BEIRUT, Oct 3:
An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in the Lebanese capital has killed nine people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the Hezbollah militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of Beirut.
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There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit the building close to the United Nations headquarters, the Prime Minister’s Office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defence unit said seven of its members were killed.
Israel is also conducting a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah, while also conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said eight soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden says he doesn’t expect Israel to retaliate immediately against Iran and rejects the suggestion the US would grant permission for such an attack.
Biden was speaking to reporters on Thursday, two days after Tehran bombarded Israel with almost 200 ballistic missiles. Israel says it intercepted many of them, while Iran says most of its missiles hit their targets.
The barrage has raised concerns about the escalating conflict in the Middle East and the role of the US in Israel’s defence.
“First of all, we don’t allow’ Israel, we advise Israel,” Biden said. “And nothing’s going to happen today.”
Israel says an airstrike in Gaza killed a Palestinian convicted of killing soldiers. (PTI)
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