At least 10 dead as Israel escalates strikes in Lebanon
Israel has stepped up airstrikes on Beirut in the third week of its war with Iran-backed Hezbollah, killing at least 10 people and destroying a 10-storey building near the city centre.
Lebanese state media said Israeli warplanes began attacking bridges over the Litani River connecting southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, destroying at least two of the bridges.
The Israeli military said it would target bridges over the Litani to prevent Hezbollah’s transfer of fighters and weapons, and reiterated its warning to residents to leave the south.
The Hezbollah-Israeli conflict has become the deadliest spillover of the US-Israeli war against Iran since the Iran-backed group opened fire on Israel in support of Tehran on March 2; More than 900 people died and one million people were displaced in Lebanon.
Strikes rocked Beirut throughout the night and into the morning, lighting up the skies in the southern suburbs, which are mostly controlled by the armed group Hezbollah, which has come under heavy bombardment by Israel.
The escalation in central Beirut, where Israel targeted four buildings in eight hours, followed what Hezbollah described as a massive rocket attack on Israel late Tuesday. Lebanese security sources said about 100 rockets were fired.
The Israeli military said the preemptive strikes blunted Hezbollah’s offensive and completed an overnight wave of attacks targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon.
Airstrikes in Beirut hit buildings within walking distance of the city center and the headquarters of the Lebanese government, which was rebuilt after the 1975-90 civil war.
The targeted areas are historically mixed neighborhoods where large numbers of Shiite Muslims live and where Shiite Hezbollah and its ally Amal Movement wield political influence.
In the Israeli military statement, it was stated that Al-Qard Al-Hassan, the financial institution operated by Hezbollah in Beirut, “attacked its assets” and that the Israeli navy targeted Hezbollah militants in the city. It wasn’t said exactly where he was.
The Israeli army said in a warning published on social media before dawn that it would take action against Hezbollah facilities in the region. No casualties were reported in the early morning attack on Bachoura.
The Israeli military did not issue any warnings before three other attacks, the first of which leveled several floors of a building in Zuqaq al-Blat at around 1.30am on Wednesday and two floors of a building near Basta around the same time.
In the fourth attack after dawn, the floor of a second building in Zuqaq al-Blat was destroyed.
No deaths were reported from Hezbollah’s rocket and drone attacks in Israel. The Israeli army announced that two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.
Fears are growing in Lebanon that the separation of southern Lebanon from the rest of the country could pave the way for a large-scale Israeli military operation into Lebanese territory.
