Lebanon says 22 killed and 117 wounded in fresh Israeli strikes on central Beirut

Image source, EPA

We will shortly be pausing our live coverage. Our news teams will continue to monitor developments into the late evening and overnight. Here’s the latest:

• An Israeli air strike on Bachoura in central Beirut has killed at least 22 people and injured 117 others, according to the Lebanese health ministry
• Local media says the apparent target was Wafiq Safa, Hassan Nasrallah’s brother-in-law and one of Hezbollah’s high-ranking security officials. The group’s media office has not yet commented
• It came hours after two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured in southern Lebanon when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower, the UN says
• The UN says Israeli forces have “repeatedly hit” UN positions in the last 24 hours. Israeli soldiers are also accused of shooting at the cameras and lights at two other UN bases – the Israeli army said its troops had fired from the area around the base after ordering members of the base to remain in “protected places”

• In the central Gaza Strip, at least 28 people have been killed and 54 others injured in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Israeli military says the strike targeted Hamas

You can read more about the latest conflict in the Middle East here, and follow our latest live coverage on the conflict here.

A Lebanese journalist in Beirut says she was “one or two kilometres away from the strikes” on the city tonight, and described feeling “massive booms” where the “windows shook”.

Nada Attalah tells the BBC World Service Newshour programme that Israel is striking “much closer than usual” in a “densely populated area” of Beirut’s city centre.

“Beirut is a very small city so you’re always a five-minute drive away from a potential very deadly strike”, she says.

She says these strikes were “closer to areas which have not been evacuated and there were no warnings”, adding that the army has closed off the area to let the rescue operation continue.

• Just after 8pm local time in central Beirut, Israeli forces struck two residential blocks in Bachoura – a small Shia area in the capital
• Lebanese officials say 22 people have been killed and 117 more injured. There was no warning issued before the strikes
• This is the third time Israel has launched air strikes on the city outside of the suburb of Dahieh, where it has struck repeatedly

• BBC reporters heard the missiles and explosions – it comes after two days of relative calm in Lebanon’s capital
• Local media reports suggest the target was a high-ranking Hezbollah official, Wafiq Safa, the brother-in-law of Hezbollah’s long-term leader Hassan Nasrallah, who Israeli forces killed on 27 September. Hezbollah’s media office has not yet commented

Image source, EPA

An update from the Israeli military now, which says that around 190 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel by Hezbollah today.

There have been several posts on its Telegram channel throughout the day about sirens sounding in various parts of Israel.

In news away from Beirut, the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen says they have hit two ships with missiles and rockets.

The first it identifies as an American oil tanker, Olympic Spirit, which was in the Red Sea.

The other was the St John, in the Indian Ocean, it says.

Since November, the Houthis have launched attacks on around 100 ships in the Red Sea, sinking two vessels. The rebel group says the attacks are retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

• Who are the Houthis and why are they attacking Red Sea ships?

Image source, Reuters

Meanwhile, we’ve been reporting that two peacekeepers in Lebanon were injured after the UN said Israeli forces “repeatedly hit” its positions in the last 24 hours.

Speaking at the UN Security Council this evening, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the “safety and security of peacekeepers is now increasingly in jeopardy”.

Lacroix said Unifil, the UN’s peacekeeping mission, operations have “virtually come to a halt”.

“Peacekeepers have been confined to their bases with significant periods of time in shelter,” he said, adding that the mission was ready to support all efforts towards a diplomatic solution.

In central Beirut earlier, Israeli air strikes hit a residential part of the city, killing 22 people and injuring 117 others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

Videos show people digging through rubble as rescue services continue to operate in the area.

Image source, Reuters

The Lebanese health ministry is now reporting that 22 people have been killed and 117 wounded in the Israeli strikes on central Beirut.

As our correspondent in Beirut Joel Gunter reported earlier, the strikes hit residential buildings in two densely packed neighbourhoods, Nweiri and Basta.

Members of the Red Cross are continuing to pick through rubble in central Beirut after an Israeli strike hit residential buildings in two neighbourhoods.

The death toll stands at 18, with 92 people wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Anna Foster
Reporting from Beirut

Image source, Reuters

The steady sound of ambulances can be heard in the streets of central Beirut, carrying the wounded to at least five nearby hospitals that have been put on standby.

The red and blue flashing lights are cutting through the darkness as people continue to dig through the rubble searching for survivors.

These latest Israeli strikes have hit a busy residential Shia area close to the centre of the city. Unlike the southern suburbs, most of the residents haven’t evacuated.

There was no warning from the Israel Defense Forces that tonight’s strike was coming.

The high death toll – at least 18 killed and nearly 100 wounded – reflects that.

