Israeli strike kills Hezbollah spokesman in Beirut; at least 30 dead in Gaza airstrikes

• An Israeli airstrike in central Beirut killed Hezbollah's top spokesman, Mohammed Afif al-Naboulsi, on Sunday.
• The strike was aimed at the office of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, and Hezbollah confirmed his death.
• In central Beirut, witnesses described explosions and fires following the strike that killed al-Naboulsi.

An Israeli strike in central Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah spokesman on Sunday, and an Israeli strike in northern Gaza's Beit Lahiya killed at least 30 people, a hospital director told The Associated Press.

Mohammed Afif al-Naboulsi was killed in a strike on the office of the Arab Baath party in Beirut, Hezbollah confirmed in a statement. He was particularly visible after the fierce fighting between Israel and Hezbollah broke out in September.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it had “great influence on Hezbollah's military plans” and “glorified and encouraged” the attack on Israel.

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It was the latest incident targeting a senior Hezbollah official. On Sunday night, another strike in central Beirut hit a computer store, killing two people and injuring 22, Lebanon's Ministry of Health said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The strikes occurred while Lebanese officials were considering a proposal led by the United States for a ceasefire. “This proves the crimes of the enemy of Israel, and that it wants to negotiate under fire and increases and directs to safe and secure areas,” said a member of the Lebanese parliament, Faisal Al Sayegh.

Israel also bombed several buildings in areas south of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a long presence, after warning people to evacuate.

Screaming in the middle of Beirut

There was no warning of the Israeli withdrawal before the strike near the intersection that killed Afif. Four people died and 14 were injured, including two children, the Ministry of Health said.

“I was sleeping and woke up to the sound of the strike, people crying, cars and guns,” said witness Suheil Halabi.

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After the second strike in central Beirut, firefighters are struggling to control the blaze in the Mar Elias residential area. Onlookers said they heard a second explosion and it looked like a nearby car had been hit.

A man screams in front of a fire inside a computer store hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut on November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel a day after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack started the war in Gaza. Israel began retaliatory airstrikes in Lebanon and the conflict gradually escalated.

The Israeli army attacked Lebanon on October 1. On Sunday, the Israeli army said that batteries of mobile weapons had fallen into Lebanon and began attacking Hezbollah, which was the first time that artillery had been fired into Lebanese territory.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Health, and more than 1.2 million have been driven from their homes. It is not known how many of the dead are Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah fires dozens of bombs into Israel every day. The attack has killed at least 76 people, including 31 soldiers, and caused about 60,000 people to flee. Magen David Adom, the spokesman for the emergency services in Israel, said that a teenager was injured in an explosion on Sunday in the Upper Galilee.

The Lebanese army, mainly on the sidelines, said that an Israeli strike on Sunday hit a military base southeast of Al-Mari, killing two soldiers and wounding two others. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

In Gaza, climbing

The director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, Hosam Abu Safiya, said that many were injured in the Israeli strike and some people may have been under the rubble.

Residents who fled told AP that their houses were hit. An Israeli military statement earlier said it had carried out several strikes on “terrorist areas” in Beit Lahiya, and that efforts to evacuate civilians from the “battle zone” were ongoing.

The Israeli army has again attacked northern Gaza, saying that Hamas terrorists have regrouped.

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“Tonight we didn't sleep at all,” said a resident of Beit Lahiya who fled, Dalal al-Bakri. “They destroyed all the houses around us. … There are many martyrs.”

Civil defense workers put out a fire from the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut on November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The woman, Umm Hamza, said that the bomb explosion was intense at night. “It's cold and we don't know where to go,” he said.

Earlier, officials said Israeli strikes killed six people in Nuseirat and four in Bureij, two refugee camps built in central Gaza since the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

Two people were killed in a strike on Gaza's main north-south road, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city center of Deir al-Balah.

The Israeli military said two soldiers were killed in northern Gaza on Sunday.

The war between Israel and Hamas began after the Palestinian army invaded Israel on October 7 last year, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250 people. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

On Sunday, Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet, said it had met with military and intelligence chiefs to discuss mediation efforts to secure the hostages' release. It was the first public word of any such effort since Qatar announced earlier this month that it would suspend its mediation process.

Civil defense workers put out a fire at the site of an Israeli air strike in Beirut on November 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

The Ministry of Health in Gaza says that about 43,800 Palestinians have been killed in this war. It did not distinguish between civilians and combatants but said women and children made up more than half of the dead.

About 90 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced, and large areas have been reduced to Israeli bombardment and ground operations.

Pope Francis has called for an investigation into whether Israel's attack on Gaza amounts to genocide, according to excerpts released Sunday in an upcoming letter.

3 were arrested after Netanyahu's house was set on fire

Israeli police arrested three suspects after two fires were set off overnight at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.

Netanyahu and his family were not present, authorities said. A drone launched by Hezbollah struck the area last month, even when they were not there.

Police did not provide details on the suspects, but officials pointed to Netanyahu's domestic political critics.

The prime minister has faced countless protests for months. Critics blame him for the security and intelligence failures that allowed the October 7 attack to take place and for not reaching a deal with Hamas to release the hostages.

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His government is also facing anger from the Orthodox community over draft military notices. Others protested Sunday in the Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv after the government said 7,000 new notices would be issued.