Israeli strike on Beirut kills Hezbollah's lead spokesperson

By Henry Moore

Hezbollah’s chief spokesman has been killed in an Israel strike on Lebanon’s capital.

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Mohammed Afif, the head of media relations for Hezbollah, was killed in a strike on the Arab socialist Baath party's office in central Beirut, according to a Hezbollah official.

It marks just the latest high-ranking Hezbollah member to be killed by the Israeli Defence Force in the wake of their ground invasion of Lebanon.

Earlier, Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people in the Gaza Strip, officials said, where Israel has been at war with Hamas for more than a year.

Read more: Israeli troops reach deepest point into Lebanon before being pushed back by Hezbollah militants

Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered, after warning people to evacuate.

Mr Afif had remained especially visible after the eruption of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah in September and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was also targeted by an Israeli air strike.

It comes after Israeli troops reached their deepest point into Lebanon since launching their ground invasion.

Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about three miles from the Israeli border, early on Saturday, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The village is the furthest into the state that IDF ground forces have reached since the beginning of their invasion six weeks ago.

The same source said Israeli troops were later pushed back from the hill.

The agency added that Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be verified.

Israel's military said its troops "continue their limited, localised and targeted operational activity in southern Lebanon".

The push on the ground came as Israeli planes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs as well as several other areas in southern Lebanon including the port city of Tyre.

An airstrike on the northeastern village of Khraibeh killed a couple and their four children, the National News Agency said.

Shrapnel from one strike wounded a teenage girl in the head in a southern Beirut suburb and she was in an intensive care unit, a hospital official said.

The morning strike in Beirut hit an area known as Dahiyeh, which the Israeli military called a Hezbollah stronghold, saying its planes hit multiple sites used by the militant group.

Residents were given advance warning by Israel, and it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

The increase in violence came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials studied a draft proposal presented by the US earlier this week on ending the war.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire - 80% of them in eight weeks - according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.