Israel air strike on central Beirut left five dead on Tuesday, escalating tensions in the region and raising concerns of further violence as the conflict intensifies.
Lebanese officials have reported that an Israeli air strike on a building in central Beirut has resulted in at least five fatalities and eight injuries.
The Israel military statement said that the multi-story complex in Bachoura, which was home to a health institution associated with Hezbollah, was struck in a “precision” operation.
This is the first Israeli strike near the heart of Beirut, a mere few meters from the parliament building in Lebanon.
Overnight, there were five additional airstrikes against locations in the Dahieh area in the south.
It follows the Israel Defence Forces’ (IDF) announcement that eight troops had died in combat in southern Lebanon, marking the force’s first casualties since ground operations against Hezbollah, an armed organisation supported by Iran, began.
Hezbollah maintained it had enough fighters and munitions to drive back the Israelis, claiming it had damaged Israeli tanks throughout the conflict.
The IDF had earlier declared that more armoured and infantry personnel had joined the operation, which aimed to destroy “terrorist infrastructure” in border villages in Lebanon.
Three explosions were reported in Dahieh, in the southern suburbs of the city, during the most recent nocturnal strikes; a fourth explosion was heard closer to the city centre.
Two more airstrikes were carried out in the region following an IDF warning to the local population that it was targeting what it claimed to be Hezbollah infrastructure in the city’s acknowledged stronghold.
Prior to the airstrikes that occurred during the night, the health ministry of Lebanon reported that, without making a distinction between combatants and civilians, 46 persons had been killed and 85 injured in Israeli attacks during the previous 24 hours.
