Israel says it targets senior Hezbollah commander in strike on Beirut

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Israeli military said it carried out a targeted strike in Beirut on Tuesday against the Hezbollah commander it said was responsible for a strike in the Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers at the weekend.

A loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the southern suburbs - a stronghold of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah - at around 7:40 p.m. (1640 GMT), a Reuters witness said.

"The IDF carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians," the Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement.

It said it had issued no new instructions for civil defence in Israel following the strike.

A senior Lebanese security source said the commander's fate remained unclear.

Lebanon's state-run national news agency said an Israeli strike had targeted the area around Hezbollah's Shura Council in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of the capital.

Beirut has been on edge for days ahead of an anticipated Israeli attack in retaliation for a strike on the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed a dozen youngsters.

Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for the attack. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Timour Azhari; Editing by Gareth Jones)