preliminary toll, to the killing of three people, and Lebanese hospitals have received 17 wounded so far," the ministry said

One person has been killed in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut, which the army said targeted Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil.

Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said one person was killed and 14 wounded in a preliminary toll from the Israeli strike.

Aqil, whose status is not known, is a longtime Hezbollah leader who sat on their main military council.

The Israeli military said it carried out a "targeted strike" in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The Hezbollah-linked al-Manar TV said the Israeli attack hit a southern suburb of the city.

Video footage of the scene shows heavy damage in a residential area and al-Manar TV said people had been killed.

Eyewitnesses have seen smoke rising over Beirut following the sound of a large blast in the Lebanese capital.

MEE's correspondent in the city also said the sound of Israeli jets could be heard overhead.

Israel has submitted an objection to the International Criminal Court (ICC) issuing warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, arguing they lack jurisdiction.

“Israel submitted two separate legal briefs. In one brief, Israel outlined the ICC’s manifest lack of jurisdiction in the present case,” said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein.

“And in another brief, Israel detailed the ICC prosecutor’s wrongful breach of the court’s statute and the principle of complementarity, in failing to provide Israel with the opportunity to exercise its right to investigate by itself the claims raised by the prosecutor, before proceeding.

"No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the prosecutor.”

Hezbollah has fired a barrage of rockets at Israeli military bases, the group said on Friday, in retaliation for Israeli strikes in south Lebanon.

"Salvos of Katyusha rockets" were launched against at least six Israeli "army headquarters" and bases, according to the group, including a "main air defence base".

The Israeli army said some 60 rockets were fired into Israeli territory.

The International Rescue Committee has warned that the escalating violence in the occupied West Bank is threatening to collapse the healthcare system in the territory.

He added that Israel's repeated incursions were also driving out many NGO staff and other foreign health workers.

"Rising violence is undermining the health system in the West Bank, as hospitals are not prepared to handle mass casualty incidents, nor withstand continued attacks on facilities and personnel," said Bart Witteveen, IRC’s Country Director for the occupied Palestinian territory, in a statement

"Israel must uphold its obligations to ensure immediate and active protection of civilians and health care services in the West Bank."

US concerns over a potential Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon have increased following this week's deadly explosions of pagers and electronic devices used by Hezbollah, US defence sources told the Wall Street Journal.

"I am very concerned about this spiralling out of control," a senior US defence official told the WSJ, echoing what the outlet reported from other Pentagon aides since Tuesday.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• At least eight people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, Al Jazeera reports
• The Israeli army's hours-long raid on Qabatiya, occupied West Bank left seven people killed, with footage showing Israeli soldiers throwing bodies of dead Palestinians off a building
• Taiwanese authorities are currently questioning two people from local companies as part of a probe into pagers that exploded while being used by Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon
• This comes as Taiwan's economy minister insists that the components used in the thousands of pagers that detonated were not made in his country

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of pushing the Middle East "into the abyss of a regional war" due to its dangerous escalation on multiple fronts

• Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad announced during a press briefing in Beirut that at least 32 people were killed and thousands injured following a series of coordinated explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday

• Turkey has accused Israel of attempting to extend its Gaza conflict into Lebanon following a series of deadly explosions in Hezbollah strongholds

• A Turkish defence official told Reuters on Thursday that Ankara is currently reviewing the security of communication devices used by its armed forces following the explosion of handheld devices in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday

• The UN child rights committee (CRC) on Thursday accused Israel of committing historically unprecedented violations against Palestinian children

• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "expressed deep gratitude" for the recent announcement by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, stating that Saudi Arabia would not normalise relations with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, according to the Wafa news agency

• Josep Borrell expressed his views in a statement following the UN General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution demanding that Israel end "its unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory" within 12 months

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised the government of new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, accusing it of sending "mixed messages" regarding the United Kingdom's support for Israel. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Netanyahu condemned London's recent suspension of arms licences to Israel as "misguided"

• Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has condemned allegations that some of the agency's staff in Gaza are operatives of armed groups like Hamas, calling them unfounded and dangerous

• According to a Wall Street Journal report, citing unnamed US officials, it is unlikely that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will be reached before the end of President Joe Biden's term in January

According to a Wall Street Journal report, citing unnamed US officials, it is unlikely that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas will be reached before the end of President Joe Biden's term in January. 

While Washington previously indicated that 90 percent of an agreement had been reached, significant disagreements remain.

These include the presence of Israeli forces in the Egyptian-Gaza border, located at Gaza's border with Egypt, and specific terms regarding the release of Palestinians illegally held by Israel.

Gaza’s Civil Defence agency has reported that rescue teams recovered the bodies of six Palestinians, including two women, after an airstrike targeted a home belonging to the al-Sheikh family in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood.

In a separate incident in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, another Palestinian body was found beneath the rubble of a house belonging to the Abu Rabee family, according to the agency.

Delta Air Lines has announced the suspension of flights between New York's John F Kennedy International Airport and Tel Aviv until 31 December, citing the "ongoing conflict" in the Middle East.

The airline has issued a travel waiver for affected passengers and advised customers to prepare for potential further adjustments to its Tel Aviv flight schedule, which may include additional cancellations. No further details were provided.

A video shared by the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, shows Israeli soldiers throwing a wounded Palestinian man from a rooftop in Qabatiya outside Jenin in the occupied West Bank, where they have been conducting a military assault. 

"This is Israel’s 'self-defence,'" said Zomlot.