The death toll from Israel's airstrike on the southern Beirut stronghold of the Lebanese Islamic militant group Hezbollah has risen to 31, the country's top health official said Saturday.

An Israeli airstrike took out a top Hezbollah commander who was behind the infamous 1983 Beirut bombings at the U.S. Embassy and the marine barracks. It comes after members of the terror group were targeted in a series of attacks on their pagers and walkie talkies.

Israel has launched a rare airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated southern Beirut neighborhood.