At least 22 killed in Israeli strikes in central Beirut
Maya Gebeily and Alexander Cornwell |
Israeli strikes have killed 22 people and injured more than 100 in central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say, as a senior Hezbollah official evaded an Israeli assassination attempt in the city, according to three security sources.
In Lebanon’s south, two United Nations peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s main headquarters in Naqoura, prompting the UN to say its personnel were facing increasing danger.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, and killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders.
Wafiq Safa, who heads Hezbollah’s liaison and co-ordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, was targeted by Israel on Thursday night but survived, the security sources said.
The Israeli strikes hit a densely packed residential neighbourhood of apartment buildings and small shops in the heart of Beirut.
Israel did not issue evacuation warnings before the strikes on Thursday and had not previously attacked the area, which is removed from Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed by Israel.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported 22 people killed and 117 wounded.
Israeli strikes had killed at least 2169 people in Lebanon in the past year, the Lebanese government said in its daily update.
The majority have been killed since September 23, when Israel expanded its military campaign.
The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The attempt to kill Safa marked a widening of Israel’s targets among Hezbollah officials, which previously focused on the group’s military commanders and top leaders.
There was no immediate comment on the incident by Israel or by Hezbollah.
Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah have both endorsed a ceasefire, but diplomats fear diplomacy has taken a back seat to military operations.
Lebanon’s acting UN ambassador, Hadi Hachem, told the council that “only diplomatic solutions and the implementation of international resolutions, the commitment to international law and international humanitarian law is the means to end this war and this aggression”.
The United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said two of its personnel were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower on Thursday at its main headquarters in Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing the peacekeepers to fall.
The two peacekeepers were from Indonesia’s contingent and were in good condition after being treated for light injuries, Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement.
The safety of more than 10,400 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly in jeopardy” and operations have virtually halted since late September, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council.
That coincides with Israel’s escalation of its conflict with Lebanon.
UNIFIL called attacks on peacekeepers “a grave violation of international humanitarian law”.
Israel’s military said its troops operated in the Naqoura area, “next to a UNIFIL base”.
“Accordingly, the IDF instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, following which the forces opened fire in the area,” Israel’s statement said, adding it maintained routine communication with UNIFIL.
In New York, Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Israel recommends UNIFIL relocate 5km north “to avoid danger as fighting intensifies”.
Danon said attacking Hezbollah was necessary so 70,000 displaced Israelis could return to homes in northern Israel.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel’s response to an Iranian missile strike on October 1.
US vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said de-escalation was needed.
“We have got to reach a ceasefire,” Harris told reporters as she departed Las Vegas, while commenting on the situations in Gaza and Lebanon.
Such a deal remains elusive in Gaza and Lebanon.
Washington’s occasional condemnation of Israel over civilian deaths has mostly been verbal with no substantive change in policy.
Reuters