Lebanon: Senior Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli airstrike

An Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon claimed the life of a senior Hezbollah commander, a Lebanese security official said on Monday. Tensions of a bigger war between Israel and the extremist organization have increased as a result of the most recent strike.

The slain Hezbollah commander was recognized by the Israeli security sources as Wissam al-Tawil, the deputy commander of a Radwan force unit. They said that he and another Hezbollah member perished after their car was struck during an attack on Majdal Selm, a village in Lebanon.

Witnesses reported on Monday that as the combat between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants intensifies, medical staff, patients, and internally displaced persons are evacuating the main hospital located in central Gaza.

In recent days, Doctors Without Borders and other humanitarian organizations left Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, citing safety concerns. Many of the hundreds of thousands of civilians who had fled to the south of the besieged zone did so as a result of the panic that spread among those seeking safety there.

Israel claims to have completed most of its major operations in the northern part of Gaza and is now concentrating on the central area and the city of Khan Younis in the south. According to Israeli authorities, the Israeli army’s goal in dismantling Hamas and freeing numerous captives abducted during the militant group’s October 7 raid that started the conflict will likely take several more months.

Over 22,000 Palestinians have already been murdered in the offensive, which has also destroyed large portions of the Gaza Strip, forced over 85% of its 2.3 million residents to flee, and left a quarter of its citizens in danger of hunger.

In addition to battling to care for the hundreds of patients injured by Israeli strikes every day, tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge in Gaza’s hospitals. The U.N. humanitarian agency reports that only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially operational.

Every day, as Israeli forces advance in central Gaza after intense airstrikes, more people die and are injured. The Health Ministry announced early on Monday that, in the previous day alone, 99 injured people and 73 bodies had been sent to the hospital.

(With agency inputs)