Lebanon says Israeli raids kill 14 as strike hits south Beirut amid rising tensions

Beirut: Israel carried out a fresh wave of strikes on Lebanon on Thursday, including an airstrike in the Beirut area, as tensions continued to escalate despite a ceasefire announcement earlier this year.

Strikes hit Beirut and southern suburbs

Israel’s military said it launched an airstrike in the Beirut area, stating it “precisely struck in Beirut”, without identifying the target. A Lebanese military source told AFP that “an Israeli strike targeted an apartment in the Choueifat area” south of the capital.

AFPTV footage showed smoke rising from the edge of Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold. It marked the second Israeli strike in south Beirut since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced on April 17 but has not been observed.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli strikes also hit other parts of Lebanon, with authorities reporting multiple casualties.

Wider strikes in Tyre and Sidon

A series of airstrikes hit the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon, according to AFP correspondents. Lebanon’s civil defence agency said eight strikes had hit Tyre since Wednesday evening, following Israeli evacuation warnings.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that buildings, a café and a motorcycle were among the targets. AFP footage from Tyre showed a fireball followed by smoke as a strike hit a building in the city’s archaeological district.

Ghazouane Halawani, who lives near a struck building, said he believed the intent was to target the ancient city’s heritage. He said: “We’re staying here. This is our country, our land, our life,”

Lebanon’s health ministry said one strike in Tyre killed two Syrians, including a child.

Casualties and cross-border escalation

The health ministry said a strike on Sidon killed five people, including two women, and wounded 21, including five children. Another strike in Adloun killed six people, including two children and their parents.

The Lebanese military said a soldier was killed in an Israeli strike “while he was driving on the road” in the Nabatieh region.

Israel’s military said a soldier was killed on Wednesday by a Hezbollah drone near the border, bringing Israeli losses since March to 24, including 23 soldiers and one civilian contractor.

Hezbollah said it carried out several rocket and drone attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

The escalation comes as Lebanon and Israel prepare for military talks at the Pentagon on Friday and US-brokered discussions early next week, the fourth round since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.

Lebanon was drawn into the wider conflict after Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Israel later responded with air and ground operations.

On Wednesday, Israel declared areas south of Lebanon’s Zahrani River as “combat zones” and ordered evacuations ahead of expanded operations.