A massive Israeli air strike on central Beirut yesterday killed at least 15 people, Lebanese officials said, in the latest attack on the capital amid an escalation of Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah.
The strike happened without warning at about 04:00 (02:00 GMT) on Saturday and was an attempt to assassinate a senior Hezbollah official, Israeli media reported.
The attack was heard and felt across the city, and destroyed at least one eight-storey residential building in the densely populated Basta district.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said a so-called bunker buster bomb was used, a type of weapon previously used by Israel to kill senior Hezbollah figures, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.
All day, emergency workers used heavy machinery to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies.
The Lebanese health ministry said more than 60 people had been wounded, and that the number of victims was expected to rise as DNA tests would be carried out on body parts that had been recovered.
“It was a very horrible explosion. All the windows and glasses were over me, my wife and my children. My home now is a battlefield,” said 55-year-old Ali Nassar, who lived in a nearby building.
“Even if one person is hiding here… Should you destroy buildings where people are sleeping inside? Is it necessary to kill all the people for one person? Or we’re not humans? That’s what I’m asking.”
According to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, the attack was an attempt to kill Mohammed Haydar, a top Hezbollah official. Hezbollah MP Amin Sherri said none of the group’s leaders were in the building hit, and Haydar’s fate remained unclear.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented.
Also on Saturday, the IDF carried out further air strikes on the Dahieh, the area in southern Beirut where Hezbollah is based, saying they were buildings linked to the group.