After a calmer period in Beirut, strikes bring mayhempublished at 19:54 British Summer Time 10 October

19:54 BST 10 October

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Image source, EPA

Tonight’s Israeli airstrikes in Beirut come after two relatively quieter days, with fewer attacks in the capital and concentrated in the city’s now largely empty southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Details are still unclear, but unconfirmed reports suggest there could have been targeted killings.

The attacks happened at around 20:00 local time (18:00 BST). Two thick plumes of smoke were seen rising in a densely populated area of the city.

Footage shared online from one of the locations hit showed at least one collapsed buildings and widespread damage.

People were seen searching the rubble in the dark.

Image source, Reuters

The Lebanese health ministry says 18 people have now died following strikes earlier in Beirut, up from the 11 fatalities reported just over half an hour ago.

A further 92 are wounded, it says.

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Beirut

The strikes in central Beirut tonight hit residential buildings in two adjacent, densely packed neighbourhoods – Nweiri and Basta.

The missiles hit at about 20:00 (18:00 BST), when many residents would have been back from work and in their homes or on the streets.

Lebanon’s National News Agency says the Nweiri strike hit the third floor of an eight-story building, and the Basta strike a four-storey building which collapsed completely.

Lebanon’s health ministry has announced an initial tally of 11 dead and 48 wounded.

Both neighbourhoods are majority Shia Muslim and associated with the Hezbollah and Amal parties.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued an “urgent warning” to residents of Haret Hreik, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, telling them to evacuate.

A spokesperson for the IDF says this area is near “Hezbollah facilities and interests, and the IDF will act against them in the near future”.

“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate this building and the buildings adjacent to it immediately and stay away from it for a distance of no less than 500 meters,” the IDF spokesperson adds.

Just a short while ago, a central part of the city was targeted by strikes. Eleven people have been confirmed as killed, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Live images we’re watching on the screens in our London newsroom show a cluster of emergency vehicles and personnel at the foot of several buildings which appear to have been damaged in tonight’s strike on the centre of Beirut.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Beirut

According to a doctor, 14 of the 48 people wounded in the Israeli strike on central Beirut have been brought to the American University hospital already – and we have just seen another ambulance arriving.

One woman outside the hospital, who does not want to be named, says she was in the building next door to the blast and heard the explosion.

One of her relatives sustained head injuries and is inside the hospital getting stitches.

The woman says the building which was hit was entirely residential, and that it was about four or five floors high.

Orla Guerin
Reporting from Beirut

We are outside the American University Hospital in Beirut, where casualties from the blast
are being taken.

Lebanese troops are here at the entrance, standing guard at
the tall metal gates, but the situation is calm.

A small group of people have
gathered at the entrance, perhaps relatives of the injured.

The death toll from
Lebanese officials is 11, with 48 wounded.

As we’ve been reporting, a short while ago fresh Israeli air strikes hit central Beirut, with BBC reporters in the city hearing loud explosions.

Five hospitals have since been put on high alert to take in casualties from the blasts.

We’re yet to establish an exact figure on the number of casualties, but we will update you as soon as we can.

Nafiseh Kohnavard
Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service, in Beirut

Image source, Reuters

A short time ago, we heard two strong “whooshing” sounds as
missiles flew overhead, followed by explosions.

The location that was targeted – Bachoura – is considered part
of central Beirut.

The strikes came after two relatively calm days in Lebanon’s
capital, which has felt unusual after intensive strikes in recent weeks.

As I write, I hear ambulances being dispatched from the American
hospital in Achrafieh, only a five-minute drive from the site of the attack.

Missiles apparently passed over the Christian neighbourhood. The
area is considered safe, but the loud sounds created panic.

In my own neighbourhood, I heard children and even some adults scream.

Though most of Israel’s recent strikes have been limited to the
southern suburbs, this is the third time that areas outside it have been targeted.

Local media say the apparent target was Wafiq Safa, Hassan Nasrallah’s brother-in-law and one of Hezbollah’s high-ranking security officials. The group’s media office has not yet
commented.

As we’ve been reporting, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, says its positions in southern Lebanon have been repeatedly hit by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours, injuring two peacekeepers.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said that forces belonging to Unifil in Lebanon should pull back 5km from the border to avoid danger.

The UN secretary-general’s deputy spokesman, Farhan Aziz Haq, has responded to say Unifil forces will remain in their positions.

“While we continue to assess the safety and security of our peacekeeping forces it’s important that they also fulfil their mandate and they are at present staying in their positions,” Haq said at a news briefing in New York.

He added that there was “no cause for any member state to target Unfil forces, so we will make that completely clear”.