Lebanon says 7 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut

The Israeli military made a separate statement. It had carried out strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight. These strikes were against Hezbollah, which had announced a major new operation against Israel.

Local media aired footage showing smoke rising along the seaside road area after the strike in central Beirut. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the strike targeted a car.

The health ministry said in a statement, “The Israeli enemy strike on Ramlet al-Bayda in Beirut caused an initial toll. There are seven dead and 21 wounded.”

It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began. Israel has also repeatedly hit the southern suburbs of Beirut where Israeli military said on Thursday it had hit 10 Hezbollah targets.

The NNA reported on Thursday that Israeli strikes had also hit several towns in southern Lebanon. These towns include Taybeh, al-Sultaniyya, and Qana. Qana is near the city of Tyre.

Hezbollah made an announcement early Thursday. It had fired missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base. This base is located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

Lebanon entered the Middle East war last week. This happened when Hezbollah attacked Israel. Their attack was a response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war. This was despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah. It has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.

Its offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities. More than 800,000 people have registered as displaced. Around 126,000 of them are staying in collective shelters.

Some displaced people have been sleeping out in the open on the streets of Beirut. Others are staying in tents. This includes those in the seaside area of Ramlet al-Bayda.

Hezbollah operation

Late Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for Israel to halt its ground offensive in Lebanon. He also urged the Iran-backed group Hezbollah to “immediately” stop attacks. This came after speaking with the country’s president Joseph Aoun.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced earlier a joint missile operation with ally Hezbollah. They targeted locations in Israel.

In turn, the Israeli military made a statement early Thursday. They said that “over the past hours, the IDF has started a wave of strikes. These strikes target terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon.”

It also said it hit “dozens of launchers” as well as Hezbollah intelligence and command sites in south Beirut.

It followed a string of Hezbollah statements saying its fighters fired barrages of rockets, advanced missiles and drones at towns, military bases and other locations, mainly in the Israel’s north.

On Wednesday, Israel pounded south Beirut and the country’s south and east, with the health ministry reporting several strikes that each killed at least eight people.

Authorities said a strike on an apartment in the densely populated Aisha Bakkar area in central Beirut wounded four people.

On Sunday, Israel hit a seafront hotel not far from Ramlet al-Bayda, saying it was targeting Iranian foreign operations officers. Iran later said the raid killed four of its diplomats.