Twenty-two people have been killed and 117 injured in Israeli air strikes on central Beirut on Thursday evening, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
BBC reporters heard loud explosions echoing from the site of the strikes in Bachoura, a small Shia area in the capital.
The Israeli strikes hit residential buildings in Bachoura’s two densely packed neighbourhoods, Nweiri and Basta.
The Beirut attack came hours after two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured in southern Lebanon when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower, according to the UN.
There are now four divisions of Israeli soldiers fighting inside Lebanon as it continues its ground operations against Hezbollah, launched on 30 September.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday night resulted in 22 fatalities and 117 injuries.
Reporters for the BBC heard booming explosions coming from the strikes site in Bachoura, a small Shia neighborhood in the capital. At the scene, rescuers could be seen rummaging through debris.
Several wounded people were transported by ambulance to the American University hospital.
Unverified media reports stated that the apparent target was Wafiq Safa, the brother-in-law of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a senior security official within the organization. The media department of Hezbollah has not responded.
The two crowded neighborhoods of Bachoura, Nweiri and Basta, were struck by Israeli strikes on residential buildings.
They arrived following two days of relative calm in the capital of Lebanon, which felt out of the ordinary following weeks of intense strikes.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have not released a statement, nor was there any prior notice.
Israel has conducted airstrikes on the city outside of the southern suburb of Dahieh three times now, killing commanders of Hezbollah and destroying caches of munitions in the process.
One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed to have been in the building next door to the explosions when she was outside the hospital.
The building that was struck, according to her, was four or five stories high and completely residential. A family member was receiving medical attention for head trauma.
Hours earlier, an Israeli tank opened fire on a watchtower in southern Lebanon, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers, the UN reported, triggering the attack in Beirut.
According to a statement from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), the peacekeepers were directly struck by an observation tower at a UN base in Naqoura, which resulted in their falling.
Founded in 1978, the Unifil peacekeeping mission keeps an eye on hostilities while assisting in facilitating humanitarian access for civilians residing in southern Lebanon.
Israeli forces have “repeatedly hit” UN positions, according to the UN, over the past 24 hours. Additionally, two other Unifil bases have allegations against Israeli soldiers for intentionally firing at the lights and cameras.
The IDF said that after giving the order for base personnel to stay in “protected places,” its troops opened fire from the vicinity of the base.
The UN stated that the purposeful attacks on its peacekeepers constituted a “serious violation of international law” and that both peacekeepers were now recovering in the hospital.
The UN further stated that Israeli forces opened fire at a base in Naqoura, “hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system.”.
Above the bunker entrance, an Israeli drone was also observed in flight.
Hezbollah also reported that it had killed Israeli soldiers in Naqoura by firing rockets at ground-level soldiers and by destroying a tank that was approaching the region with guided missiles.
Since the beginning of its ground operations against Hezbollah on September 30, Israel has sent four divisions of soldiers into Lebanon to fight.
The Israeli army’s actions in the region where peacekeeping forces are stationed have “alarmed” and “deeply concerned” Unifil, a spokesman told the BBC on Thursday.
The UN recognizes the positions that Israeli forces have struck, according to Andrea Tenenti, who also stated that it would be critical to speak with Israeli officials “to understand what happened.”.
