Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut for the first time in nearly a year of conflict

JERUSALEM (AP) — The first apparent Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict hit an apartment building early Monday. It came after Israel struck targets across Lebanon, killing dozens, and Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader. Hasan Nasrallah.

The strike hit an apartment in an apartment building, damaging the building but not collapsing it, an Associated Press journalist at the scene said. Videos showed ambulances and a crowd gathering near the building in the mainly sunny district.

A Palestinian left-wing faction in Lebanon said three of its members were killed in an airstrike. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in a statement early Monday that its military and security commanders in Lebanon and a third member had been killed in the attack.

The group does not play a significant role in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

A Lebanese civil defense official said a member of al-Jamaa al-Islamiyya was killed in the attack and 16 others were wounded, but the Sunni militant group, which fights alongside Hezbollah, did not confirm his death. Any of its members.

In the early hours of Monday morning, the militant group Hamas killed a commander in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps. Hamas said Fatah Sharif and his family were killed in an airstrike on al-Bas refugee camp in the southern port city of Tire.

In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a strong presence — including a major strike that killed Nasrallah on Friday — but has not hit locations near the city center.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

Earlier, Hezbollah confirmed that the deputy chairman of its central council, Nabil Ghouk, had been killed on Saturday. Seventh senior Hezbollah leader killed In a week of Israeli attacks. They include Founding members of the group who has escaped death or detention for decades.

Hezbollah also confirmed the death of another senior commander, Ali Karaki, in the attack that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 Hezbollah fighters were killed, including Nasrallah’s security chief.

Airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 105 people across the country, Lebanon’s health ministry said. At least 32 people were killed in two attacks near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, the ministry said. Separately, 21 people were killed and at least 47 wounded in Israeli attacks in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel.

In addition to the strikes in Beirut, Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in central, eastern and western Bekaa and the south. Israel says it is targeting militants, but the attacks have hit civilian buildings and the death toll is expected to rise.

In a video of the strike in Sidon, verified by the AP, a building swayed before collapsing as neighbors filmed it. A television station called on viewers to pray for a family trapped under the rubble, releasing pictures of them as rescuers failed to reach them. At least 14 doctors have been killed in two days in the south, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

President Joe Biden On Sunday he said he would soon speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hoped an all-out war in the Middle East should be avoided. “It has to be,” Biden told reporters at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as he boarded Air Force One for Washington.

Meanwhile, The wreckage of the Friday strike that killed Nasrallah It was still smoking. Smoke billowed over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check what was left of their homes, others to pay their respects, pray or witness the destruction.

In response to the dramatic escalation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Hezbollah has significantly increased its rocket attacks over the past week, from several dozen to several hundred daily, the Israeli military said. The attacks injured many people and caused damage, but most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems or fell in open areas.

The military says its strikes crippled Hezbollah’s capabilities and that the number of missiles would have been much higher had it not hit Hezbollah.

Israel Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen

On Sunday, the Israeli military said dozens of its warplanes had struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the latest attack. The military said it targeted power plants and sea port facilities in the city of Hodeidah.

On Saturday, Netanyahu said the Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport. The Houthi media office said Israeli strikes also hit the ports of Hodeidah and Ras Issa, along with two power plants in the Iranian-backed rebel stronghold of Hodeidah. The Houthi-run health ministry said four people were killed and 40 wounded in the attacks.

According to Nasruddin Ammar, deputy director of the Houthi media office, the Houthis said they took precautions ahead of the strikes, emptying oil stored in ports. The strikes will not stop rebel attacks on shipping lanes and Israel, he said in a post on X.

The US has warned that Hezbollah will move quickly to rebuild

Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon had “destroyed” Hezbollah’s command structure, but he warned the group would work quickly to rebuild it.

“I think people are safer without him walking around,” Kirby said of Nasrallah. “But they will try to recover. We’ll see what they try to do to fill this leadership void. It’s going to be difficult. … Much of their command structure is now destroyed.”

Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Kirby sidestepped questions about whether the Biden administration agreed with how the Israelis were targeting Hezbollah leaders. The White House continues to call on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day temporary ceasefire brokered by the US, France and others during the UN General Assembly last week.

Airstrikes in Lebanon drive thousands from their homes

A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon has killed more than 1,030 people, including 156 women and 87 children, in less than two weeks, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Millions of people have been driven from their homes. The government estimates about 250,000 people are in shelters, three to four times as many are staying with friends or relatives or camping on the streets.

Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group and political party backed by Iran, Israel’s main regional rival, rose to regional prominence after fighting a devastating month-long war with Israel in 2006 that ended in a draw.

Kaouk was a senior member of Hezbollah in the 1980s and served as Hezbollah’s military commander in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel. The US announced sanctions against him in 2020.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel after an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas from Gaza sparked the war there. Hezbollah and Hamas are allies that see themselves as part of an Iran-backed “resistance axis” against Israel.

The conflict has steadily escalated to the brink of an all-out war, raising fears of a region-wide conflagration.

Israel says it is committed to returning some 60,000 civilians to communities in the north that were evacuated nearly a year ago. Despite months of backdoor talks between Israel and Hamas, led by the US, Qatar and Egypt, Hezbollah has said it will only end its rocket fire if a cease-fire takes place in Gaza.

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Sehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press reporters Natalie Melzer, Tel Aviv, Israel; Amir Madani in Washington; Sammy Magdy in Cairo; Jack Jeffrey in Jerusalem and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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This story corrects the description of the damage in central Beirut.

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