Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut kill at least 22 people

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli airstrikes hit different areas of central Beirut on Thursday evening, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens, Lebanon’s health ministry said, leaving two neighborhoods smoldering and further escalating Israel’s bloody conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

The air raid on central Beirut — the deadliest in over a year of war — apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods of western Beirut at the same time, according to an AP photographer at the scene, bringing down one multi-story building and wiping out the lower floors of another.

WATCH: More civilians in Lebanon displaced and in dire need amid Israel’s battle with Hezbollah

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reported strikes on the Lebanese capital. Israeli airstrikes have been far more common in Beirut’s tightly packed southern suburbs, where Hezbollah bases many of its operations.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported that an attempt to kill Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group, had failed. It did not specify whether Safa had been inside either of the targeted buildings.

Thursday’s strikes followed a year of tit-for-tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel that boiled over into all-out war in recent weeks, with Israel carrying out waves of heavy strikes across Lebanon and launching a ground invasion. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas deeper inside Israel, causing few casualties but disrupting daily life.

The attack came the same day as Israeli forces fired on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and wounded two of them. The attack drew widespread condemnation and prompted the Italian Defense Ministry to summon Israel’s ambassador in protest.

Before the latest Beirut strikes, Lebanon’s crisis response unit said Israeli attacks over the past day had killed 28 people, bringing the total to 2,169 killed in Lebanon since the war erupted last October.

Hezbollah attacks have killed 28 civilians in northern Israel since the war began, as well as 39 Israeli soldiers, both in northern Israel since October 2023 and in southern Lebanon since Israel launched its ground invasion on Sept. 30. Israel says the invasion, so far focused on a narrow strip along the border, aims to push militants back so that tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in the north.

Even as attention has shifted to Israel’s close combat with Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran, Israel has continued to strike at what it says are Palestinian militant targets across the Gaza Strip.

READ MORE: Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in Gaza kills 27

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza killed at least 27 people, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted Palestinian militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers.

Israel has continued to strike at what it says are militant targets across the Palestinian enclave even as attention has shifted to its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran. The military launched a large-scale air and ground operation against Hamas in northern Gaza earlier this week.

In a separate development, the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers. The attack drew widespread condemnation and prompted the Italian Defense Ministry to summon Israel’s ambassador in protest.

The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire at a U.N. base in southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had ordered the peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces.”

Over the last 24 hours, Lebanon’s crisis response unit said Israeli shellfire and airstrikes killed 28 people and wounded 113, bringing the total to 2,169 killed and 10,212 people wounded in Lebanon since the war erupted last October. At least four people were killed Thursday in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanese health authorities said.

Hezbollah attacks have killed 28 civilians in northern Israel since the war began, as well as 39 Israeli soldiers, including both in northern Israel since last October and in southern Lebanon since Israel’s invasion.

Witnesses reported a large number of ambulances and people gathering in the rubble of two sites that were hit in central Beirut.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said 22 people were killed and 117 others wounded, without elaborating on their identities. It wasn’t immediately clear what was targeted. Recent Israeli airstrikes in neighborhoods adjoining Beirut, in particular the densely populated southern suburbs, have killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other senior commanders.

In the neighborhood of Ras al-Nabaa, the airstrike appeared to have struck the lower half of an eight-story apartment building, setting off a series of loud explosions. A second Israeli strike, in the western area of Burj Abi Haidar, collapsed an entire building, which was engulfed in flames.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas and the Palestinians, drawing Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.

Hezbollah kept up rocket fire into Israel on Thursday, setting off air raid sirens in parts of northern Israel. Several drones heading toward Israel were intercepted, the military said.

Iran — which supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region — launched some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah militants.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that its response to the Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” without providing further details, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Joe Biden.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Israel’s security cabinet would convene Thursday night to discuss the country’s response.

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy reported from Cairo.