The bombardment in Lebanon came as rescue workers in Beirut were still pulling bodies from the rubble from an Israeli airstrike Friday afternoon. The attack, in a southern suburb, killed 37 people, including at least two senior Hezbollah commanders, one of whom served as the group’s chief of operations.

The events of this week seem to indicate that Israel’s leaders have decided they can no longer live with the threat of Hezbollah on their northern border, analysts say.

Lebanon's Iran-aligned Hezbollah group confirmed in the early hours of Saturday that its top military commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed, calling him "one of its top leaders", without providing further details on his killing.