Amid Israel-Hezbollah strikes, Lebanon says only US can stop fighting

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Israel kills Hezbollah commander in Beirut, sources say

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Lebanese health ministry says two-day death toll is 569

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UN Security Council to meet Wednesday

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Fears of a wider conflict are growing

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US is 'key...to salvation,' Lebanese minister says

By Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry and James Mackenzie

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Sept 24 - An Israeli airstrike on Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as cross-border rocket attacks by both sides increased fears of a full-fledged war in the Middle East and Lebanon said only Washington could help end the fighting.

Israel's military said the airstrikes on the Lebanese capital killed Ibrahim Qubaisi, who it said was the commander of Hezbollah's missile and rocket force. Two security sources in Lebanon described him as a leading figure in the Iran-backed group's rocket division.

Israel's offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV.

Thousands of displaced people who fled from southern Lebanon were sheltering in schools and other buildings.

At the Technical Institute of Bir Hassan in Beirut, volunteers brought water bottles, medicine and other supplies for the new arrivals. Atef Ahmad Darwich, an 84-year-old man, leaned on his cane next to a blackboard where desks and chairs were pushed to the side.

In another classroom, 11-month-old Matila slept on a mattress while children elsewhere stood on chairs to pass time by scribbling on a whiteboard. Rima Ali Chahine, 50, said the shelter provided diapers, pastries and milk for the children.

"It's a lot of pressure for grownups and children. They're exhausted and stressed. They could not sleep," she said. "The kids - they are living through terrible conditions."

Israel's new offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that nearly a year of conflict between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza could destabilise the Middle East.

The U.N. Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.

"Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world - cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.

At the U.N., U.S. President Joe Biden sought to calm Mideast tensions. "Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest, even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," he told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly.

LEBANON SAYS US IS 'KEY TO SALVATION'

But Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Biden's address was "not strong, not promising" and the U.S. was the only country "that can really make a difference in the Middle East." Washington is Israel's longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.

The United States "is the key ... to our salvation," he told an event in New York City hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Half a million people are estimated to have been displaced in Lebanon, he said. He said Lebanon's prime minister hoped to meet with U.S. officials over the next two days.

The U.S. has joined with fellow mediators Qatar and Egypt in a so-far unsuccessful effort to negotiate a ceasefire in the nearly year-old war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, a Hezbollah ally.

Israel's military said its airforce also conducted "extensive strikes" on Tuesday on Hezbollah targets across southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and dozens of launchers that were aimed at Israeli territory.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Iran-backed Hezbollah and would continue. Hezbollah "has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows," he told Israeli troops.

Hezbollah said it launched rockets on Tuesday at the Dado military base in northern Israel and attacked the Atlit naval base south of Haifa with drones, among other targets.

Gallant accused the U.N. of shirking its responsibility to prevent Hezbollah's attacks into Israel.

Suspected Israeli missiles were also launched at the Syrian port city of Tartous and were intercepted by Syrian air defences, Syrian army sources said. The Israeli military declined to comment on the report.

Since the Gaza war started in October, Israel has intensified a years-long air campaign targeting Iran-aligned armed groups and their weapons transfers in Syria.

Funerals were held on Tuesday for people killed in Lebanon by Israel's bombardment. In the coastal city of Saksakiyeh, Mohammed Helal was defiant as he mourned his daughter Jouri.

“We are not afraid. Even if they kill, dissect, and destroy us at your service, Nasrallah, at your service Nasrallah,” he said, referring to the Hezbollah leader.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.