11 dead after Israeli airstrike destroys residential building in central Beirut

A powerful airstrike killed 11 people in central Beirut on Saturday, Lebanon’s defense ministry said, shaking the capital as Israel cracked down on the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

The attack destroyed an 8-story building and caused many deaths and injuries, said the National News Agency of Lebanon. Images broadcast by Lebanon’s Al Jadeed channel showed at least one destroyed building and others badly damaged nearby.

The Israelis used explosives detonated in the strike, which left a deep crater, the agency said. Beirut reeks of explosives hours after the attack. Israel used those types of weapons to kill senior Hezbollah figures, including its leader and veteran Hassan Nasrallah in a strike south of Beirut in September.

These explosions shook the capital at around 4 am local time. Security sources said at least four bombs were detonated in the attack.

It was the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting central Beirut, unlike most of the Israeli airstrikes in the capital, which have hit southern areas controlled by Hezbollah. Last Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah press officer in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

Rescuers are searching through the rubble, in an area of ​​the city known for its antique shops.

A man whose family was injured tried to comfort a traumatized woman outside the hospital. The car windows were smashed.

“There was dust and destroyed houses, people were 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, holding up a picture of his daughter.

“This little one, my son is also injured – this is my daughter, she is at the American University (Beirut Medical Center), that’s what happened.”

Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, following nearly a year of cross-border clashes sparked by the Gaza war, airstrikes in several Lebanese areas and sending troops south.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of installing its infrastructure in no-man’s land and using people as human shields, allegations the group denies.

Israeli strikes killed at least 62 people and injured 111 in Lebanon on Thursday, bringing the total since October 2023 to 3,645 dead and 15,355 injured, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said. These figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government accuse Israel of indiscriminate bombings that kill civilians. Israel denies the allegations and says it is taking a number of measures to avoid casualties.

Hezbollah strikes at the same time killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. They include more than 70 soldiers killed in strikes 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 cooperation with its Palestinian counterpart Hamas after it launched an attack on Oct. 7, 2023 in southern Israel.

An American mediator traveled to Lebanon and Israel this week in an effort to secure an end to the fighting. The ambassador, Amos Hochstein, revealed that progress had been made after meetings in Beirut, before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.