By Canadian Press

Israel strikes southern suburbs of Beirut for the first time in nearly a week

Oct 16, 2024 | 12:30 AM

BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli jets struck the southern suburbs of Beirut early Wednesday for the first time in six days, Lebanese state media reported. The casualty count was not yet clear.

The attack comes just one day after caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the United States government gave him some assurances of Israel easing its strikes in the Lebanese capital.

Israel says it is striking Hezbollah assets in the suburbs, where the militant group has a strong presence, but it is also a busy residential and commercial area. The Israeli military said the Wednesday strike hit a weapons warehouse under a residential building.

The Israeli military posted an evacuation warning on the X platform saying it is targeting a building in the Haret Hreik neighborhood. An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the strikes said there were three in the area. The first strike was documented less than an hour after the notice.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, following their surprise attack on southern Israel. A year of low-level fighting escalated into all-out war last month, and has displaced some 1.2 million people in Lebanon.

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Elsewhere, Israeli strikes late Tuesday in the southern town of Qana killed 10 people and wounded 15 others, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.

Nuhad Bustanji, a spokesperson for the Lebanese Civil Defense, said one person was killed and 34 wounded, with the toll likely to rise as rescue efforts continue. It was not immediately possible to resolve the different tolls provided by authorities.

Videos shared on social media showed the smoking ruins of what appears to be a building targeted in the strike with surrounding structures damaged as well. Local media said there were several strikes in the southern town Tuesday night.

Qana was the site of an Israeli artillery strike on a United Nations compound that killed dozens of civilians in 1996.

Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press