Israel strikes heart of Beirut, killing six

[Pelican Press 0]

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******* strikes heart of Beirut, ******** six

By Timour Azhari and Ari Rabinovitch

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – ******* bombed central Beirut in the early hours of Thursday, ******** at least six people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes against Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

******* said it conducted a precise air strike on Beirut. Reuters witnesses reported hearing a massive blast, and a security source said it targeted a building in central Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood close to parliament, the nearest ******** strikes have come to Lebanon’s seat of government.

At least six people were ******* and seven wounded, Lebanese health officials said. A photo being circulated on Lebanese WhatsApp groups, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a heavily damaged building with its first floor on *****.

Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was ******* last week, and loud explosions were heard, Lebanese security officials said. The southern suburbs came under more than a dozen ******** strikes on Wednesday.

A day after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into *******, ******* said on Wednesday eight soldiers were ******* in ground combat in south Lebanon as its forces thrust into its northern neighbour.

The ******** military said regular infantry and armoured units joined its ground operations in Lebanon on Wednesday as Iran’s missile ******* and *******’s promise of retaliation raised concerns that the oil-producing Middle East could be caught up in a wider conflict.

Hezbollah said its fighters engaged ******** forces inside Lebanon. The movement reported ground clashes for the first time since ******** forces pushed over the border on Monday. Hezbollah said it had destroyed three ******** Merkava tanks with rockets near the border town of Maroun El Ras.

******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a condolence video, said: “We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran’s Axis of Evil, which wants to ******** us.

“This will not happen because we will stand together and with ****’s help, we will win together,” he said.

Lebanon’s health ministry said ******** air raids ******* at least 46 people in the south and centre of the country over the past 24 hours.

Iran said on Wednesday its missile volley – its biggest ever ******** on ******* – was over barring further provocation, but ******* and the ******* States promised to hit back hard.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he would not support any ******** strike on Iran’s nuclear sites in response to its ballistic missile ******* and urged ******* to act “proportionally” against its regional arch-foe.

Biden joined a call with Group of Seven major power leaders on Wednesday to coordinate a response, including new sanctions against Tehran, the White House said.

G7 leaders voiced “strong concern” over the Middle East crisis but said a diplomatic solution was still viable and a region-wide conflict was in no one’s interest, a statement said.

Hezbollah said it repelled ******** forces near several border towns and also fired rockets at military posts inside *******.

The paramilitary group’s media chief Mohammad Afif said those battles were only “the first round” and that Hezbollah had enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push back *******.

*******’s addition of infantry and armoured troops from the 36th Division, including the Golani Brigade, the 188th Armoured Brigade and 6th Infantry Brigade, suggested that the operation might expand beyond limited commando raids.

The military has said its incursion is largely aimed at destroying tunnels and other infrastructure on the border and there were no plans for a wider operation targeting the Lebanese capital Beirut to the north or major cities in the south.

1.2 MILLION LEBANESE DISPLACED

Nevertheless, it issued new evacuation orders for around two dozen towns along the southern border, instructing inhabitants to head north of the Awali River, which flows east to west some 60 km (37 miles) north of the ******** frontier.

More than 1,900 people have been ******* and over 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, with most of the deaths occurring in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that about 1.2 million Lebanese had been displaced by ******** attacks.

Malika Joumaa, from Sudan, was forced to take shelter in Saint Joseph’s ******* in Beirut after being forced from her house near Sidon in coastal south Lebanon with her husband and two children.

“It’s good that the ******* offered its help. We were going to stay in the streets; where would we have gone?”

Iran described Tuesday’s missile ******** as a response to ******** killings of militant leaders, including Nasrallah, attacks in Lebanon against the group and *******’s war against ************ ****** militants in Gaza.

There were no casualties from the missile onslaught in *******, but one person was ******* in the occupied West Bank.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari in Beirut; Parisa Hafezi in Istanbul; Phil Stewart, Jeff Mason and Idrees Ali in Washington; Michelle Nichols in New York; Adam Makary, Jaidaa Taha and Enas Alashray in Cairo; and Tala Ramadan, Jana Choukeir and Jack Kim in Seoul and Matthias Williams in Berlin, Elwely Elwelly and Clauda Tanios in Dubai and Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; writing by Cynthia Osterman; editing by; Deepa Babington)

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