Israel says it killed a Hezbollah commander in a strike in Lebanon's capital Beirut

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People and members of the military inspect the site of an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday. / Reuters

BEIRUT — The Israeli military launched an airstrike in a suburb of Lebanon's capital on Friday, after a deadly week of attacks that have intensified the fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

The strike killed 12 people and wounded almost 60 others, according to The Associated Press, citing Lebanese health authorities.

The Israel military said it carried out a “targeted strike” on senior Hezbollah official Ibrahim Akil and said that several more Hezbollah officials were killed as well. Hezbollah has not confirmed any of these deaths.

In a briefing, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Akil had been planning an attack on Israel’s northern communities. "These terrorists planned to do in northern Israel what Hamas did in southern Israel on Oct. 7 — invade Israeli homes and kill innocent people," he said.

Lebanon’s national news agency said initial reports showed an airstrike hit a building near the al-Qaim complex, used for religious gatherings in Dahiyeh district south of Beirut. Lebanese television showed footage of extensive building damage, the wreckage of cars and ambulances racing to the site.

The strike came hours after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets, most of which were shot down by Israel, and the two sides traded dozens of missiles across the Israeli-Lebanese border overnight.

This latest round of fighting follows a series of near-synchronized explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members and allies across Lebanon and parts of Syria, which killed more than 32 people and wounded thousands, according to Lebanese health officials. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to retaliate against Israel.

Israel has not publicly commented on the electronic device attacks. But a U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak to reporters, told NPR that Israel notified Washington that it had carried out Tuesday's pager attacks.

This is a developing story.