Wednesday Briefing: Israel Targets a Hezbollah Commander

Not long after an explosion hit a southern suburb in Beirut, Lebanon, last night, Israel said that it had targeted a Hezbollah commander whom it blamed for a strike on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend.

Tensions have soared between Israel and Hezbollah since Saturday, when the strike killed 12 children and teenagers as they played soccer. Hezbollah has denied that it was behind the assault, which hit the Druse village of Majdal Shams, but the Israeli military has said Hezbollah is the only militant group in the region that possesses the type of rocket used in the attack.

The target of the Israeli strike was Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah official who served as a close adviser to Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s secretary general, Israeli security officials said. It was unclear if Shukr had survived the attack. At least one person was killed in the strike and 35 people were wounded, Lebanon’s health minister said.

We have live updates.

In Gaza, Israel’s military has shrunk the only humanitarian zone for displaced Palestinians by a fifth.