Israel strikes Lebanese capital, killing at least six
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM—Israel bombed Beirut early on Thursday, killing at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Israel said it had conducted a precise airstrike on the Lebanese capital.
Reuters witnesses reported hearing a massive blast, and a security source said it targeted a building in the district of Bachoura near parliament, the closest an Israeli strike has come to the central downtown district of Beirut.
At least six people were killed and seven wounded, Lebanese health officials said.
A photo circulating on Lebanese WhatsApp groups, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a heavily damaged building with its first floor on fire.
“Another sleepless night in Beirut. Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what’s next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent,” UN special coordinator in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said on X on Thursday.
Undetected drones
Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, and loud blasts were heard, Lebanese security officials said.
The elimination of Nasrallah dealt a major blow to the movement and removed Iran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East.
Hezbollah and Iran’s other regional allies, Yemen’s Houthis and armed groups in Iraq, have launched attacks in the region in support of Hamas in its war with Israel in Gaza.
The Houthis, who have been carrying out attacks in shipping lanes in and around the Red Sea that have disrupted international trade, said on Thursday they attacked Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv with drones.
“The operation achieved its goals successfully by the arrival of the drones without being detected or shot down by the enemy,” the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said.
Israel said it intercepted a suspicious aerial target in the area of central Israel early on Thursday.
‘Continuing raids’
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) urged residents of Lebanese villages who have evacuated their homes not to return until further notice. “IDF raids are continuing,” spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X on Thursday.
A day after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into Israel, Israel said on Wednesday eight soldiers were killed in ground combat in south Lebanon as its forces thrust into its northern neighbor.
The Israeli military said regular infantry and armored units joined ground operations in Lebanon on Wednesday as Iran’s missile attack and Israel’s promise of retaliation fanned concern of a wider conflict in the oil-producing Middle East.
Hezbollah said its fighters engaged Israeli forces inside Lebanon.
The movement reported ground clashes for the first time since Israeli forces pushed over the border on Monday.
Hezbollah said it had destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with rockets near the border town of Maroun El Ras.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a condolence video, said: “We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran’s Axis of Evil, which wants to destroy us.
“This will not happen because we will stand together and with God’s help, we will win together,” he said.
