Israel bombs Beirut’s southern suburbs (Videos)

An Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday targeted the head of the armed group Hezbollah’s operations room but the group said he was still alive.

The sources named the target as Mohsen Shukur but said he was also known as Fuad Shukr. Fuad Shukr was sanctioned by the United States in 2015.

Local media reported multiple civilian casualties.

Sources familiar with the matter said that Israel informed Washington ahead of the strike.

A loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the southern suburbs – a stronghold of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah – at around 7:40 p.m. (1640 GMT), a Reuters witness said.

The Israeli military said it carried out a strike in Beirut that targeted a commander responsible for the killing of children in last week’s rocket attack on the Golan Heights.