BEIRUT: Israeli airstrikes targeted the Ras el-Nabaa neighbourhood in central Beirut, Lebanon, killing at least 22 people and wounding 117 others, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The strikes, which occurred at midnight on Thursday without prior warning, hit two residential buildings in the heart of the capital. One of the targeted buildings is located in an area sheltering many displaced people.
This marks the third Israeli strike outside of Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb, since the military campaign was expanded in late September. Previous strikes targeted Beirut’s Kola on September 29 and Bachoura on October 3, Al Jazeera reported.
Eyewitnesses described feeling the impact from nearly a mile away, with buildings shaking and smoke billowing from residential blocks. Residents evacuated their apartments, gathering in courtyards as emergency services responded.
Videos published by local news outlets and verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency show chaotic scenes after the strikes, with smoke and flames engulfing residential blocks in Ras el-Nabaa and al-Nuweiri.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said on X that 11 people were killed and 48 wounded in Israeli strikes on Beirut earlier in the evening. This is the third such strike in and around the centre of Beirut.
Meanwhile, medical sources told Al Jazeera that 63 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Thursday (local time). (ANI)