Israeli strikes on densely populated central Beirut have killed at least five people in the third attack in two days in the middle of Lebanon’s capital, the Ministry of Public Health says.
“The Israeli enemy strike on Zuqaq al-Blat in Beirut killed five people and injured 24,” a ministry statement said about Monday’s attack.
The official National News Agency (NNA) said an apartment near a Shia Muslim place of worship was targeted. The building is located near the parliament, several embassies and a United Nations building.
“A hostile drone targeted a residential apartment behind the Husseiniya of Zuqaq al-Blat in the capital Beirut, causing great damage,” the NNA said.
The working-class district of Zuqaq al-Blat has welcomed many displaced people who fled Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Beirut, said the area that was hit is “very densely populated” and is packed with cafes.
“At the moment, there is no indication who the target is,” Hashem said.
The area was cordoned off by security forces as residents rushed to help with the rescue efforts.
Monday’s attack took place several hundred metres away from the site of a strike on Sunday in the Mar Elias neighbourhood, which the Health Ministry said killed three people, including a woman.
Israel has not commented on the strikes in central Beirut, but Hezbollah has confirmed that one air raid in the area killed its spokesman Mohammad Afif.
That strike, also on Sunday, hit the Lebanese office of Syria’s ruling Baath Party, killing Afif and four members of his media team, Hezbollah said. The Health Ministry said seven people were killed in the attack.
One killed in northern Israel
Meanwhile, a woman was killed and 10 people were wounded on Monday when a rocket struck a building in a northern Israeli town, Israel’s ambulance service said.
The rocket hit a multistorey building in the town of Shfaram.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched more than 100 projectiles towards Israel on Monday.
“Interception attempts were made, and fallen projectiles were identified,” the military said.
One such claimed interception left at least four people injured after falling shrapnel hit Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
Earlier on Monday, an Israeli air strike targeted the main water facility in the southern port city of Tyre, killing two local officials and injuring two others.
The attack severely damaged the facility, prompting the Tyre municipality to urge residents to ration their water use until repairs could be made, NNA said.
Those killed in the attack included Samer Shaghri, a local elected official called a mukhtar, who handles residents’ administrative affairs, and Qassem Wehbi, the deputy mayor of Burj al-Shamali, a town east of Tyre.
The strikes were carried out as a United States-backed proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is set to be discussed.
A government minister close to Hezbollah said Lebanon will convey its “positive position” on the proposal this week.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the group, is expected to meet with US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut on Tuesday.
Labour Minister Mostafa Bayram, who met with Berri on Monday, said Hezbollah’s function “is to make sure the [Israeli] aggression fails to achieve its goals while negotiation is for the state and the government”.
Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its air campaign in Lebanon and has sent in ground troops after almost a year of cross-border exchanges following Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Lebanese authorities said more than 3,510 people have been killed since Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging fire in October last year. Most of the casualties have been recorded since September.
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