IDF confirms Hezbollah commander in charge of missiles and rockets killed in airstrike

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Israel to expand airstrikes on Lebanon, warning civilians to evacuate

Fox News’ Nate Foy reports live from Israel on the escalating conflict with Hezbollah.

An Israeli airstrike in Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed on Tuesday, one day after hammering hundreds of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The strike killed Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, commander of Hezbollah’s missiles and rockets force, along with other Hezbollah commanders, the IDF said.

Jacob Olidort, senior policy adviser at America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital that the strike on Qubaisi shows how Israel is working to prevent future threats.

“As Prime Minister Netanyahu said this week, Israel is ‘not waiting for the threat; [it is] preempting it,'” Olidort said. “Towards that end, Israel is not only removing munitions in southern Lebanon, but is also targeting Hezbollah’s command and control structure and its fighting force, as evidenced in recent days. The elimination of Ibrahim Qubaisi is part of this approach.”

ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH RESUME MISSILE LAUNCHES AFTER CONFLICT’S DEADLIEST DAY SINCE 2006

Lebanese health authorities have raised the death toll to 558 from two days of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israel has now conducted five targeted airstrikes in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut since the start of the Israel-Hamas War. Three of those targeted airstrikes have come in the last five days.

On Friday, IDF officials said another airstrike in Beirut killed Ibrahim Aqil, who headed Hezbollah’s operations and was commander of its Radwan Force.

Israel and Hezbollah resumed trading missile strikes against each other on Tuesday, intensifying concern that the conflict could escalate into an all-out war.

Israel’s military said an “extensive” wave of airstrikes hit more than 300 Hezbollah targets Monday in southern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Hezbollah said it launched missiles at eight different targets within Israel. The Israeli military said it tracked some 100 projectiles fired out of Lebanon toward Israel.

US SENDING MORE TROOPS TO MIDDLE EAST, NETANYAHU WARNS LEBANESE AS ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CONFLICT HEIGHTENS

On Monday, Lebanese officials said a massive Israeli barrage killed at least 558 people.

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The strikes come as Lebanon reels from a wave of deadly explosions of hundreds of communication devices largely used by Hezbollah members last week. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.

Fox News’ Matthew Borowski and Anders Hagstrom, along with The Associated Press contributed to this report.