Over the past week, Israeli ground troops made a concerted push deeper into southern Lebanon while Israel intensified its bombardment of the Dahiya, a cluster of neighborhoods on the southern outskirts of Beirut that are effectively governed by Hezbollah.
The death toll in the latest strike was expected to rise, and at least 66 people were injured, according to the Health Ministry. The strike came just after 4 a.m., jolting Beirut residents awake with thundering explosions that left much of the city enveloped in acrid smoke. It was the third strike this past week in central Beirut, an area that had largely been spared since the war between Hezbollah and Israel escalated.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the airstrike hit a multistory building that was believed to house at least 35 people in the Basta neighborhood of Beirut, an area that is home to both Sunni and Shiite Muslims and close to several Western embassies.
Hezbollah is a Shiite militant group, and Shiite communities in southern and eastern Lebanon have borne the brunt of Israeli attacks over the past few months. The war in Lebanon has killed more than 3,500 people and forced almost a quarter of the population to flee their homes. Later Saturday morning, Israel issued new evacuation warnings for the Dahiya. The new wave of attacks on Lebanon came as Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be inching toward a cease-fire deal. An Israeli official said Friday that there was “cautious optimism” about prospects for a truce in negotiations mediated by the United States, though Lebanese officials were less sanguine about a deal. Both Israel and Hezbollah have said they will keep fighting as negotiations go on.
