Another senior Hezbollah commander was killed by an Israeli airstrike as the conflict escalated

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had killed another senior Hezbollah official in an airstrike, as the terrorist group suffers a series of devastating attacks in Lebanon Assassination of their long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli forces said they killed Nabil Kaouk, deputy head of Hezbollah's central district, in an airstrike on Saturday. Hezbollah confirmed his death, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader killed in Israeli strikes in just over a week. They include founding members who had avoided death or imprisonment for decades.

Kaouk was a long-time member of Hezbollah He dates back to the 1980s and was Hezbollah's military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. He often appeared in local media where he commented on political and security developments, and he delivered eulogies at funerals of high-ranking militants. The USA announced sanctions against him in 2020.

The announcement of Kaouk's death came a day after the Israeli military spoke of the killing Nasrallah in an afternoon airstrike in Beirut on Friday. On Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed that Ali Karaki, one of the group's top commanders, was among those killed in Friday's airstrike.

The Israeli military also said Sunday that dozens of aircraft had struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the militants' recent attacks on Israel.

President Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that he believes an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.

“It has to be this way,” Mr. Biden told reporters on Sunday as he boarded Air Force One for Washington. “We really need to avoid it.”

He would not say when he planned to speak to Netanyahu.

Biden says Nasrallah's death is a 'measure of justice'

On Saturday, Biden said NasrallahThe death in the Israeli airstrike was one “Measure of justice” for his many victims.

In a statement released by the White House, Mr. Biden said: “Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for the killings of hundreds of Americans during a four-decade reign of terror,” including thousands of Israelis and Lebanese civilians.

Asked by reporters on Saturday whether an Israeli ground attack on Lebanon was inevitable, Mr Biden replied: “It's time for a ceasefire.”

Several Senior Hezbollah commanders were killed in the Israeli attacks in recent weeks. The terrorist group designated by the US was also the target of a sophisticated attack on his pages and walkie-talkies Israel was widely blamed for this.

Thousands of people in emergency shelters after strikes

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the wave of Israeli air strikes across large parts of Lebanon has killed more than 1,000 people – including 156 women and 87 children – in less than two weeks.

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and missiles into northern Israel, but most were intercepted or fell in open areas, resulting in few casualties and only isolated damage.

A Lebanese cabinet minister leading the country's emergency response said the government estimates that about 250,000 people have left their homes and sought refuge in government-run shelters and informal shelters.

Environment Minister Nasser Yassin told the Associated Press the total number was about “four times the number of those directly affected and/or displaced outside shelters.”

According to the United Nations, 211,319 people had been forced to relocate as of Friday, and that came before several intense Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in recent days.

The Lebanese government has converted schools and other facilities into emergency shelters. Still, many sleep on the streets or in public places while the government and non-governmental organizations try to find accommodation for them.

Fighting escalates as airstrikes continue

Amid escalation by Israel – which will send ground troops to the border with Lebanon next week for a possible limited ground attack, according to a US official – the Lebanese military called for calm among the Lebanese “during this dangerous and delicate phase.” “

Government officials fear that the country's deep political divisions could lead to wartime sectarian conflict and violence in the small Mediterranean country.

“The Israeli enemy is working to carry out its destructive plans and spread division among the Lebanese,” the military said.

Military vehicles have been deployed in various parts of the capital as thousands of displaced people continue to move into Beirut from the south.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's state news agency said an Israeli airstrike destroyed a house in the northeastern village of al-Ain early Sunday, killing 11 people. Six of the bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble while the search for the remaining five continued, the National News Agency reported.

Sunday's back-to-back strikes in Ain el-Delb, east of Sidon, were caught on camera by neighbors in the area. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 29 people were injured in the strikes.

Separately, the Health Ministry said Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and wounded at least 47.

In southern Lebanon, the Risala Islamic Scout Association said five of its members were killed while carrying out their duties. It said four of the men killed were from the southern village of Tayr Debba, while the fifth was from nearby Kabrikha.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack from Gaza sparked the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies who consider themselves part of an Iran-backed “axis of resistance” against Israel.

Israel responded with waves of airstrikes, and the conflict escalated to the point of all-out war, raising fears of a conflagration across the region.

A senior Israeli official said Friday that Israel is not seeking a major regional war, but that Hezbollah's military capabilities have been significantly affected by the recent series of Israeli military operations the goal The reason for the attack was that Hezbollah was significantly behind in leadership.

Israel attacks Houthi targets in Yemen

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had attacked power plants and seaport facilities in the city of Hodeida in Yemen.

The Houthi media office said the Israeli strikes hit the ports of Hodeida and Rass Issa as well as two power plants in the city of Hodeida, which is a stronghold of the Iran-backed rebels. After the attacks, fire and clouds of smoke could be seen in the air over Hodeida.

The group said it had taken precautions and that Israel's attacks would not stop Houthi attacks on shipping routes and on Israel.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday as Netanyahu arrived on a flight from the United States.