Middle East updates: IDF says Hezbollah HQ in Beirut hit

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit in southern Lebanon.

In a post on X, the IDF said that warplanes had killed Muhammad Ali Ismail along with his deputy Hossein Ahmed Ismail.

The IDF said that other Hezbollah commanders and members of the group "were eliminated."

The IDF said Muhammad Ali Ismail had been responsible for launching rockets toward Israel and had also launched surface-to-surface missiles targeting the central part of the country last Wednesday.

Hezbollah has not yet confirmed or denied Israel's announcement about the commanders.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has denied that any weapons or arms depots were located in the "residential buildings" targeted by Israel earlier on the same day.

Israel conducted back-to-back airstrikes on the densely populated neighborhood of Dahiyeh in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. 

Announcing a new wave of airstrikes in the early hours of Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repeated earlier claims that Hezbollah was storing weapons under residential buildings in the neighborhood.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported 11 fresh Israeli strikes so far.

Canada has urged its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately and said the government was helping secure seats on commercial flights out of the country.

"The situation in Lebanon continues to worsen. Canadians need to leave now and we are helping with that. Canada has secured seats for Canadians on the limited commercial flights available. If a seat is available, please take it," Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly said on a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Joly advised citizens to ensure they were registered at the Canadian embassy in Beirut and indicate whether they needed help leaving.

Canada’s top diplomat also called for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The current escalation has heightened fears of a major war in the Middle East.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Hezbollah targets were being attacked in the Tyre region in southern Lebanon.

The IDF also said fighter jets were striking dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers it claimed were aimed at Israel along with buildings the IDF claimed were being used to store weapons.

Israel has ramped up strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah's military capacities and senior Hezbollah commanders.

US President Joe Biden has ordered US forces in the Middle East to be adjusted “as necessary” according to a White House statement on Friday.

"He has directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary US force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of US objectives," the White House said in a statement.

Biden also ordered US embassies in the region to "take all protective measures as appropriate," it added.

The statement comes after Israel launched a wave of strikes in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, saying they were targeting the Hezbollah militant group’s headquarters.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that they had resumed striking the neighborhood of Dahiyeh in the south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

In a statement, the IDF repeated earlier claims that Hezbollah was storing weapons under residential buildings in the neighborhood.

The announcement comes after a wave of strikes that Lebanese media said destroyed four buildings.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said in an updated and non-final tally that 6 people were killed and 91 were injured in the earlier wave of strikes.

Israel's military warned residents of several areas of the southern Dahiyeh neighborhood of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, to evacuate their homes.

It comes after Israel carried out a wave of strikes on Dahiyeh, which is seen as a stronghold of the Hezbollah militant group.

"You are located near Hezbollah interests and for your safety and the safety of your loved ones, you must evacuate the buildings and stay at a distance of at least 500 meters (546.8 yards) from them," the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said.

Israel previously said that it had targeted what it described as residential buildings under which Hezbollah had positioned its "central headquarters."

Adraee later said that Israel was working to thwart the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah.

"We will not allow the transfer of weapons to the terrorist organization Hezbollah in any way," he said.

He said that Israeli air force planes were flying over the area around Beirut's international airport in order to prevent arms deliveries.

"We will not allow enemy flights with combat equipment to land at Beirut Airport," he said.

He said that the Lebanese state had so far acted "responsibly" and had not allowed weapons to arrive through the airport.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Washington will take "every measure" if its interests in the Middle East are attacked.

He made the comments following Israeli strikes on Beirut and after nearly a year of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

To "anyone using this moment to target American personnel, American interests in the region — the United States will take every measure — to defend its people," Blinken told a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

However, the US official insisted that there is still a "path to diplomacy" in the region.

"We believe the way forward is through diplomacy not conflict," he said. "The path to diplomacy may seem difficult to see at this moment, but it is there, and in our judgment, it is necessary. We will continue to work intensely."

Alongside Qatar and Egypt, the US has mediated efforts to try and reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

On Wednesday, the US and several other countries called for a three-week cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah as a precursor to further talks.

