BEIRUT (Reuters) – Israel said it had targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Lebanon overnight and was assessing the damage on Friday (Oct 4) after a series of strikes on senior figures in the group that Iran’s Supreme Leader dismissed as counterproductive.
Israel has been weighing options in its response to the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Tuesday, which Iran had carried out in response to Israel’s military action in Lebanon.
Oil prices have risen on the possibility of an attack on Iran’s oil facilities as Israel pursues its goals of pushing back Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and eliminating their Hamas allies in Gaza.
The air attack on Beirut, part of a wider assault that has driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes, was reported to have targeted the potential successor to the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by Israel a week ago.
Hashem Safieddine’s fate was unclear and neither Israel nor Hezbollah have offered any comment.
A blast was heard and smoke was seen over Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Saturday, Reuters witnesses said, shortly after the Israeli military issued two alerts for residents of the area to immediately evacuate.
The first alert warned residents in a building in the Burj al-Barajneh neighbourhood and the second in a building in Choueifat district.
US President Joe Biden said on Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes, adding that he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran.
Biden was asked at a White House press briefing if he thought that by not engaging in diplomacy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to influence the Nov 5 US election in which Republican former president Donald Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
