Tel Aviv/Beirut, 29 September 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Israel said on Sunday that it killed another high-ranking Hezbollah commander, as the army continued its attacks on Lebanon amid heightened fears that the region is on the brink of all-out war.

The head of Hezbollah's preventative security unit, Nabil Kaouk, was killed in a "precise" strike by Israeli forces, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X. Hezbollah has confirmed his death.

Kaouk, a member of the Lebanese militia's executive council, had been close to Hezbollah's senior commanders and directly engaged in terrorist attacks on Israel since joining Hezbollah in the 1980s, the IDF said.

The IDF said it would continue to eliminate Hezbollah commanders. No details of the location of the strike were provided.

The claim comes one day after the Iran-backed militia confirmed that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday, further fuelling widespread concerns over a major escalation that could draw in proxy forces from across the region.

Hezbollah is allied with the regime in Tehran, which considers Israel its arch-enemy. While the Iranian leadership has strongly condemned Nasrallah's killing, it has so far not indicated that it might be willing to carry out a possible retaliatory response directly.

The Lebanese militia, considered a terrorist organization by the US, the European Union and Israel, has been launching attacks on northern Israel since the beginning of the Gaza war in support of Hamas.

Following almost a year of cross-border skirmishes, Israel launched a massive aerial campaign on targets across Lebanon earlier this week, with the stated aim of pushing back Hezbollah forces to enable the return of tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern Israel amid the fighting.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the bombardment so far, and tens of thousands displaced.

Israel now appears poised to launch a ground incursion into Lebanon, as its army chief Herzi Halevi said on Saturday that his forces were prepared for what was to come and Lebanese residents were told to flee to safety.

The killing of Nasrallah, a cleric who led Hezbollah for more than 30 years and built the Lebanese militant group into a powerful force, is one of the heaviest blows ever dealt by Israel to Hezbollah.

Israeli bombardment continues

The Israeli Air Force attacked "dozens of terrorist targets" in Lebanon overnight, including launch pads aimed at Israeli territory, weapons depots and other infrastructure associated with the Shiite militia, the IDF said.

Israeli planes also pounded targets in the south and east of Lebanon later on Sunday, the country's NNA news agency and other outlets reported.

Warehouses, agricultural land and residential areas were reportedly hit.

At least 17 members of one family have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon, NNA reported.

The Hezbollah-affiliated television station Al-Manar reported 15 deaths, including women and children, in the attack in the north of the Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Rescue workers pulled at least six bodies from rubble in the Bekaa Valley. The local Annahar newspaper reported that nine members of a Syrian family were among the victims.

At least four deaths were reported in the south.

The death toll since the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began almost a year ago has risen to more than 1,600, including 100 children, according to official Lebanese figures. A further 8,400 have been injured.

The Lebanese Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and Hezbollah members in its figures.

Record number of people displaced

According to Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, up to 1 million people could end up being displaced by Israel's attacks.

The number of displaced people is already at a record level, he said in Beirut on Sunday.

Mikati said the only option to end the conflict with Lebanon was a diplomatic solution. "There's no choice for us but diplomacy."

According to the UN, more than 210,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since the beginning of the new confrontations between Israel's army and Hezbollah, including around 120,000 in the past week alone.

However, the number could be significantly higher, also based on experiences from the last war with Israel in 2006, the UN said.

Many people sleep in parks, on the streets or on the beach for fear of further attacks, especially in the south, east and in Beirut's suburbs. Some 50,000, many of them Syrian refugees, have also fled to neighbouring war-torn Syria.

Emergency food distribution launched

The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun an emergency food operation for up to 1 million people affected by the conflict in Lebanon, the UN agency said.

The WFP says it is distributing ready-to-eat food rations, bread, hot meals and food parcels to families and has been able to reach more than 66,000 people in shelters across the country.

Kitchens and hot meal operations have been set up in north and central Lebanon to prepare light meals.

"Lebanon is at a breaking point and cannot endure another war," WFP regional director Corinne Fleischer said. "WFP is on the ground, but we urgently need funds," she said.

The WFP says it needs $105 million up to the end of the year to be able to continue its efforts in Lebanon.

Photo: EPA