BEIRUT – Nine people were killed and 14 others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a building in central Beirut yesterday, Lebanese TV channel al-Jadeed reported.

According to al-Jadeed, the strike hit the Health Authority Centre affiliated with Hezbollah in the al-Bachoura area near parliament early yesterday.
TV footage showed heavy black smoke rising from the building after a massive fire that broke out.

The airstrike also caused significant damage to nearby houses and vehicles, with ambulances and civil defence teams rushing to the area to extinguish the fire and transport casualties to hospitals.

The airstrike forced residents in the area to leave their houses, seeking shelter in safer areas.
Shortly before the strike in central Beirut, Israel launched three strong airstrikes on the Haret Hreik area in Beirut’s southern suburbs, sparking massive fires.
The Israeli military confirmed the attack, stating it conducted a precise strike in the Lebanese capital.

Since 23 September, the Israeli army has been conducting intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.

Since 8 October 2023, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border, amid fears of a broader conflict, as the war between Hamas and Israel continues in the Gaza Strip

Meanwhile, from Jerusalem, Israel’s military announced Rawhi Mushtaha, head of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, was killed in a bombing in the Palestinian enclave about three months ago.

The military said that Mushtaha was the “right-hand man and one of the closest associates” of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader, and was considered the most senior figure in the Hamas political bureau.
Sameh al-Siraj, who held the security portfolio in Hamas’s political bureau and Labor Committee, and Sami Oudeh, commander of Hamas’s General Security Mechanism, were also killed, it said.

Israeli warplanes struck and killed the three while they were taking shelter in “a fortified and equipped underground compound in the northern Gaza Strip,” it added.
Hamas has not confirmed the deaths of the three officials.
Israel has vowed to kill all persons involved in Hamas’ attack on Israeli communities last October, which killed about 1 200 people.

In the ensuing Israeli offensive in Gaza, Israeli forces killed more than 41 600 people, mainly civilians, according to figures from the Gazan Health Ministry. – Nampa/Xinhua