Rare Israeli airstrike in Beirut kills Hezbollah commander and more than a dozen others

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated southern Beirut neighborhood on Friday. It was the deadliest such strike on Lebanon’s capital in decades, with Lebanese authorities reporting at least 14 people killed and dozens more wounded in the attack.

The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the strike on Beirut's southern Dahiya district killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, as well as 10 other Hezbollah operatives.

“We will continue pursuing our enemies in order to defend our citizens, even in Dahiya, in Beirut,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, describing the Israeli strike that targeted Akil as part of “a new phase of war.”

Several hours later, Hezbollah confirmed Akil's death. In a statement, the Lebanese militant group described Akil as “a great jihadist leader” and said he had “joined the procession of his brothers, the great martyr leaders, after a blessed life full of jihad, work, wounds, sacrifices, dangers, challenges, achievements, and victories.”

Akil served on Hezbollah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council. He was sanctioned by the United States for his alleged involvement in the 1983 bombing that killed more than 300 people at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks.

Last year, the U.S. State Department posted a $7 million reward for information leading to his identification, location, arrest or conviction, citing his role in the embassy bombing and in the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

The strike came as a new cycle of escalation between the enemies raised fears of a full-out war erupting in the Middle East.

Hours before the Israeli strike, Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets as the region awaited the revenge promised by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah over this week’s mass explosions of pagers belonging to members of the Shiite militant group.

The Israeli military did not provide the identities of the other Hezbollah commanders allegedly killed in its strike on the crowded neighborhood just kilometers from downtown Beirut.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said at least 14 people were killed and 66 others were wounded in the attack, which leveled the apartment building where the Israeli army claimed Akil had been meeting with other militants in the basement. Nine of the wounded were in serious condition, the ministry added.

Local networks in Lebanon broadcast footage showing first responders sifting through the rubble of a collapsed high-rise in the Jamous area in the heart of Dahiya, where Hezbollah conducts many of its political and security operations.

The rescue operation continued into the late hours of Friday, hours after the attack, as first responders wrestled to remove the rubble to reach the basement of the building where apparently many of the bodies were located.

Friday's airstrike — the deadliest such attack on a neighborhood of Beirut since Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody, monthlong war in 2006 — hit during rush hour, as people were leaving work and children heading home from school.

At Beirut's St. Therese Hospital near the scene of the airstrike, crowds flocked to donate blood for those wounded in the attack.

“We are all together in this situation, so it’s my obligation,” said Hussein Harake, who lined up to donate blood.

From Israel, Gallant said he briefed senior military officials on the strike and vowed Israel would press on against Hezbollah "until we achieve our goal, ensuring the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”

The strike came after Hezbollah launched one of its most intense bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting, largely targeting Israeli military sites. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted most of the Katyusha rockets. The few that got through sparked small fires but caused little damage and no Israeli casualties.

Hezbollah described its latest wave of rocket salvos as a response to past Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon — not as revenge for the mass explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed at least 37 people - including two children - and wounded 2,900 others in attacks widely attributed to Israel.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in this week's sophisticated attacks, which signaled a major escalation in the past 11 months of simmering conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire regularly since Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel ignited the Israeli military’s devastating offensive in Gaza. But previous cross-border attacks have largely struck areas in northern Israel that had been evacuated and less-populated parts of southern Lebanon.

The last time Israel hit Beirut was in a July airstrike that killed senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur.

“The attack in Lebanon is to protect Israel,” Hagari said at a news conference following Friday's strike, describing both Shukr and Akil as the two military officials closest to Hezbollah leader Nasrallah.

Hagari also accused Akil of plotting a series of attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians dating back decades, including a never-realized plan to invade northern Israel in a similar way to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks.

After Friday's Israeli airstrike, Hezbollah announced attacks on northern Israel, two of which it said targeted an intelligence base from where it claimed Israel directed assassinations.

Israel remains on edge, with Nasrallah vowing Thursday to keep up strikes on Israel despite the humiliating “blow” he said Hezbollah suffered in the sabotage of its communication devices.

“We are in a tense period,” Hagari told reporters Friday. “We are prepared on high alert both offensively and defensively.”

In recent days, Israel has sent a powerful fighting force to the northern border, designated as an official war goal the return of tens of thousands of displaced residents to their homes in northern Israel and ordered citizens near Israel's border with Lebanon to stay close to bomb shelters. Hezbollah has maintained that it will only halt its fire when there is a cease-fire in Gaza.

Hamas, which continues to fight Israel in Gaza, condemned the Israeli strike targeting Akil as a “new crime” and “violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

Even as the world's attention turns to the surge in Israel-Hezbollah tensions, Palestinian casualties in the besieged Gaza Strip continued to mount.

Palestinian health authorities early Friday reported that 15 people, including children, were killed in Israeli strikes that targeted a family home and a group of people on the street in Gaza City. Israel's campaign in Gaza has already killed at least 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between fighters and civilians.

In response to a request for comment on the latest Gaza strikes, the Israeli military insisted on Friday that it took “feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm” and accused Hamas of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas.

Israel's bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip — launched in response to Hamas killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage in southern Israel on Oct. 7 — has wreaked vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.

