Israel kills Hamas, Hezbollah commanders, vows to expand attacks

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel announced on Thursday that its forces killed two commanders from Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while vowing to expand the attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.

During a meeting of the Emergency Preparedness Committee, a governmental body, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that Israel is prepared to escalate its attacks in Lebanon, noting that it has unleashed "no more than a tenth of our capabilities against Hezbollah."

Israel has concluded a home front preparedness exercise for a full-fledged war scenario along the country's northern borders with Lebanon and Syria, Gallant noted.

"The Air Force jets that are now flying above Lebanon have more massive bombs," he said, adding that Israel can attack 50 km deep into Lebanon and also in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Gallant added that Israeli forces will continue operations in the Rafah area in southern Gaza and other places.

Rockets fired by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Thursday caused a temporary power outage in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona after a high-voltage line was damaged, the state-owned Israel Electric Corporation said in a statement.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that a commander of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces, Ali Muhammad Aldbas, his deputy, and an operative were killed on Wednesday in an Israeli drone attack on a Hezbollah military structure in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of strikes on Hezbollah military structures in Blida, Maroun al-Ras and other areas in southern Lebanon, according to the IDF.

Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper reported Thursday that senior Hezbollah official and parliament member Hassan Fadlallah warned that Israel "will pay the price" for its attacks in Lebanon, which killed 11 civilians a day earlier.

In another development, the Israeli army said it raided the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in an operation based on intelligence indicating that Hamas militants and the bodies of some Israeli hostages are in the hospital.

Hamas said the Israeli forces forced the displaced people and staff to evacuate from the hospital, turning the largest functioning hospital in Gaza "into a military barrack."

In Gaza City, Ahmed Ghoul, a commander of Hamas' Shati Battalion who participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, was killed by Israeli forces, the IDF said.

During the fighting in Gaza on Thursday, an Israeli soldier was killed and 12 others were injured, it added.

The war has so far claimed the lives of at least 28,663 Palestinians and wounded 68,395 others, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza-based Media Office. The Israeli death toll from Hamas and Hezbollah attacks reached about 1,400, most of them killed during the initial Hamas cross-border surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, according to official Israeli figures. 

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

Israeli security forces work at the scene of a rocket attack from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on Feb. 15, 2024. Hezbollah fired on Thursday evening dozens of rockets on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, to retaliate Israel's deadly attacks on Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, the Lebanese armed group said in a statement. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)