At least five dead in Israeli air strike on central Beirut in Lebanon

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At least five ***** in ******** air strike on central Beirut in Lebanon

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At least five people have been ******* and eight wounded in an ******** air strike on a building in central Beirut, Lebanese officials have said.

The multi-storey block in Bachoura housed a Hezbollah-affiliated health centre, which *******’s military said was hit in a “precision” *******.

This is the first ******** strike close to Beirut’s centre – just metres away from Lebanon’s parliament. There were five other air strikes overnight against targets in the southern suburb of Dahieh.

It comes after the ******* Defence Forces (IDF) said

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in combat in southern Lebanon, its first losses since the start of ground operations against the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Large ********** in Beirut as IDF says it conducted ‘precise’ strike

Hezbollah said it had destroyed ******** tanks during the fighting and insisted it had enough men and ammunition to push back the forces.

Earlier, the IDF announced that more infantry and armoured troops had joined the operation seeking to dismantle what it called “********** infrastructure” in Lebanese border villages.

In the latest overnight strikes, three explosions were heard in Dahieh, in the city’s southern suburbs – with a fourth closer to the centre.

There were two further air strikes in Dahieh, which came after the IDF warned people living nearby that it was targeting what it said were facilities belonging to Hezbollah in the area of the city known to be its stronghold.

Before the overnight air strikes, Lebanon’s health ministry said 46 people had been ******* and 85 wounded in ******** bombings in the last 24 hours, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.

It also emerged a US permanent resident from the state of Michigan was among those ******* in recent ******** air strikes on Lebanon.

Kamel Ahmad Jawad, 56, was in the country to care for his elderly mother, according to The Detroit News.

His ****** was confirmed by a White House official, who said: “His ****** is a tragedy, as are the deaths of many civilians in Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has been weakened after two weeks of ******** strikes and other attacks that have ******* more than 1,200 people across Lebanon and displaced around 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities.

******* has gone on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza, saying it wants to ensure the safe return of residents of border areas displaced by Hezbollah attacks.

Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political, military and social organisation that wields considerable power in Lebanon. It is designated as a ********** organisation by *******, the US, the *** and other countries.

On the second full day of their ground invasion into Lebanon, ******** troops encountered Hezbollah fighters for the first time.

The ******* Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that soldiers backed by aircraft had “eliminated terrorists and dismantled ********** infrastructure through precision-guided munitions and close-range engagements” in several southern Lebanese areas.

Later, the IDF announced that eight troops had been ******* in action. Most were commandos from the elite Egoz and Golani Reconnaissance units.

Hezbollah said its fighters had fired ani-tank missiles at ******** commandos, ******** and wounding dozens during clashes early on Wednesday in one border village.

It also said that other troops were targeted with explosives and gunfire on the outskirts of Kafr Kila, and that three ******** Merkava tanks were destroyed by missiles near Maroun al-Ras.

Hezbollah has spent years building infrastructure in southern Lebanon that includes extensive underground tunnels. It also has thousands of fighters, who know the area well.

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Paying tribute to the eight soldiers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had fallen ”in the midst of a tough war against Iran’s axis of evil, which seeks to ******** us”.

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

******** air defences were also in action again a day after they repelled the vast majority of the more than 180 ballistic missiles launched by Iran towards ******* on Tuesday night in retaliation for the ******** air strike in Beirut last Friday that ******* Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a top Iranian commander.

More than 240 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern ******* throughout Wednesday, according to the IDF.

Netanyahu insists that the ground offensive in Lebanon will degrade Hezbollah’s capability and push its fighters back, eventually allowing about 60,000 Israelis to return to their homes near the border.

Meanwhile US President Joe Biden said

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. He added that the US “will be discussing with the Israelis what they’re gonna do” in response to the Iranian barrage.

Lebanon: BBC reporter at scene of Beirut missile strike

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