At least five people were killed and eight wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a building in central Beirut, Lebanese officials said.
The multi-story building housed a Hezbollah-affiliated health center, which Israel’s military claimed was a “precision” target. This is the first Israeli strike near Beirut’s center, just meters from the Lebanese parliament.
Overnight, Israel launched five additional airstrikes against targets in the southern suburb of Dahieh. These attacks followed the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers in combat in southern Lebanon, marking the first Israeli losses since the start of ground operations against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah claimed to have destroyed Israeli tanks during the fighting and insisted on its ability to repel Israeli forces. Meanwhile, the IDF announced that more troops had joined the operation to dismantle what it called “terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanese border villages.
In the latest overnight strikes, three explosions were heard in Dahieh, with a fourth closer to the center. Two more airstrikes targeted areas in Dahieh known to be Hezbollah strongholds.
Prior to the overnight strikes, Lebanon’s health ministry reported 46 deaths and 85 injuries due to Israeli bombings in the past 24 hours. Among the victims was a US permanent resident from Michigan, Kamel Ahmad Jawad, who was in Lebanon to care for his elderly mother.
Hezbollah’s strength has been diminished after two weeks of Israeli strikes and other attacks, resulting in over 1,200 deaths and the displacement of approximately 1.2 million people across Lebanon.
