22 Killed As Israel Targets Hezbollah Stronghold In Central Beirut: Reports

Early Saturday, a powerful Israeli airstrike struck central Beirut, as part of Israel's ongoing offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, killing at ;east 22 people, media reports said. The attack caused multiple blasts that rocked the city around 4 am (0200 GMT), witnesses reported.Quoting Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), an AFP report said at least 12 airstrikes were carried out on Thursday, some described as "extremely violent". The strikes targeted areas such as Shiyah, Hadath, and Haret Hreik, with one raid in the Kafaat neighbourhood demolishing a building and causing damage to surrounding structures.Amid the strikes, however, Hezbollah has claimed its "deepest attack" on Israel in more than one year since the hostilities started, according to the AFP report.Security officials confirmed that at least four rockets were launched during the assault, Reuters reported.According to the Reuters report, ambulances rushed to the Basta neighbourhood of Beirut, where sirens wailed in response to the destruction. Footage from Lebanon’s Al Jadeed network showed a destroyed building surrounded by several others severely damaged.This marked the fourth Israeli airstrike targeting central Beirut within a week. Just days earlier, on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed a senior Hezbollah media official in the Ras al-Nabaa district.Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed that its fighters launched a "missile salvo" targeting the Hatzor air base near Israel's southern city of Ashdod, approximately 150 km from Lebanon's southern border. This marks Hezbollah's "deepest strike" in over a year of hostilities, it claimed.Hezbollah issued seven separate statements asserting that its fighters targeted Israeli forces in and around the southern Lebanese town of Khiam, using artillery, rockets, and drones.Israel’s broader military campaign against Hezbollah began in September, following almost a year of cross-border tensions linked to the Gaza conflict. The offensive has involved extensive airstrikes across Lebanon and the deployment of Israeli forces in southern regions.The conflict escalated after Hezbollah launched attacks in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, following Hamas’s assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.