Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 22 people were killed and 117 injured in Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut.
BBC reporters heard loud explosions echoing from the site of the attack in Bachoura, a small Shia area of the Lebanese capital. Rescuers were seen digging through rubble at the scene.
Ambulances took many injured people to American University Hospital.
Unconfirmed media reports suggested that the apparent target was Wafiq Safa, Hassan Nasrallah’s brother-in-law and one of Hezbollah’s senior security officials. The team’s communications office has not yet commented.
The strikes in Beirut came after two days of relative calm in the Lebanese capital, which felt unusual after a flurry of strikes in recent weeks.
There was no prior warning.
This was the third time Israel has conducted airstrikes on the city outside the Dahieh suburb, where it has repeatedly attacked, killing Hezbollah commanders and destroying ammunition depots.
An anonymous woman outside the hospital said she was in the building next to the explosion and heard the explosion.
She said the building that was hit was entirely residential and was about four or five stories high. One of her relatives is being treated for a head injury.
According to the United Nations, the attack in Beirut came hours after two Indonesian peacekeepers were wounded in southern Lebanon when an Israeli tank opened fire on a watchtower.
In a statement, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said an observation tower at the United Nations base in Naqoura was hit by direct fire, causing peacekeepers to fall.
Unifil is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established in 1978 that monitors hostilities and helps ensure humanitarian access for civilians in southern Lebanon.
The United Nations said Israeli forces had “repeatedly attacked” UN positions over the past 24 hours. Israeli soldiers were also accused of intentionally shooting at cameras and lights at two other Unifil bases.
The IDF said its troops opened fire from the area surrounding the base after ordering base members to stay in “protected places”.
Both peacekeepers were not seriously injured but remained hospitalized, the United Nations said, adding that the deliberate attacks on their peacekeepers were “serious violations of respect international law”.
In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers fired at a base in Naqoura, “hitting the entrance to a bunker where peacekeepers were holed up and damaging vehicles and communications systems.” , the United Nations added.
An Israeli drone was also spotted flying above the bunker entrance.
Also in Naqoura, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli soldiers on the ground and used guided missiles to destroy a tank approaching the area, leading to casualties.
There are currently four divisions of Israeli soldiers fighting inside Lebanon as the country continues its ground operations against Hezbollah, launched on September 30.
A Unifil spokesman told the BBC on Thursday that the force was “alarmed” and “deeply concerned” by Israeli military activity in areas where peacekeepers are stationed.
Andrea Tenenti said the positions attacked by Israeli forces are often considered UN sites, adding it was important to discuss with Israeli authorities “to understand what happened”.
Since 1978, Unifil has operated in southern Lebanon, between the so-called “Blue Line” – the unofficial boundary separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights – and the Litani River, some 30 kilometers away. (20 miles) north. .
Last week, Unifil refused to leave its position near the Blue Line after being ordered to do so by the IDF.
There are approximately 10,000 Unifil peacekeepers in Lebanon, from 50 contributing countries. There are also about 800 civilian employees.
Indonesia, home to the wounded peacekeepers, provides more than 1,200 soldiers to Unifil, more than any other country.
The defense minister of Italy, which contributes more than 1,000 troops to Unifil, said these incidents were “unacceptable” and had to be “cautiously and decisively avoided”.
The Israeli military said about 190 rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel by Hezbollah on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said an Israeli airstrike on the village of Karak in eastern Lebanon killed four people and injured 17.
The Lebanese government says up to 1.2 million people have left their homes in the past year.
Hostilities in the region have steadily escalated since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after a deadly attack by its ally Hamas on southern Israel, causing about 1,200 people died. An additional 251 people were taken to Gaza as hostages.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, since October 7, nearly 42,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
