Israel says it has struck dozens of Houthi targets in Yemen

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says dozens of aircraft have struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the latest attack on Israel.

The military said it attacked power plants and seaport facilities in the city of Hodeida.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived.

This is a recent update. AP's earlier story follows below.

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had killed another senior Hezbollah official in an airstrike, as the Lebanese militant group suffered a series of devastating strikes and the assassination of its top commander, Hassan Nasrallah.

The military said Nabil Kaouk, deputy chairman of Hezbollah's Central Council, was killed on Saturday. Hezbollah confirmed his death, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader killed in Israeli strikes in just over a week. They include founding members who had avoided death or imprisonment for decades.

The Israeli military said it carried out another targeted attack on Beirut later on Sunday, with details to come.

Hezbollah had previously confirmed that Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in Friday's attack that killed Nasrallah. The Israeli military said earlier that Karaki was killed in the airstrike, which targeted an underground compound in Beirut where Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah officials were meeting.

According to Israel, at least 20 other Hezbollah fighters were killed in the attack, including two close confidants of Nasrallah, one of whom was in charge of his security department.

The rubble of the strike was still smoldering more than two days later. On Sunday, Associated Press journalists saw smoke rising above the rubble as people streamed to the site, some to see what remained of their homes, others to pay respects, pray or just to see the destruction.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Sunday that Israeli airstrikes had “wiped out” Hezbollah's command structure but warned that the group would work quickly to rebuild it.

“I think people are safer with him not running around,” Kirby said of Nasrallah. “But they will try to recover. We are watching what they do to fill this leadership vacuum. It's going to be hard. … Much of their command structure has now been wiped out.”

Kirby, speaking during an appearance on CNN's “State of the Union,” sidestepped the question of whether the Biden administration was OK with how the Israelis are targeting Hezbollah leaders. The White House continues to call on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day temporary ceasefire agreed by the United States, France and other countries last week as world leaders gathered at the U.N. General Assembly.

Earlier this month, Hezbollah was also the target of a sophisticated attack on its pagers and walkie-talkies that was widely blamed on Israel. A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed at least 1,030 people – including 156 women and 87 children – in less than two weeks, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes by recent attacks in Lebanon. The government estimates that around 250,000 people are staying in emergency shelters, with three to four times as many staying with friends or relatives or camping on the streets, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin told the AP.

Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and missiles into northern Israel, but most were intercepted or fell in open areas. No Israelis have been killed since the latest wave of attacks against senior Hezbollah leaders began on September 20.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party backed by Iran, Israel's main regional rival, rose to regional prominence after fighting a devastating month-long war with Israel in 2006 that ended in a draw.

A veteran member of Hezbollah since the 1980s, Kaouk served as Hezbollah's military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. He often appeared in local media where he commented on political and security developments, and he delivered eulogies at funerals of high-ranking militants. The USA announced sanctions against him in 2020.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack from Gaza sparked the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies who consider themselves part of an Iran-backed “axis of resistance” against Israel.

Israel responded with waves of airstrikes, and the conflict escalated to the point of all-out war, raising fears of a conflagration across the region.

Israel says it is committed to returning about 60,000 of its citizens to northern communities that were evacuated almost a year ago. Hezbollah has said it will only stop firing rockets if there is a ceasefire in Gaza, which has proven difficult despite months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas led by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington.

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