Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander in first strike on Beirut since ceasefire

Israel said on Thursday it had killed a commander ⁠of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force in an airstrike on Beirut a day earlier, the first Israeli attack on the Lebanese ​capital since a ceasefire agreed last month.
The ​Israeli military said the commander was killed when Israel struck the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the attack in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The strike has raised pressure on the ceasefire that had halted Israeli attacks on Beirut, even as Israeli forces have remained deployed in areas south of the Litani River and continued to carry out strikes in ⁠southern Lebanon.
Iran ally Hezbollah has responded to those strikes by firing and launching armed drones towards Israeli soldiers.
The ⁠Lebanon ceasefire has underpinned a broader truce in the wider Iran war, with a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon being a key Iranian demand in Tehran's negotiations with Washington.
Israel earlier on Wednesday called for residents to evacuate several villages north of the Litani River, which could represent ‌an expansion of Israel's zone of action.
Talks between Israel and Lebanon ​have continued, but have largely been ⁠at the ambassador level.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday that it was premature ​to talk of any high-level meeting between Lebanon ‌and Israel.
HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS PREMATURE
Salam, in comments reported by Lebanon's National News Agency on Wednesday, said shoring up a ceasefire would be the basis for any new negotiations between Lebanese ​and Israeli government envoys in Washington.
Washington last month hosted two meetings between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.