Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday killed 22 people and wounded 117, Lebanon’s health ministry reported, raising fears on Friday of further strikes and marking the deadliest single strike in the current conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
The airstrikes targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene. One apartment building was completely destroyed, while the lower floors of another were wiped out.
Air raids in Beirut have typically focused on the city’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah bases much of its operations.
Bilal Hussein/AP
Following the strikes, Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported that an attempt to assassinate Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group, had failed, as Safa was not inside either of the targeted buildings.
Hezbollah continued its rocket fire into Israel on Thursday, triggering air raid sirens across parts of northern Israel. The Israeli military reported that several drones heading toward the country were intercepted.
The strikes and counterstrikes between Israel and its enemies have raised fears of an all-out war in the region, as Israel continues to battle the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and attempts to rescue scores of hostages taken and still held hostage since the Oct. 7 attack last year that killed 1,139 Israelis. Over 42,000 Gazans have lost their lives in the past year to the Israeli military according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Since Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon in the past weeks, over 1,400 Lebanese people are reported to have been killed and the Hezbollah has vowed to continue its strikes in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas, also an Iran-backed militant group.
Hassan Ammar/AP
Israeli Airstrike Kills Two Palestinian Militants in West Bank
Two Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to the Israeli military.
The strike in the Tulkarm area targeted Muhammad Abdullah, head of the Nur Shams branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and another unnamed militant, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the dead as Muhammad Iyad Muhammad Abdullah, 20, and Awad Jamil Saqr Omar, 31, saying they were killed “as a result of the occupation’s bombing near Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm.”
Anti-Tank Missile from Lebanon Kills Thai National in Northern Israel
An antitank missile fired from Lebanon killed a young man from Thailand in northern Israel early Friday.
U.N. says its peacekeepers fired on by Israeli forces
In Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, the U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) stated that its headquarters and positions “have been repeatedly hit” by Israeli forces.
According to UNIFIL, an Israeli tank “directly” fired on an observation tower at its headquarters, and soldiers attacked a bunker near where peacekeepers were sheltering, causing damage to vehicles and a communication system. An Israeli drone was also reportedly seen near the bunker’s entrance.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed that two UNIFIL troops, both Indonesian, were wounded in the attacks and have been hospitalized.
The U.N. peacekeeping chief announced Thursday that 300 peacekeepers in front line positions on Lebanon’s southern border have been temporarily relocated to larger bases as the conflict in the region intensifies. An additional 200 peacekeepers may also be moved depending on security conditions, according to Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who addressed an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
Lacroix said that peacekeepers with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are remaining in their positions, but due to ongoing air and ground attacks, they are unable to conduct patrols.
The escalation comes as Israel accuses Hezbollah of establishing militant infrastructure along the border, in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between the two sides.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press
