Israel Bombards Hezbollah, Killing a Top Commander, While Families Flee Southern Lebanon

TOPSHOT – Thick smoke rises above the southern suburbs of Beirut after an Israel strike on September 20, 2024. The strike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Lebanon’s capital Beirut reportedly killed at least eight people and wounded dozens of others, with a source close to the movement saying a top military leader was dead. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel has killed a top Hezbollah commander as part of a two-day bombing campaign that has left more than 560 people dead and prompted thousands in southern Lebanon to seek refuge from the widening conflict. With the two sides on the brink of all-out war, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, including one that triggered air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, its farthest launch yet in nearly a year of exchanges. Families that fled southern Lebanon flocked to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, sleeping in schools turned into shelters, as well as in cars, parks and along the beach.