Israel pounds Lebanon, pressuring Hezbollah after killing its leader
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Israeli Military said it had killed Nabil Kaouk, a prominent Hezbollah leader.
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel struck multiple targets in Lebanon on Sunday, pressing Hezbollah with more attacks and saying it had killed yet another senior figure after it struck a huge blow by killing the Iran-backed group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli military said the air force had "struck dozens of Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including launchers that were aimed toward Israeli territory, structures in which weapons were stored and additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure".
It also said it had killed Nabil Kaouk, a prominent Hezbollah leader, the latest in a string of Israeli strikes that have targeted many of the group's most senior figures. Hezbollah has not yet commented on Kaouk's fate but its supporters have been posting mourning messages for him since Saturday.
The Israeli navy said it had intercepted a projectile approaching Israel from the area of the Red Sea and another eight projectiles coming from Lebanon had fallen in open areas.
Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli air attack on Friday on the group's headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs. It was a major blow to Hezbollah and to Iran, removing an influential ally who helped build Hezbollah into the linchpin of Tehran's network of allied groups in the Arab world.
Hezbollah said it would keep fighting Israel and has continued to fire rockets at it, including a salvo on Sunday morning.
Nasrallah's death capped a traumatic fortnight for Hezbollah, starting with the detonation of thousands of communications devices used by its members. Israel was widely assumed to have carried out that action but has not confirmed or denied it did.
Lebanon's health ministry said 33 people had been killed in Israeli strikes during Saturday. More than 1,000 people in Lebanon have been killed and more than 6,000 wounded as a result of the Israeli attacks in the past two weeks, the health ministry said earlier. It did not specify how many were civilians and how many were combatants.
The escalation has increased fears the conflict could spin out of control, potentially drawing in Iran as well as the United States, Israel's closest ally.
In Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant held talks on expanding the offensive, his office said on Saturday.
Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting in parallel with Israel's war in Gaza against Hamas since the Iran-backed Palestinian group's attack on Israel last Oct. 7.
