Israel has carried out its deadliest attack on central Beirut since its war against Hezbollah intensified last month, with the Lebanese health ministry saying at least 22 people have been killed in air strikes on residential neighbourhoods.
A further 117 others have been injured and rescuers have been digging through rubble in Bachoura, a small Shia area in the capital, where the strikes hit.
Media outlets are quoting security sources as saying that Wafiq Safa – a close ally of assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the apparent intended target of the latest strikes – survived. Neither Israel’s military nor Hezbollah have commented.
There was no warning before the strikes, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented.
We’ll be updating you throughout the day from our newsroom in London, along with our reporters in Beirut and Jerusalem, so stay with us.
