At least 50 people killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Gaza in last 24 hours

At least 50 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Gaza in the last 24 hours. 

A strike on Friday on the Lebanese capital Beirut killed at least 37 people including three children and seven women, the country's health minister Firas Abiad said.

Fifteen of the 68 wounded in the attack remain in hospital.

Ali Harake, the head of the rescue team searching through the rubble, told Sky News his team is still looking for between 17 and 18 missing people - though he fears none have survived.

On Saturday evening, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel had launched more "extensive" strikes in southern Lebanon, with "dozens" of aircraft and rocket launchers striking "terrorist targets".

He said this followed "detection of Hezbollah preparing to fire toward Israeli territory".

Follow the latest updates on the Middle East

Two top Hezbollah commanders killed

It is understood two apartment blocks in a densely populated southern neighbourhood collapsed in the strike on Friday - the deadliest attack on Beirut in decades.

Top Hezbollah commanders are believed to have been meeting in the basement of one of the buildings.

Hezbollah has confirmed two of its senior commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi, died in the strike while an Israeli military spokesperson said that at least 16 Hezbollah militants were killed.

Wahbi oversaw the military operations of the Radwan special forces - a commando unit that seeks to infiltrate and carry out attacks in Israel - until early 2024. Aqil was also a top commander for the Iran-backed group.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has described the killing of Aqil as a "crime" and a "folly", adding Israel will "pay the price".

Read more: Israeli airstrike on Beirut causes more shock to a country already rocked to its core

The IDF has restricted gatherings in Lower Galilee, Upper Galilee, Haifa Bay, Central Galilee and some parts of the Golan Heights, with outdoor gatherings limited to 30 people and limits placed on work and school attendance.

These are in addition to the restrictions already placed on communities living on the existing frontline.

Meanwhile, at least 13 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza City, according to a local report.

The strikes are believed to have hit several schools sheltering displaced people in the southern part of the city.

The strikes come after Hezbollah launched one of its most intense bombardments of northern Israel in nearly a year of fighting, largely targeting Israeli military sites.

Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted most of the Katyusha rockets.

Hezbollah said its latest wave of rocket attacks was a response to past Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.

It came days after mass explosions of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies killed at least 37 people, including two children. Some 2,900 others were wounded in the assault which has been widely attributed to Israel.

(c) Sky News 2024: At least 50 people killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Gaza in last 24 hours