Israeli airstrikes kill at least 20 in Beirut as diplomats call for ceasefire

Israeli airstrikes on Saturday killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens in central Beirut as diplomats tried to broker a ceasefire. Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said the death toll in the country’s capital may rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble in search of survivors. DNA is being used to identify the victims, it said, adding that 66 people were injured.

The pre-dawn strikes, which destroyed an eight-story building and left a hole in the ground, were the fourth in Beirut in less than a week. Hezbollah lawmaker Amin Shiri said there were no Hezbollah officials inside. The attack stripped the facades of some nearby buildings and crumpled cars.

“This area is a residential area, with crowded buildings and narrow streets, which makes the situation difficult,” said Walid Al-Hashash, a first responder for the Lebanese Civil Defense.

Israeli bombings have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and injured more than 15,000, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The war has displaced an estimated 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles in northern Israel and in fighting in Lebanon.

The Israeli army did not issue a warning to residents before the strikes in central Beirut and did not comment on casualties. It warned residents on Saturday in the southern parts of Beirut that they live near Hezbollah bases, which the army will soon target. The warning, posted at X, told people to get out at least 500 meters.

The army said the previous day it had carried out intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, an area south of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centers and weapons depots.

Also on Saturday, a drone strike killed two people and injured three in Lebanon’s southern port city of Tire, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency. Mohammed Bikai, spokesman for the Fatah Palestinian group in the Tire region, said that those killed were Palestinian refugees who were leaving the nearby al-Rashidieh camp to go fishing.

Although the Israeli military warned last month to avoid the south coast of Lebanon, “you can’t tell someone who needs food that you can’t fish,” Bikai said.

The Ministry of Health said other airstrikes killed eight people, including four children, in the eastern city of Shmustar, five others in the southern village of Roumin, and another five people in the northeastern region of Budai.

The escalation comes after US ambassador Amos Hochstein visited the region this week in an effort to broker an agreement to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hochstein said on Tuesday he had “very constructive discussions” with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, who is a Hezbollah facilitator and mediator for the group.

“Specifically today, we have continued to reduce vacancies,” the delegate told reporters after the two-hour meeting. “Ultimately it is up to the parties to reach an end to this dispute. … We know now.”

On Saturday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz to discuss ongoing operations and reaffirm the United States’ commitment to “Israel’s security.”

In a statement, the Pentagon said Austin reiterated the US commitment to the diplomatic decision in Lebanon that “allows Israeli and Lebanese citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border.”

Two Western officials on Saturday explained the points of contention between Israel and Lebanon in the ceasefire talks. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the interviews.

The current proposal calls for a two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces will withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah will end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. Thousands of Lebanese soldiers will patrol the border with UN troops, and an international committee will monitor the implementation of the agreement.

The officials said Israel wanted more assurances that Hezbollah weapons would be removed from the border area. Israeli officials said they would not agree to a deal that did not expressly give them freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believed Hezbollah was violating it.

Lebanese officials said the inclusion of the name would violate their country’s sovereignty. And Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said this week the militant group would not accept a deal that did not include “a complete and total end to violence.”