At least 22 dead and 115 injured.
The latest Israeli airstrike on residential areas in central Beirut is the deadliest to date.
– Witnesses say they hear screams during the racial masses, says foreign correspondent Rolf Porseryd.
Israel’s airstrikes against Beirut have so far mainly targeted areas in southern Beirut, around Dahiya, the heart of Hezbollah, which is now said to have moved parts of its operations here.
Thursday night’s attacks are the third on central Beirut since Israel stepped up its bombing of Hezbollah targets in September – and are the deadliest yet. Sources to Reuters state that the target must have been a Hezbollah leader. A leader who is said to have survived.
– The death toll is rising. Witnesses say they hear screams during the riots. There will probably be significantly more dead. This is happening in central Beirut, where many, many have fled from the southern parts, which are after all Hezbollah’s headquarters. Now reality catches up with them when they think they are safe, says TV4 Nyheterna’s foreign correspondent Rolf Porseryd, on Thursday evening.
More will flee
The unrest in Lebanon continues to increase and more people will flee.
– This escalates further. Some are starting to talk about whether it will end up in something similar to the civil war that went on between 1975 and 1990. We are not there yet, but it is worrying what is happening and the contradictions inside Lebanon may very well increase now, says Porseryd.
In Gaza, people continue to count the dead after the Israeli attack on a school building in central Gaza, at least 28 Palestinians are said to have been killed and over 50 are said to have been injured.
UN troops met
At the same time, tensions are rising in the border area between Lebanon and Israel, after two of the UN peacekeeping missions there were slightly injured in Israeli fire. Something that has been strongly condemned by, among others, Canada and Italy.
Despite the attack and Israeli calls to leave, UN troops will remain.
– This is not a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. It is becoming a regional conflict, something we have been warning about for a long time. If there is a regional conflict, everyone will be drawn in, says Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon