Gaza live: Israel strike kills 30 Palestinians, mostly children

The death toll from Israel’s strike on Beirut’s southern suburb has risen to three people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The ministry said the “non-final toll of the Israeli aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut… is three martyrs, including a woman, a girl and a boy”.

The number of wounded has also risen to 74, while first responders continue to search through the rubble.

Israel has announced that it killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a strike on Beirut. 

In a post on X, Israel’s military said Shukr was “Hezbollah’s Most Senior Military Commander and Hassan Nasrallah’s Right-Hand Man”.

Israel said Shukr was responsible for an attack on Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights that it attributed to Hezbollah.

“He was also responsible for the majority of Hezbollah's most advanced weaponry, including precise-guided missiles, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, long-range rockets and UAVs,” the statement added. 

Kamala Harris has backed Israel’s right to defend itself, after its strike on Beirut targeting a senior Hezbollah commander.

“I unequivocally support Israel’s right to remain secure and to defend the security of Israel,” Harris said while she travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, for a campaign event.

“What we know, in particular, is it has the right to defend itself against the terrorist organisation, which is exactly what Hezbollah is, she added.

She added that a diplomatic solution had to be reached “to end those attacks”.

Senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in Israel’s strike on a southern Beirut suburb, Lebanon’s MTV News and UAE based Sky News Arabia are now reporting.

There are conflicting accounts of Shukr’s fate, but the latest reports add to those of Al-Arabiya and Israeli public broadcasting that he was killed.

Hezbollah has still not made an official statement.

At least one person was killed and 68 others wounded, including five who are in critical condition, in Israel’s strike on a senior Hezbollah commander in a southern Beirut suburb, Lebanon’s public health ministry said.

Hezbollah is also making its first statements on the strike.

“The Israeli enemy has committed a great stupid act in size, timing and circumstances by targeting an entirely civilian area,” Hezbollah official Ali Ammar told Al-Manar TV. “The Israeli enemy will pay a price for this sooner or later.”

Lebanon’s prime minister has slammed Israel for its "blatant aggression" following its strike on a southern Beirut suburb.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati “condemned the blatant Israeli aggression on the southern suburbs of Beirut” in a statement.

He said Israel’s strike was a “criminal act” in a “series of aggressive operations killing civilians in clear and explicit violation of international law”.

Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah military commander, has been killed in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to Al Arabiya.

The report conflicts with previous reporting from Reuters and Al Jazeera, that Shukr survived the Israeli strike.

Shukr’s death could put pressure on Hezbollah to respond more forcefully to the Israeli strike. 

MEE could not immediately independently verify the casualties from the strike.

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday that he hopes Hezbollah’s response to an Israeli strike on a southern Beirut suburb that is its stronghold would not lead to a full-scale war.

He said he hopes for a “proportionate response”. Lebanon’s government has no control over Hezbollah’s fighters.

Bou Habib said Lebanon condemned the Israeli strike and planned to file a complaint to the United Nations.

Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee, “doesn’t like Jewish people”, her Republican challenger Donald Trump said in an interview.

“You can see the disdain,” Trump told WABC radio, “Number 1, she doesn’t like Israel. Number 2, she doesn’t like Jewish people. You know it, I know it and everybody knows it and nobody wants to say it". 

Harris is married to a Jewish man, who Trump agreed was a “crappy Jew” in his interview.

Iran has slammed Israel’s “sinful and cowardly” attack on a suburb south of Beirut.

Iran’s embassy in Lebanon issued the statement following an Israeli strike that targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in a southern Beirut suburb controlled by Hezbollah.

The Biden administration has informed Hezbollah through Lebanese mediators that Israel plans to conduct “big strikes” in the east and south of Lebanon in retaliation for an attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, but will stop well short of a major offensive. 

A senior Arab official briefed on the matter told Middle East Eye that the warnings have been delivered to avert a “full-fledged” war with Lebanon, potentially so Hezbollah could move senior commanders out of the area. 

The US push to avert a war comes as Israel claimed responsibility for a strike on a suburb south of Beirut, that it said targeted a senior Hezbollah commander. 

“The Biden administration is piling pressure and certainly trying to choreograph this," Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Middle East Institute think tank, told MEE. 

Read More: US warns Hezbollah about 'big strikes' in east and south, but no wider offensive

Senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr who was the alleged target of an Israeli strike on Beirut has survived, according to Reuters.

At least one woman and several people have been wounded by Israel’s strike on Dahiyeh, according to Lebanese state media.

Russia has condemned Israel’s strikes on Lebanon after Israel’s military claimed responsibility for bombing a suburb south of Beirut.

Moscow said Israel’s strikes were a “flagrant violation of international law”, according to Tass news.

The status of a Hezbollah commander targeted by Israel remains unknown.

An Al Jazeera correspondent said that it appeared a drone was responsible for the attack that targeted Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah military commander, in a suburb south of Beirut. 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that two floors of the al-Rabi building in Dahiyeh suburb had collapsed. 

Reuters reports that it is unclear whether Shukr has been killed.

The Israeli strike on Beirut targeted senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, in a major escalation of the war, according to media reports. 

Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, is a senior advisor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel claims Shukr is commander of Hezbollah’s precision missile project.

He is also wanted by the US for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of a US Marines barracks in Beirut.