"The most important thing to do through diplomacy is to try first to stop firing in both directions, and then to use the time that we would have in such a cease-fire to see if we can reach a broader diplomatic agreement," Blinken said.

Iran's embassy in Lebanon condemned an Israeli strike on southern Beirut, calling it a "dangerous escalation."

"This reprehensible crime... represents a dangerous escalation that changes the rules of the game," the Iranian embassy said online, adding that Israel "will receive the appropriate punishment."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani described the strike as a "war crime" and blamed the US for supporting Israel.

"This barbaric attack, which was carried out with bombs donated by the US regime to the rogue Zionist regime ... is a clear and undeniable war crime. Therefore, the American regime is also an accomplice along with the Zionist regime and must be held accountable," Kanaani said, according to Iranian state media.

Israel's military and the Lebanese group Hezbollah both said they had struck targets across each other's borders late on Friday, in the aftermath of the explosion in Beirut. 

Israel's military said that it was continuing to "degrade and dismantle" Hezbollah's capabilities in southern Lebanon. 

It said Air Force jets "attacked terrorist targets" in the south and "deep in Lebanon," saying it was striking launchers aimed at Israel and weapons storage sites. 

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said its fighters launched "rocket salvos" at Safed in northeastern Israel "in defense of Lebanon and its people."

The United States had no advanced warning of the Israeli strike on southern Beirut, a Pentagon spokesperson said.

"The United States was not involved in this operation and we had no advanced warning," spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Friday.

Singh said that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant while the operation was ongoing, but she did not specify what information was shared.

She said that there was no "fracture in trust" between the two officials. The US has made similar comments about not receiving advanced notification of a series of recent Israeli strikes on southern Beirut.

The US has warned of the risks of further escalation in the Middle East and has called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Washington has also, alongside Qatar and Egypt, mediated the long-running but largely unsuccessful cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.

At least two people were killed in Israeli strikes on a southern neighborhood of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The ministry said that 76 people were wounded. It described the tally as provisional, as rescue efforts continued.

Lebanese media had previously reported that four buildings were destroyed in the strikes.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari alleged that the central headquarters of the Hezbollah militant group had been "intentionally" positioned beneath "residential buildings."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that he would cut short his trip to New York following an Israeli strike on southern Beirut, Lebanon.

He is scheduled to return to Israel later on Friday.

Netanyahu had spoken at the United Nations' General Assembly and vowed that Israel would continue fighting Hezbollah militants amid international calls for a cease-fire.

"Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I've come here today to say enough is enough," he said during his speech in the General Assembly.

Three Israeli television networks reported that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of an Israeli airstrike on the Dahiyeh neighborhood in southern Beirut.

The Channel 12 broadcaster reported that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were "checking whether [Nasrallah] was in the building in the heart of Dahiyeh."

Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11 and the Haaretz daily also reported that Nasrallah was the target.

AFP news agency cited an unnamed source close to Hezbollah as saying that Nasrallah was not harmed in the strike.

"Sayyed Nasrallah is fine," the source was cited by AFP as saying.

Iran's Tasnim agency also reported that Nasrallah was safe following the strike.

Reuters news agency cited an Iranian official as saying that Tehran was checking Nasrallah's status.

The reports on Nasrallah being the target and his condition following the strike were unconfirmed.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had carried out a "precise" strike targeting Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

"The IDF carried out a precise strike on the central headquarters of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Dahiyeh," Hagari said in a televised statement.

He claimed that the facility "served as the epicenter of Hezbollah's terror."

Hagari said Hezbollah had positioned its base to be "located under residential buildings in the heart of Dahiyeh in Beirut."

"We will continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met," he said.

Lebanese media reported at least four buildings were destroyed in the explosion. 

Hezbollah is classified as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, Germany and several other states. The European Union designates its military wing as a terror group.

The group de facto controls predominantly Shiite areas of Lebanon's south and east and its political wing is one of the parties in Lebanon's governing coalition.

Southern Beirut's Dahiyeh neighborhood is predominantly Shiite and is seen as a Hezbollah stronghold.