The Lebanese Health Ministry reports that four people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli airstrike near the main government hospitals in southern Beirut.
A hospital source told Reuters that the strike appeared to have hit the parking lot of the Rafik-Hariri University Medical Center. The health ministry reported that 24 people were injured.
The 13 air strikes that struck south Beirut Monday evening included this one. The Israeli military claimed it was attacking Hezbollah-linked facilities.
Rafik Hariri Hospital was not mentioned in the earlier warning by an Israeli spokesman.
Videos of the Dahiyeh area in southern Beirut where seven targets were announced in advance showed locals fleeing on foot and in vehicles as the strikes began.
The Israeli army identified a location as a potential target, approximately 400m away from Beirut Airport, the only international airport in Lebanon.
Local media shared images showing some of the windows that were blown out in an airport building by the blast.
Israel has not issued any comments since the initial evacuation warnings.
Separately, earlier on Monday, the Israeli military announced that it had discovered a Hezbollah underground bunker under a different southern Beirut hospital, which was evacuated.
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari claimed without providing any evidence that the bunker beneath the Sahel Hospital in Haret Hreik contained hundreds of millions in cash and gold which were being used to fund Hezbollah attacks against Israel.
The director of Sahel Hospital denied that there was a hidden bunker and asked the Lebanese Army to inspect the site.
Israel has reportedly expanded its war on Hezbollah to include financial networks and infrastructure.
On Sunday night, Israel conducted air strikes against branches of a financial organization linked to Hezbollah located in the southern suburbs and south and east of Lebanon’s capital Beirut.
The Israeli military claimed it had targeted money held by Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association. It provides financial services to civilians who live in areas where Hezbollah is strong. However, Israel and the US accuse the group of using it as a front to fund their activities.
Hezbollah or AQAH did not immediately comment.
Also on Monday, US president Joe Biden‘s Special Envoy to the Middle East arrived at Beirut to explore the possibilities of a negotiated ending to the war.
Amos Hochstein stated that the US wanted the war in Lebanon to end “as quickly as possible”.
He said that UN Resolution 1701, which calls for the Lebanese State to be the sole armed force in Southern Lebanon, was “not enough”. The US was investigating what else was needed.
Hezbollah fighters continued to fire rockets towards northern Israel. The military reported that 170 projectiles crossed the border as of late Monday evening.
Israel launched an air campaign and a ground invasion against Hezbollah following almost a year’s worth of cross-border fighting, sparked by the Gaza war. It said it wanted to ensure that tens of thousand of residents of Israeli border regions who were displaced by rocket strikes could return safely.
Hezbollah started firing rockets at northern Israel to support Palestinians on 8th October 2023. This was the day after Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel.
According to the health ministry, more than 2,400 people were killed in Lebanon between then and now, including 1,800 during the last five weeks. Israeli authorities report 59 deaths in northern Israel and on the occupied Golan Heights.
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