By Maya Gebeily, Laila Bassam and Muhammad Al Gebaly
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Palestinian militant group said on Monday that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut, the first attack within the city limits as Israel escalated hostilities against Iran’s allies in the region.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said the three leaders were killed in an attack targeting Beirut’s Kola district.
The attack hit the top floor of an apartment building in the Kola district of Lebanon’s capital, Reuters witnesses said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The increasing frequency of Israel’s attacks against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen has raised fears that fighting in the Middle East will spiral out of control and draw in Iran and the United States, Israel’s main ally.
The PFLP is another militant group involved in the fight against Israel.
Israel launched airstrikes on Sunday against the Houthi militia in Yemen and dozens of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon after earlier killing Hezbollah’s leader.
The Houthi-led Health Ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in airstrikes on the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, which Israel said were a response to Houthi missile attacks. In Lebanon, authorities said at least 105 people had been killed by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians. The government said one million people – a fifth of the population – have fled their homes.
Intensified Israeli bombing over two weeks has killed a number of senior Hezbollah officials, including its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel has vowed to continue the attack and says it wants to make its northern areas safe again for residents who have been forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Israeli drones flew over Beirut for much of Sunday, and loud explosions from new airstrikes echoed through the Lebanese capital. Displaced families spent the night on benches in Zaitunay Bay, a series of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront.
Many of Israel’s attacks have been carried out in southern Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has most of its operations, or in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Monday’s attack in the Kola district appeared to be the first within Beirut’s city limits. Syrians living in southern Lebanon who had fled Israeli bombing had been sleeping under a bridge in the neighborhood for days, local residents said.
The United States has urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Lebanon but has also authorized its military to reinforce itself in the region.
When US President Joe Biden was asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, he said: “It has to be.” He said he will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.