At least six people were killed and 91 others wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut, Lebanon, with the death toll expected to rise, according to Lebanese health officials.
The attacks targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters in the densely populated Haret Hreik neighbourhood in southern Beirut.
The bombardment, which began Friday evening and continued into early Saturday, sent thousands of residents fleeing as massive explosions filled the sky with smoke. Several buildings were reduced to rubble, and ambulances rushed to the scene.
The Israeli military stated that their strikes focused on Hezbollah’s central command, which was concealed under residential buildings in Dahiyeh. The intensity of these attacks was far greater than previous strikes, shaking windows as far as 30 km away and recalling the devastation of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Following the air raids, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his New York trip after pledging in a UN General Assembly speech to continue targeting Hezbollah and fighting until “total victory” in Gaza.
