An airstrike rocked southern Beirut on Tuesday as Israel said it targeted a Hezbollah commander who allegedly ordered the rocket attack that killed 12 children and teens playing soccer in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
One person was killed and 68 were wounded, five critically, in the strike on an apartment building, Lebanon's public health ministry said, according to the Times of Israel.
There were conflicting accounts about the fate of the commander, identified by Israeli news organizations as Fuad Shukr.
The Israel Defense Forces said on social media that it "carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians."
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned what he called the "blatant Israeli aggression" and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib said the government would file a complaint with the United Nations, according to Al Arabiya.
Hezbollah has denied being behind the Saturday attack on the Druze Arab village, where thousands of mourners surrounded the caskets of 10 victims on Sunday.
The airstrike took place after Israel rejected Hezbollah's claims and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the militant group would "pay a heavy price," fueling fears Israel's devastating war against Hamas in Gaza would escalate into regional conflict.
U.S. warships were heading toward the coast of Lebanon, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Saudi TV.
Fuad Shukr, aka al-Hajj Mohsin, serves as a senior military adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and sits on the Jihad Council, Hezbollah's highest military body, according to the U.S. government.
He allegedly played a central role in the Oct. 23, 1983, bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American military personnel and a $5 million reward has been posted for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
