Israeli attacks without warning in central Beirut kill at least 15 people, and diplomats call for ceasefire

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut on Saturday killed at least 15 people, officials said, as once-rare attacks in the heart of the Lebanese capital continued without Israeli warning and diplomats scrambled to broker a ceasefire.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 63 people were injured in the strikes, with a fourth person injured in central Beirut in less than a week.

The escalation comes after US envoy Amos Hochstein went to the region in a bid to end the ceasefire agreement months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which turned into a full-blown war.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, more than 3,500 people died in Lebanon as a result of Israeli bombings. The fighting killed approximately 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, approximately 90 soldiers and almost 50 civilians died as a result of bombings and fighting in northern Israel.

Strikes at 4 a.m. destroyed an eight-story building in central Beirut. Hezbollah lawmaker Amin Shiri said no Hezbollah officials were inside. Some facades were torn off nearby buildings, and residents watched the situation among crumpled cars.

“The area is residential, with dense buildings and narrow streets, which makes the situation difficult,” said Walid Al-Hashash, a Lebanese Civil Defense rescuer.

The Israeli army did not comment on the victims.

Also on Saturday, a drone strike in the southern port city of Tire killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.

Mohammed Bikai, spokesman for the Palestinian Fatah faction in the Tire area, said the dead were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al-Rashidieh camp who were fishing.

Despite a warning issued last month by the Israeli army to avoid Lebanon’s southern coast, “you can’t tell someone who has to eat that he can’t fish,” Bikai said.

Other airstrikes in the eastern city of Shmustar killed eight people, including four children, the Health Ministry said; five in the southern village of Roumin and five in the northeastern village of Budai.

Two Western diplomatic officials on Saturday described the sticking points between Israel and Lebanon in ceasefire negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.

The current proposal calls for a two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah ends its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. Thousands of additional Lebanese army troops would patrol the border area with UN peacekeepers, and an international committee would monitor implementation.

Officials said Israel wants more guarantees that Hezbollah weapons will be removed from the border area. Israeli officials have said they will not agree to a deal that does not explicitly give them the freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believe Hezbollah is violating it.

Lebanese officials have said including such a designation would violate Lebanon’s sovereignty, and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said this week that the militant group would not agree to an agreement that did not represent a “complete and comprehensive end to aggression.”

Lebanon and Israel are also at odds over which countries will sit on the monitoring committee. Officials said Israel did not agree to France, which has maintained close relations with Lebanon since the end of its colonial rule in the country. Lebanon refused to accept Britain, a close ally of Israel.

The Health Ministry said at least 80 people died in northern Gaza between Thursday and Friday, including near Kamal Adwan and Al-Ahli hospitals. Several dozen people found themselves under the rubble.

The Israeli army stated that it was unaware of the attack near Kamal Adwan and did not respond in connection with other attacks.

At least six people, including three children and two women, were killed Saturday in the southern town of Khan Younis, according to Associated Press reporters and staff at Nasser Hospital.

“Suddenly we woke up to dust, smoke and fire,” said grieving father Ahmad Ghassan. “We found him dead and his brother injured.” Another father cried as he carried his child’s body in a bloody sheet.

According to the Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its statistics, the death toll in Palestine from the 13-month war topped 44,000 this week. It said more than half of those killed were women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

The war began when Hamas-led militants entered southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians. and kidnapping another 250. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, and at least a third are presumed dead.

Israeli offensive in Gaza devastated vast areas, and approximately 90% of the population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people live in tent camps with little food, water and basic services.

At least two women were shot dead Saturday as they waited in a bread line in downtown Deir al-Balah, relatives and witnesses told the AP. It was unclear who fired at them or why.

Conditions in Gaza were the reason for this week’s decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on “reasonable grounds” that they are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The court also issued an arrest warrant for top Hamas official Mohammed Deif, whom Israel claims to have killed.

Netanyahu condemned the order. Global reactions were mixed.

Britain reiterated its support for the court, but did not say whether it would arrest Netanyahu if he visited. Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Court and does not comment on the matter. The United States also does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and rejected its decision.

Nomi Bar-Yaacov, a fellow with the International Security Program at London-based think tank Chatham House, said that even if Netanyahu is unable to travel to many European countries due to the risk of arrest, he will travel to the United States.

“This will only strengthen his ties with Donald Trump,” she said.

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Associated Press writers Fadi Tawil in Tire, Lebanon, Ibrahim Hazboun in Jerusalem, Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Mohammad Jahjouh in Khan Younis, Gaza, and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

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