An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders late Wednesday, marking a rare attack in the heart of Lebanon’s capital as tensions continue to escalate in the region.
The strike, which occurred without warning, hit an area near the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office, and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit confirmed the deaths of seven of its members.
In a separate incident, the Lebanese Red Cross reported that an Israeli strike on Thursday killed four of its paramedics and a Lebanese army soldier near the village of Taybeh in southern Lebanon. The convoy was evacuating wounded individuals when targeted, despite coordinating movements with U.N. peacekeepers.
These attacks come as Israel intensifies its operations in southern Lebanon, where it announced a limited ground incursion earlier this week. The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of villages and towns north of the U.N.-declared buffer zone established after the 2006 war, signaling a possible expansion of its operations.
At least eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli military sources.
The escalating violence has opened a second front in the conflict that began with Hamas’ October 7 attack from Gaza. Since mid-September, Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed at least 1,276 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several top commanders have been killed in recent Israeli strikes. The Israeli military claims to have struck around 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts.
The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands on both sides of the border. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah in response to nearly a year of rocket attacks that have displaced some 60,000 Israelis from northern communities.
