While Beirut welcomed the agreement between Iran and the United States and intensified our efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Israel continues to escalate its attacks". "All of Lebanon's friends are called upon to help us stop these attacks by all available means
Nawaf Salam -
BEIRUT: Israel launched a series of strikes in Beirut on Wednesday, causing panic among residents in the most violent attack on the capital since the start of the war with Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it carried out its "largest coordinated strike across Lebanon". Israel has insisted the two-week truce in its war with Iran does not apply to Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Wednesday called on his country's friends to help put an end to Israeli attacks following a series of deadly strikes across the country. In a statement, Salam said that while Beirut "welcomed the agreement between Iran and the United States and intensified our efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Israel continues to escalate its attacks". "All of Lebanon's friends are called upon to help us stop these attacks by all available means," he added, after Israeli strikes that Lebanon's health ministry said killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds more.
Simultaneous strikes on the capital came without warning, prompting people on streets to start running and motorists to honk their horns in an effort to clear the way, according to journalists. "I saw the blast, it was very strong, and there were children killed, some with their hands cut off," Yasser Abdallah, who works in an appliance store in central Beirut, said. One of the strikes hit Corniche al Mazraa, one of the main roads in the capital. A photographer saw widespread damage, buildings ablaze and destroyed cars.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had carried out a surprise attack on Wednesday targeting hundreds of Hezbollah members across Lebanon. "The IDF carried out a surprise strike on hundreds of Hezbollah members at command centres across Lebanon. This is the largest concentrated blow Hezbollah has suffered since Operation Beepers," Katz said in a video statement, referring to a major 2024 operation against Hezbollah involving pager bombs.
Lebanon's health ministry said in a preliminary toll that the series of Israeli strikes across Lebanon on Wednesday killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds. "In a very serious escalation, Israeli warplanes launched a wave of simultaneous air strikes on several Lebanese areas, resulting in, in an initial count, dozens of martyrs and hundreds of wounded," the ministry said in a statement. The ministry reiterated its call for citizens to "reduce traffic congestion, especially in the neighbourhoods of the capital, to allow priority for rescue and ambulance services".
"A plane struck, and people started running left and right, and smoke was billowing" from the targeted building, said another witness, Ali Younes. Israel also hit Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway, after issuing evacuation warnings for these areas, in parallel with strikes on the east. Ambulances were heard in the targeted areas. — AFP
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