On Thursday another major Israeli airstrike targeting central Beirut was an attempt to assassinate senior Hezbollah member Wafiq Safa, responsible for internal security issues, according to officials cited on Israeli Army Radio.
Raids hit the Ras al Nabaa area in central Beirut. Israeli jets have for almost two weeks pounded Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut, which is also densely-packed with civilian families. But much more rare have been airstrikes targeting the center of the capital.
Israel says it was seeking to kill Hezbollah's Safa by attacking and destroying a residential area of apartment buildings and small shops. After emergency and rescue crews worked through the night, Lebanese authorities said 22 people were killed, which marks the single deadliest attack on the capital since hostilities began.
"The casualties in central Beirut on Thursday night rose quickly; the Lebanese health ministry reported 22 people killed and 117 wounded," The Guardian writes. "Among the dead were a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, according to a security source."
Israeli media along with international reports are admitting that Wafiq Safa survived. One report claims he "was seriously injured and is in critical condition" in the strikes. Lebanese sources also confirmed to American media that he survived.
Lebanon’s caretaker PM Mikati condemned this and other Israeli attacks, and demanded an "immediate" ceasefire with Israel. He said in total among all Israeli strikes on Lebanon Thursday that 139 people were killed.
"All of them were civilians. This is no longer acceptable. Where is the humanity? What reality are we living in?" he said.
As for the desire for ceasefire, it remains that the Lebanese government has no control over Hezbollah. The Shia paramilitary group supported by Iran is by far better armed than the Lebanese Army. US-led sanctions have long limited what Lebanese national forces can receive, and Lebanon has no air force to speak of.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah says it has retaliated for recent attacks by launching drones on an Israeli military base in Kiryat Eliezer in Haifa. It further said rockets targeted groups of soldiers in the Zovolon area, north of Haifa, and in the settlement of Kafrsold. An IDF barracks in northern Israel was also shelled, according to Al Jazeera.
On Thursday Israel announced that three army reservists had died during operations against Hezbollah on the northern front, marking the first significant reserve casualties since the fresh ground offensive launched this month.
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Qatar-based Al Jazeera has listed the following developments on Friday...
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says 61 Palestinians were killed and 231 wounded in the latest 24-hour reporting period.
- Israeli forces fired at a watchtower used by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, injuring two people.
- “Scene of chaos” in Beirut after Israel strikes the city centre, destroying two residential buildings, killing at least 22 people and wounding 117.
- Israeli attacks continue in Gaza, with a number of people, including an infant, killed in Jabalia and Deir el-Balah.
- UN peacekeeping chief tells Security Council that the safety and security of peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly in jeopardy” as Israeli forces open fire on UNIFIL posts in the country’s south.
- In Gaza, at least 42,126 people have been killed and 98,117 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to Gaza's health ministry. In Israel, at least 1,139 people were killed on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 people were taken captive.
