The quiet morning of September 21 was shattered when Israeli jets descended upon the southern Beirut stronghold of Hezbollah, a powerful Shia militant group. The sudden attack sent shockwaves through the city, leaving a trail of devastation and death in its wake. As the dust settled, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported a staggering 37 fatalities, with three children, seven women, and three Syrian nationals among the victims. The death toll was a grim reminder of the devastating consequences of conflict.

The target of the airstrike was a meeting of military commanders who led Hezbollah's elite Al-Radwan special operations force. The group's top commanders, including Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi, were among those killed in the attack. Aqil was accused by US officials of being one of the leaders and planners of the deadly bombings of the US Embassy in Beirut and the US Marine barracks in 1983, which killed 63 people and 241 US personnel, respectively.

The airstrike came just a day after Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed to punish Israel for the previous day's attacks on the group's members. Nasrallah accused Israel of crossing "all the red lines" by detonating thousands of communication devices used by Hezbollah's members, killing dozens of people, including two children, and wounding nearly 3,000 others. The militants retaliated by launching a barrage of missiles targeting military and intelligence bases in northern Israel.

The combined death toll from the communication device explosions and the airstrike rose to 70, with 777 people remaining hospitalized from the walkie-talkie attacks. The Lebanese government denounced both attacks as war crimes, citing the principle of protecting civilians from the effects of conflicts according to Article 48 of international law.

Explosive Confrontation: A Deadly Showdown in Beirut

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