Israel strikes Lebanese capital Beirut, targeting Hezbollah official

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it carried out a strike on Lebanese capital Beirut targeting the militant commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights over the weekend.

Israel has blamed the rocket attack on the Hezbollah militant group, which has denied any role in the attack

A Hezbollah official and the group’s TV station said that an Israeli airstrike hit Hezbollah’s stronghold south of Beirut on Tuesday evening, causing damage.

The airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik damaged several buildings but it was not immediately clear if any Hezbollah official was targeted, the Hezbollah official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed heavy retaliation against Hezbollah for Saturday's rocket strike in the Israel-controlled Golan Heights, though Hezbollah has denied any role in the attack.

Meanwhile, tensions remained high in Israel as soldiers were due to appear before a military court Tuesday over what a defense lawyer said were allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at a facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war.

Hard-line nationalists in Netanyahu’s government and others have protested. An investigation by The Associated Press has exposed abysmal conditions at Sde Teiman, where most of the thousands detained in Gaza have been held. Israeli authorities have generally denied abuses in detention facilities for Palestinians.

More bodies and further destruction were found after Israeli forces withdrew from parts of Khan Younis in Gaza. The territory's Health Ministry says over 39,300 people have been killed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked the war. Some diseases run rampant in appalling conditions in overcrowded tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The sanitation system has collapsed, leaving pools of sewage.