Author: THE NEW YORK TIMES

Israel has also broadened its attacks in Lebanon in recent days, expanding its campaign against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed ally of Hamas.

The fighting comes as the region awaits a potential Israeli counterstrike against Iran, which fired missiles at Israel last week and which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Israel’s attacks against Hezbollah had largely been concentrated in the south and near Beirut. But Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, said an Israeli strike in northern Lebanon had killed one of its commanders.

A new framework of the fighting was made clear by large overnight blasts in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah holds sway, and Israel’s apparent readiness to expand a ground invasion in the south.

Mourners reeled over lost loved ones after an Israeli strike on an apartment building killed at least 45 people.

Israeli officials said warplanes bombed an underground bunker where senior Hezbollah officials were meeting, including the presumed successor to the group’s recently assassinated leader.

The Israeli military said it was conducting what it called “a precise strike” in Beirut. State media said a health authority building in the Bachoura neighborhood had been hit.

Many of the missiles were intercepted with the help of the United States, but some fell in central and southern Israel, the Israeli military said. Israel vowed to retaliate.