Israel struck multiple targets in Lebanon on Sunday, pressing Iran-backed Hezbollah with more attacks after it struck a huge blow by killing the group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli military said the air force had “struck dozens of Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including launchers that were aimed towards Israeli territory, structures in which weapons were stored and additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure”.

The navy had intercepted a projectile approaching Israel from the area of the Red Sea and another eight projectiles coming from Lebanon had fallen in open areas, it said in a morning statement.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it killed senior Hezbollah figure Nabil Kaouk amid an ongoing exchange of strikes between the two sides.

Hezbollah has not yet commented on Kaouk’s fate, but supporters have been posting mourning messages for him since Saturday.

In Beirut, displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a high-end string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront where private security usually shoos away any loiterers. That was not the case on Sunday morning.

Families with nothing more than a duffle bag of clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and were pouring tea for themselves.

“You won’t be able to destroy us, whatever you do, however much you bomb, however much you displace people — we will stay here. We won’t leave. This is our country and we’re staying,” said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident jogging through the area.

The UN’s World Food Programme said it had launched an emergency operation to provide food for up to 1 million people affected by the conflict in Lebanon.

‘Balance of power’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday Nasrallah’s killing was a necessary step toward “changing the balance of power in the region for years to come”.

“Nasrallah was not a terrorist, he was the terrorist,” Netanyahu said in a statement, warning of challenging days ahead.

Israel said it killed senior Hezbollah official Ali Karaki and other commanders along with Nasrallah.

US President Joe Biden described Nasrallah’s death as a measure of justice for what he called his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese, and said the US fully supported Israel’s right to self-defence.

But when asked if an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, Biden told reporters on Saturday: “It’s time for a ceasefire.”