Rescuers continue to clear the rubble in search of other victims or possible survivors. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, an Israeli strike which targeted a building in the heart of the Lebanese capital Beirut at dawn on Saturday, November 23, left at least four dead. “The Israeli enemy’s strike on (the neighborhood of) Basta in Beirut killed four people and injured 23,” the ministry said in a statement.
Multiple strikes hit Beirut overnight from Friday to Saturday, including a series at dawn completely destroying a residential building in the heart of the Lebanese capital, as the open war between Israel and Hezbollah enters its third month.
Rescuers cited by Ani reported a “large number of dead and injured”, without further details immediately. “The capital Beirut woke up to a terrifying massacre, with Israeli aircraft completely destroying an eight-story residential building using five missiles on Maamoun Street in the Basta neighborhood,” the National Agency said. information Ani.
AFP journalists across Beirut and surrounding areas heard at least three loud explosions, followed by a pungent smell, after a day of intense bombing in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of pro-Iranian Hezbollah, in open war against Israel.
Earlier on Friday, as well as during the night from Friday to Saturday, Ani had already reported a series of Israeli strikes against the southern suburbs of the capital. Several buildings were targeted, including two located on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs, in the still densely populated Chiyah sector of Ghobeiry, which is home to several shopping centers, again after calls to evacuate.
In southern Lebanon, where Israel, in open war against Lebanese Hezbollah, has been carrying out land incursions since September 30, five rescuers affiliated with the pro-Iranian movement were killed, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. And in eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is also present, an Israeli strike killed the director of the Dar al-Amal hospital near Baalbeck, and six members of the nursing staff, in his residence located next to the health establishment, according to the ministry.
“Extremely worrying”
During a speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Naïm Qassem warned that his movement would target “the center of Tel Aviv”, in Israel, in response to recent Israeli strikes on Beirut.
These strikes come as the WHO declared on Friday that nearly 230 health workers had been killed in Lebanon since October 7, 2023, deploring “an extremely worrying figure”.
The Israeli army said it had “carried out a series of strikes on Hezbollah terrorist command centers” in the southern suburbs of Beirut. She added that she had hit “Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Tire region” (south), including “command centers” and “weapons storage facilities.”
Israel says it wants to remove Hezbollah to allow the return of some 60,000 inhabitants of the north of the country displaced by the exchange of fire with the Lebanese movement. In Lebanon, tens of thousands of residents have also been displaced.
After a year of cross-border firefights, Israel entered open war against Hezbollah on September 23, launching an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon, where more than 3,640 people were killed, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health . The pace of Israeli strikes accelerated after the departure of American envoy Amos Hochstein, who was visiting Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.