Residents look on as rescuers arrive at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Residents look on as rescuers arrive at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Members of Hezbollah stand on a fire truck as rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People stand on top of a damaged car at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather near a damaged building at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A woman checks the scene of a missile strike from her damaged house in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Rescuers carry a body at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Ambulances arrive at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People stand on top of a damaged car at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People and rescuers gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather near a damaged building at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Florida residents began repairing damage from Hurricane Milton, which smashed through coastal communities and tore homes to pieces, flooded streets and spawned a deadly tornadoes.

At least nine people are dead, but many expressed relief that Milton wasn’t worse.

Follow AP’s coverage of tropical weather at https://apnews.com/hub/hurricanes.

Here’s the latest:

But Deanne Criswell says FEMA will need additional funding at some point.

Criswell says the agency is keeping account every day of how much they’re drawing from the disaster assistance fund. That’s a pot of money allocated specifically to help the agency respond to emergencies across the country.

The fund gets replenished every year by Congress and is used to pay for recovery from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and other disasters.

Congress recently replenished the fund with $20 billion — the same amount FEMA got last year. About $8 billion of that is set aside for recovery from previous storms and mitigation projects.

Criswell says the fund won’t have enough money to last through the entire fiscal year, which stretches to September of next year. She says at some point, they’ll have to go back to Congress to ask for a boost to the disaster relief fund.

“We will need one. It’s just a matter of when,” she said.

Mayor Lynne Matthews spoke at a news conference Friday with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and the city’s manager, Gregory B. Murray.

Matthews says 121 people had to be rescued after Hurricane Helene made landfall Sept. 26 but rescuers only had to save three people after Milton came through.

“So people listened to the evacuation order,” Matthews said.

“I know we had teams out with the megaphones going through all of our mobile home communities and other places to let people know that they needed to evacuate,” she said.

Bruce Kinsler, 68, was part of a Polk County “push crew” that began clearing roads before 6 a.m. on Thursday. A truck struck Kinsler as he and a coworker were trying to clear a tree that had fallen across the road as the storm passed through the area. The driver of the truck was a county employee who was arriving to join Kinsler for post-storm recovery work.

“The tragedy of this incident is compounded by the fact that Bruce Kinsler was killed serving the residents of this county,” said Bill Braswell, chairman of the Polk County Commission. “We ask a lot of the employees as public servants, and they respond to the call. For this to happen is just a tragedy.”

The White House announced Biden’s visit but did not detail exactly where the president will travel.

Biden was scheduled to be briefed by aides Friday afternoon on the federal response and recovery in the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene. He’ll then deliver remarks from the White House to update the public about those efforts.

One of those Friday was a large pig stuck in high water at a strip mall in Lithia, FLorida, which is east of Tampa. Cindy Evers led the rescue of the pig and she’s also saved a donkey and several goats.

The animals are being taken to Evers’ farm for the time being.

“I’m high and dry where I’m at and I have a barn and nine acres,” she said. “So we have plenty of room for these animals to be safe.” Evers said she’ll figure out next steps later, such as finding the animals' owners.

Gov. DeSantis noted interactions with downed power lines and water.

“We are seeing hazards that are still there,” he said. He said people should take care around standing water and should use generators properly.

“You have to make the proper decisions and know that there are hazards out there,” he said.

Human-caused climate change intensified deadly Hurricane Milton ’s rainfall by 20 to 30% and strengthened its winds by about 10%, scientists said in a new flash study. The analysis comes just two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated the southeastern United States, a storm also fueled by climate change.

World Weather Attribution researchers said Friday that without climate change, a hurricane like Milton would make landfall as a weaker Category 2, not considered a “major” storm, instead of a Category 3.

WWA’s rapid studies aren’t peer-reviewed but use peer-reviewed methods. The WWA compares a weather event with what might have been expected in a world that hasn’t warmed about 1.3 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times.

▶ Read more about how climate change affected Milton.

Only authorized personnel are allowed on the bases. There was damage and flooding at MacDill, which is home to U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command.

There's no significant damage at Patrick and teams are working to restore critical infrastructure, according to the Air Force.

The river is 25 miles (40 kilometers) long and runs from eastern Hillsborough County, east of Tampa, into Tampa Bay.

The sheriff’s office asked people to call 911 if they need help getting out of their homes.

A pair of unwelcome and destructive guests named Helene and Milton have stormed their way into this year’s presidential election.

The back-to-back hurricanes have jumbled the schedules of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, both of whom devoted part of their Thursdays to tackling questions about the storm recovery effort.

The two hurricanes are forcing basic questions about who as president would best respond to deadly natural disasters, a once-overlooked issue that has become an increasingly routine part of the job. And just weeks before the Nov. 5 election, the storms have disrupted the mechanics of voting in several key counties.

A pick up drives past a guard gate on a flooded street in Siesta Key, Fla., following the passage Hurricane Milton, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

FILE - People are rescued from an apartment complex after flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Oct. 10, 2024, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

FILE - A house sits toppled off its stilts after the passage of Hurricane Milton, alongside an empty lot where a home was swept away by Hurricane Helene, in Bradenton Beach on Anna Maria Island, Fla., Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)