Israel said that it targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut on Thursday night and that it killed about 250 fighters since the start of its ground operation in Lebanon this week.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that its forces had also struck Hezbollah targets near the Masnaa crossing, which is on a key road in the east used by people fleeing the violence.
It claimed that the militia was using the road to smuggle weapons into Lebanon, while the UN say it is a crucial route for aid to enter Lebanon.
Ivo Freijsen, who is the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, said the bombing of a major road between Lebanon and Syria is a “very important and negative development,” as “just yesterday UNHCR received seven trucks of supplies through that very border crossing”.
More than 300,000 people have fled to Syria in the past 10 days, according to the Lebanese government, with 1.2 million civilians displaced from their homes as a result of the offensive, while the death toll in Lebanon has surpassed 2,000.
It comes as the Islamic Health Committee said 11 paramedics have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Friday.
In a statement on Telegram, it said seven paramedics died at the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital, and four others were killed in two separate attacks.
Israel’s military has said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beirut area over the past day, claiming it took measures to “to reduce harm to those not involved”.
It comes as three Lebanese hospitals have announced the suspension of work amid the continued Israeli bombardment, which has led to the deaths of dozens of on-duty medics in the past week, according to the WHO.
Meanwhile, the IDF said it targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in the south of Beirut. Reports suggested that Hashem Safieddine – who has been widely touted as the successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader assassinated last week – was targeted in the air attack.
The Axios website cited three Israeli officials as saying that Mr Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council, had been targeted in an underground bunker.
Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for the IDF, said that it was still assessing the damage caused by the air strikes on Thursday night. Hezbollah has made no comment, but the strike follows recent assassinations of senior Hezbollah officials in Beirut, including Fuad Shukr, Ibrahim Aqil, Ibrahim Kobeissi, Mohammad Surur and Mr Nasrallah, the militia’s powerful and charismatic secretary-general, who developed it into a significant political force in Lebanon and the most heavily armed non-state group in the world.
The IDF reported that it had “eliminated” the head of Hezbollah’s communication networks, Mohammad Rashid Sakafi, in a “precise, intelligence-based strike”.
“As part of his position, Sakafi invested significant efforts to develop communication capabilities between all of Hezbollah’s units in order to maintain the flow of information throughout the terrorist organisation,” the military added.
The IDF also said that two of its soldiers from the Golani Brigade had been killed in combat, and two others severely wounded. Israeli media reported that the two soldiers were killed in a drone attack launched from Iraq at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
It comes as US forces carried out strikes on 15 targets on Friday in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels, the military said.
“US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted strikes on 15 Houthi targets in Iranian-backed Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen today,” the military command responsible for US forces in the Middle East said on social media.
The UK Ministry of Defence said it was not involved in those air strikes after earlier reporting in the Israeli media claimed the UK had taken part of the attack.
Air strikes carried out by the US targeting three cities in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, AFP reports, citing the Houthi-run Al Masirah television network.
Al Masirah reported several US strikes on Sanaa, Hodeida and Dhamar – there cities controlled by the Houthi rebel group.
The Iran-backed and Hamas allied group have been sending drones and launching boats towards commercial ships, claiming they will continue until Israel ends its war on Gaza.
