Israel’s attacks against Hezbollah had largely been concentrated in the south and near Beirut. But Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, said an Israeli strike in northern Lebanon had killed one of its commanders.The New York Times reports that on Saturday, the Israeli military launched attacks across Lebanon, killing two Hamas officials and expanding their war against Hezbollah and its allies. The strikes hit central, northern, and southern Lebanon, targeting weapons storage facilities and command centers near the capital city of Beirut. This included an area known as the Dahiya, where Hezbollah holds influence and where smoke was seen rising.

Earlier in the week, a large Israeli strike in the same area targeted Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor of recently assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It is unclear if Safieddine was killed in the attack. The Israeli military’s systematic targeting of Hezbollah leaders and their allies has now reached deep into Lebanon, with Hamas reporting that one of its commanders was killed in Tripoli, and Israel claiming to have killed a second high-ranking Hamas commander in Lebanon.

As Israel continued its campaign, Hezbollah fired an estimated 90 rockets into northern Israel on Saturday. Most were intercepted by air defense systems, and there were no immediate reports of injuries. There are concerns that this widening conflict could draw in Iran, which supports both Hamas and Hezbollah and launched ballistic missiles at Israel earlier in the week. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated on Friday that Iran could carry out additional attacks on Israel if necessary.

In an effort to support a joint cease-fire in Lebanon and Gaza, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Syria on Saturday after visiting Beirut the day before. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation warning in the Gaza Strip, advising residents of Nuseirat and Bureij to flee. President Biden commented on the situation, stating that Israel has not yet decided how to respond to Iran’s attacks, but if he were the Israeli leader, he would be considering alternative options to attacking Iran’s oil facilities.

The State Department also expressed concern over the reported death of American citizen Kamel Ahmad Jawad in Lebanon. His family stated that he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, but the State Department has not confirmed this. 

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