**UPDATE 7:17PM ET (by Mary): The Israeli Air Force confirmed Israel struck and killed two major Hezbollah members. Translated via Google:
Fighter jets attacked and killed the terrorists Muhammad Ali Ismail, the commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit in southern Lebanon, and his deputy, the terrorist Hossein Ahmed Ismail. With them other Hezbollah commanders and terrorists were eliminated.The terrorist Muhammad Ali Ismail is responsible for many acts of terrorism from his sector towards the territory of the State of Israel, including rocket launches towards the territory of the State of Israel and the launch of a surface-to-surface missile towards the center of the country last Wednesday.Their assassination joins the assassination of the head of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket array, the terrorist Ibrahim Muhammad Kabisi, and the assassination of other senior officials in Hezbollah’s missile and rocket array.The IDF will continue to act with strength and determination against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, to harm and eliminate the senior members of the terrorist organization.
***Previous reporting…
While the fate of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah remains unclear following an airstrike in Beirut, Israel is anticipating an attack from Iran and its terror proxies, news reports suggest.
“Israel braced itself for potential retaliation from Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as from Yemen and Iran,” the British newspaper Guardian reported Friday night. “After the Beirut strike, Hezbollah said it bombed Safed, a city in north Israel, with a rocket salvo “in response to Israeli attacks on cities, villages and civilians.” Israel’s home front command has urged residents of Golan Heights, Safed, Merom HaGalil to stay near protected areas.”
“Iran’s embassy in Beirut said the airstrike represented ‘a dangerous game-changing escalation that changes the rules of the game’ and warned that its perpetrator would be ‘punished appropriately.'” the UK newspaper added. “Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they targeted Israel’s cities of Tel Aviv and Ashkelon with a ballistic missile and a drone in support of Gaza and Lebanon. The Israeli army said it had intercepted a missile that was fired from Yemen after sirens and explosions were heard early in the day.”
The IDF was assessing the outcome of the strike, the Jerusalem Post reported mid-night Friday:
Following the strike on Beirut on Friday, IDF Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari announced that they were still investigating the status of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and would update as soon as possible.
“We used a highly precise strike to target Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was hiding in civilian buildings in the Dahiya neighborhood of Beirut.”
With growing speculations about Nasrallah’s whereabouts, the Iranian regime vowed to ‘replace the martyrs’ as Israel decimates Hezbollah’s terrorist leadership.
The Times of Israel reported:
Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, tells Iranian state television that “any leader of the resistance will be replaced.”
“The resistance has strong leaders and cadres, and every leader who is martyred will be replaced,” he says, following the Israeli strike on a Hezbollah command center in southern Beirut targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The IDF is urging the residents of Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold Dahiyeh to evacuate immediately as it plans to carry out further strikes on terrorist group’s command structure and weapons depots.
The Sky News (UK) reports:
The Israeli military has said it is striking weapons that belong to Hezbollah in southern Beirut.
In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces said the “targeted strikes” were taking place in the Dahieh area of the Lebanese capital.
It said the weapons were being stored beneath civilian buildings in the area.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY