Israel kills Hezbollah commander in airstrikes on Beirut

Israel said it had killed a top Hezbollah commander as strikes continued to pound the Lebanese capital through Tuesday.

Military officials said Ibrahim Kobeisi, directing the group's missile and rocket unit, was killed during its bombardment of Beirut.

'Other key commanders' were said to be with Kobeisi at the time, but it was not clear whether any were killed or wounded.

Thousands have been displaced by relentless bombing over the last few days, with nearly 560 people killed and thousands wounded in the crossfire.

Fearing escalation, US President Joe Biden took centre stage at the UN General Assembly to denounce the campaign, insisting that 'a full-scale war is not in anyone's interest'.

Qatar, a key mediator in talks on reaching a Gaza truce, added in a statement that the escalation "puts the region on the brink of the abyss and exposes it to more tensions".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu donned Qatar's vocabulary in address to the people of Lebanon. 

He warned that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was 'leading you to the brink of the abyss' while warning 'anyone who has a missile in their living room and a rocket in their garage will not have a home' and vowing to continue the strikes.

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Lebanon has been rocked by Israeli strikes since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza, but exchanges have escalated since last week.

Hezbollah suffered casualties in their thousands when pagers and then walkie-talkie devices started exploding across Lebanon last Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

Israel later denied involvement, but is widely believed to have carried out the attacks.

Hezbollah retaliated with more strikes into Israel, and Israel has responded in kind, shelling Hezbollah's bases in the south of the country before pressing into Beirut yesterday. 

Many 'thousands' of people have been displaced by the fighting already, according to Lebanon, which has urged Israel to show restraint, alongside regional powers and Israel's main ally in the United States.

Joe Biden's aides said today that the President has been working around the clock to calm tensions in the Middle East.

In his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, he said that 'even as the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible'. 

Israeli bombardment came within metres of traffic queues forming along southern roads on Monday as civilians desperately tried to head for Beirut.

Lebanon began setting up shelters in schools yesterday, housing thousands by this afternoon.

But the capital has not been exempt from attacks, either. Israel's military announced yesterday afternoon it had carried out a fresh airstrike in the capital targeting senior Hezbollah leader Ali Karaki. 

Hezbollah claimed he had survived the attack and been moved. 

With hotels quickly booked to capacity or rooms priced beyond the means of many families, those who did not find shelter slept in their cars, in parks or along the seaside.

Issa Baydoun fled the village of Shihine in southern Lebanon when it was bombed and came to Beirut in a convoy of cars with his extended family. They slept in the vehicles on the side of the road after discovering that the shelters were full.

'We struggled a lot on the road just to get here,' he said. Baydoun rejected Israel's contention that it hit only military targets.

'We evacuated our homes because Israel is targeting civilians and attacking them,' he said. 'That's why we left our homes, to protect our children.'

Israelis, too, have been displaced by Hezbollah's persistent rocket fire into Lebanon.

Sirens continue to sound over northern Israel, the BBC reporting explosions overhead this morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has made returning those displaced a top priority. 

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 The Israeli military says it has no immediate plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon but is prepared for one, after moving thousands of troops who had been serving in Gaza to the northern border. 

It says Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone.

Israel estimates Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel. 

Monday's escalation came after a particularly heavy exchange of fire Sunday. Hezbollah launched around 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel in retaliation for strikes that killed a top commander and dozens of fighters.