Israeli air strikes on Saturday in central Beirut killed at least 15 people, officials said, as once-rare strikes continued in the heart of the Lebanese capital without Israeli warning, and as diplomats sought to broker a ceasefire.
Dozens were also killed in Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip between Thursday and Friday, including near hospitals, according to local health officials.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that 63 people were injured in the Beirut strikes, the fourth in the center of the capital in less than a week.
This escalation comes after US envoy Amos Hochstein traveled to the region seeking to reach a ceasefire agreement to end months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which turned into an all-out war.
The Israeli bombing killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The fighting led to the displacement of about 1.2 million, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and about 50 civilians were killed due to bombing and fighting in northern Israel.
The eight-storey building was reduced to rubble
The 4 a.m. raids destroyed an eight-story building in central Beirut. Hezbollah MP Amin Shiri said that there was no Hezbollah official inside. Some of the facades of nearby buildings were stripped, and residents saw this among the collapsed cars.
Walid Al-Hashash, a Lebanese Civil Defense responder, said: “The area is residential, with crowded buildings and narrow streets, which makes the situation difficult.”
The Israeli army did not comment on the human losses.
Also Saturday, a drone strike killed two people and wounded three in the southern coastal city of Tyre, according to the state-run National News Agency.
Muhammad Al-Bikai, spokesman for the Palestinian Fatah movement in the Tire area, said that those killed were Palestinian refugees from the nearby Rashidiya camp who were fishing.
Despite a warning issued by the Israeli army last month to avoid Lebanon’s southern coast, “You can’t tell someone who needs to eat that you can’t catch fish,” Al-Bikai said.
The Ministry of Health said that other air strikes killed eight people, including four children, in the eastern town of Shamstar. Five in the southern village of Rumin and five in the northeastern village of Budai.
Sticking points in the ceasefire talks
On Saturday, two Western diplomatic officials described the disputed points between Israel and Lebanon in the ceasefire negotiations.
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They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.
The current proposal calls for a two-month ceasefire, during which Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah ends its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. Thousands more Lebanese army soldiers will patrol the border area with UN peacekeepers, and an international committee will monitor implementation.
The officials said Israel wants more guarantees that Hezbollah weapons will be removed from the border area. Israeli officials said they would not agree to an agreement that did not explicitly give them freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believed Hezbollah was violating it.
Lebanese officials have said including such a term violates Lebanon’s sovereignty, and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said this week that the armed group would not agree to a deal that did not involve a “full and comprehensive end to the aggression.”
Lebanon and Israel also differ over which countries will participate in the monitoring committee. The officials said that Israel refused to allow France, which has had a close relationship with Lebanon since the end of its colonial rule there. Lebanon refused to have Britain, a close ally of Israel.
Deadly strikes in Gaza and people are trapped under the rubble
In northern Gaza, the Health Ministry said at least 80 people were killed between Thursday and Friday, including near Kamal Adwan and Al-Ahly hospitals. She added that dozens of people were trapped under the rubble.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of a raid near Kamal Adwan and did not respond to other attacks.
On Saturday, at least six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern city of Khan Yunis, according to Associated Press reporters and workers at Nasser Hospital.
“Suddenly we woke up to dust, smoke and fire,” said Ahmed Ghassan, one of the grieving fathers. “We found him dead and his brother injured.” Another father cried as he carried his child’s body in a blood-stained sheet.
The Palestinian death toll from the 13-month-long conflict exceeded 44,000 this week, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its statistics. She said that more than half of the dead were women and children. The Israeli army says it killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The recent conflict began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapping 250 others. About 100 hostages remain inside Gaza, and at least a third of them are believed to be dead.
The Israeli attack on Gaza has devastated large areas, and about 90% of the population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often several times over. Hundreds of thousands live in camps with little food, water or basic services.
At least two women were shot dead Saturday while waiting in line for bread in central Deir al-Balah, relatives and witnesses told the AP. It is not clear who shot them and why.
Reactions to ICC orders continue
Conditions in Gaza prompted the International Criminal Court to decide this week to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant on the “reasonable grounds” that they bear responsibility for a war crime and crimes against humanity. The court also issued an arrest warrant for senior Hamas official Mohammed Deif, whom Israel claims it killed.
Netanyahu condemned the arrest warrant. Global reactions were mixed.
The United Kingdom reiterated its support for the court but stopped short of saying whether it would arrest Netanyahu if he visited it. Russia does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and has not commented. The United States also does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and rejected its decision.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week that Canada would abide by the rules and regulations of the international court when asked whether he would allow Netanyahu or Gallant to be arrested on Canadian soil, angering Jewish groups and the Israeli ambassador.
Even if Netanyahu cannot travel to many European countries due to the risk of arrest, he will go to the United States, said Nomi Bar-Yaakov, an associate fellow in the International Security Program at the Chatham House think tank in London. .
She added: “This will only strengthen his relationship with Donald Trump.”
—With additional file from Global News
