By Laila Bassam and Riham Alkousaa
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A powerful airstrike killed 11 people in central Beirut on Saturday, the Health Ministry said, shaking the capital as Israel continued its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
An eight-story building was hit with four missiles, including bunker-penetrating types designed to hit underground targets, a Lebanese security source said.
Israel has used bunker-buster weapons to kill senior Hezbollah figures, including its veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah in an attack south of Beirut in September.
Saturday’s explosions shook the capital around 4:00 a.m. (02:00 GMT) and left a deep crater. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives for hours afterward.
Rescuers searched through the rubble, in an area of the city known for its antique shops.
It was the fourth Israeli airstrike this week against a central area of Beirut, in contrast to most of Israel’s strikes against the capital region, which have hit southern suburbs controlled by Hezbollah. On Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah media official in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.
The Israeli air force also struck Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group’s stronghold, the Israeli military said. In a statement about Saturday’s actions, it did not mention the strike in central Beirut.
He accused Hezbollah of embedding its infrastructure in civilian areas and using the population as human shields, accusations the group denies.
HOSPITALIZED DAUGHTER
A man whose family was injured in the strike in central Beirut tried to comfort a traumatized woman outside a hospital. The car’s windows were shattered.
“There was dust and destroyed houses, people running and screaming, they were running, my wife is in the hospital, my daughter is in the hospital, my aunt is in the hospital,” said the man, Nemir Zakariya, who was holding a photo of his daughter. .
“This is the little one, and my son was also injured; this is my daughter, she is at the American University (of Beirut). Doctor (TASE:) Center), this is what happened.”
Separately, at least five people were killed and two wounded in an Israeli attack on the southern Lebanese village of Roum on Saturday, according to the Lebanese state news agency.
Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, after nearly a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the Gaza war, attacking large areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops south.
Israeli strikes killed at least 62 people and wounded 111 in Lebanon on Thursday, bringing the toll since October 2023 to 3,645 dead and 15,355 wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government accuse Israel of indiscriminate bombings that kill civilians. Israel denies the accusation and says it takes numerous measures to prevent civilian deaths.
Hezbollah attacks in the same period have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They include more than 70 soldiers killed in attacks in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in fighting in southern Lebanon, according to Israel.
The conflict began when Hezbollah, Tehran’s most important ally in the region, opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas after it launched the October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
An American mediator traveled to Lebanon and Israel this week in an effort to secure a ceasefire. The envoy, Amos Hochstein, indicated that progress had been made after meetings in Beirut, before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.