At least 11 people killed and dozens injured in Israeli attacks on Beirut as diplomats call for ceasefire

The strikes come a day after heavy bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and as heavy ground fighting continues in southern Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters as Israeli troops advance further into the country.

At least 11 people were killed and dozens more wounded Saturday in Israeli airstrikes that devastated parts of central Beirut as diplomats scrambled to broker a ceasefire in the country.

The attack destroyed an eight-story building, leaving a crater in the ground, and was the fourth attack to hit the Lebanese capital in less than a week.

Lebanon’s civil defense said the death toll was provisional as emergency services continued to dig through the rubble looking for survivors.

A separate drone attack in the southern port city of Tire killed one person and injured another, according to the national news agency.

The Israeli army did not issue a warning to residents to evacuate ahead of the strikes in central Beirut and did not comment on those strikes or the strike in Tire.

The message comes like this hard fight on the ground between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters continues in southern Lebanon, with Israeli troops pushing back from the border.

US envoy Amos Hochstein went to the region this week in an attempt to broker a ceasefire agreement to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has escalated into a full-blown war over the past two months.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, Israeli bombings in Lebanon killed more than 3,500 people and injured more than 15,000. The fighting reportedly displaced 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, approximately 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles in northern Israel and during fighting in Lebanon.