INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It was the biggest blast to hit the Lebanese capital in the past year and appeared likely to push the escalating conflict closer to
full-fledged war.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strikes, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke
on condition of anonymity, including one United States official
The Israeli army declined to comment on who it was targeting
It was not immediately clear if Nasrallah was at the site, and Hezbollah did not comment on the report.The death toll is likely to rise
significantly as teams comb through the rubble of six buildings
Israel launched a series of strikes on other areas of the southern suburbs following the initial blast.After the strikes, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the United States to return home
A military aide whispered into his ear, and Netanyahu quickly ended the briefing.Israeli army spokesperson Rear Adm
Daniel Hagari said the strikes targeted the main Hezbollah headquarters, saying it was located underground beneath residential buildings.The
series of blasts at around nightfall reduced six apartment towers to rubble in Haret Hreik, a densely populated, predominantly Shiite
A wall of billowing black and orange smoke rose into the sky as windows were rattled and houses shaken some 30 kilometers (20 miles) north
of Beirut.Footage showed rescue workers clambering over large slabs of concrete, surrounded by high piles of twisted metal and wreckage
Several craters were visible, one with a car toppled into it
A stream of residents carrying their belongings were seen fleeing along a main road out of the district.Israel provided no immediate comment
about the type of bomb or how many it used, but the resulting explosion levelled an area greater than a city block
targets.Richard Weir, crisis and weapons researcher with Human Rights Watch, said the blasts were consistent with that class of
three buildings to evacuate
The Pentagon said the U.S
had no advance warning of the strikes.Nasrallah has been in hiding for years, very rarely appearing in public
He regularly gives speeches, but always by video from unknown locations.The site hit Friday evening had not been publicly known as
offices and runs several nearby hospitals.Four hours after the strike, Hezbollah had still not issued any statement referring to it
Safed were hit, and officials said a 68-year-old woman sustained mild shrapnel wounds.Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes in
Lebanon this week, saying it is determined to put an end to more than 11 months of Hezbollah fire into its territory
The escalated campaign has killed more than 720 people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry
A predawn strike Friday in the mainly Sunni border town of Chebaa killed nine members of the same family, the state news agency said.The
United Nations said the fighting has displaced 211,000 people, including 85,000 now staying in public schools and other shelters
Airstrikes have forced 20 primary health care centers to shut down and disrupted access to clean water for nearly 300,000 people.The scope
Israel achieves its goals
His comments dampened hopes for a U.S.-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution
Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal.Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel
7 attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians
Since then, it and the Israeli military have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides
of the border.An Israeli security official said he expects the campaign against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in
spoke on the condition of anonymity due to military briefing guidelines.In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, civil defense workers pulled
There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.But Hezbollah boasted a large arsenal of rockets and missiles and its remaining
capacities are unknown.Hezbollah officials and their supporters remain defiant
endless numbers of experienced fighters
