BEIRUT: A powerful air strike killed 11 people in central Beirut on Saturday, the health ministry said, shaking the capital as Israel pressed its offensive. An eight-storey building was struck with four missiles, including bunker-penetrating types designed to hit underground targets, said a Lebanese security source. Israel has used bunker-busting weapons to kill senior Hezbollah figures, including its veteran leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on southern Beirut in September. At the site of the Israeli strike in central Beirut, Amin Chirri, a member of parliament representing Hezbollah, said there had been no Hezbollah leader in the building that was struck.
Saturday's blasts shook the capital at around 4 am and left a deep crater. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives for hours afterwards. Rescuers searched through rubble, in an area of the city known for its antique shops. It was the fourth Israeli air strike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, in contrast to the bulk of Israel's attacks on the capital region, which have hit the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.
The Israeli air force also struck Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group's stronghold, the Israeli military said. In a statement on actions on Saturday, it did not mention the strike on central Beirut. It accused Hezbollah of embedding its infrastructure in civilian areas and using the population as human shields, allegations the group denies.
A man whose family was hurt in the strike in central Beirut tried to comfort a traumatised woman outside a hospital. Car windows were shattered. "There was dust and wrecked houses, people running and screaming, they were running, my wife is in hospital, my daughter is in hospital, my aunt is in the hospital," said the man, Nemir Zakariya, who held up a picture of his daughter. "This is the little one, and my son also got hurt - this is my daughter, she is in the American University (of Beirut Medical Centre), this is what happened."
Separately, at least five people were killed and two wounded in an Israeli strike on Roum village in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to the Lebanese state news agency. Israeli strikes killed at least 62 people and injured 111 in Lebanon on Thursday, bringing the toll since October 2023 to 3,645 dead and 15,355 injured, Lebanon's health ministry said.
A US mediator travelled to Lebanon and Israel this week in an effort to secure a ceasefire. The envoy, Amos Hochstein, indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut, before going to Israel. — Reuters
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