Lebanese authorities reported that one of Thursday’s airstrikes completely leveled an eight-story building in the Burj Abi Haidar area.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported that Israeli airstrikes struck neighborhoods in Beirut on Thursday evening, killing 22 people and injuring 117.
The air raid targeted two neighborhoods, Ras al-Nabaa and Burj Abi Haidar, and brought down an eight-story building.
Since the IDF’s ground invasion of Lebanon on October 1 and their ongoing airstrikes, thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks.
On Thursday, Israeli forces also fired on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, wounding two, which sparked strong backlash from several countries, including their key ally, the United States.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council stated, “We are deeply concerned about reports that Israeli forces fired on two positions and a tower used by UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.”
Israel has warned the peacekeeping forces to move away from their current positions as it is obstructing their ground invasion.
The Israeli offensive against Lebanon has escalated, with hundreds of airstrikes targeting densely populated areas in Beirut and other parts of the country in an effort to eliminate Hezbollah “terror targets.”
The strikes have dealt significant blows to the Iran-backed Hezbollah, resulting in the deaths of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, his successor, Hashem Saffiedine, and several other key figures.
Thursday’s strikes were reportedly aimed at killing Wafiq Safa, a senior security official within Hezbollah, though the group’s Al Manar TV confirmed that Safa was not in the targeted buildings.
In retaliation, Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, triggering air raid sirens in northern parts of the country. The Israeli military reported intercepting several of these drones.
Lebanon’s crisis response unit reported that over 2,169 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since September.
