Israeli strikes in central Beirut kill at least seven as Hezbollah fires missiles at Tel Aviv, escalating Lebanon’s involvement in the Middle East war

BEIRUT: Lebanon said an Israeli strike along the seafront in central Beirut killed at least seven people early on Thursday, hours after another attack in the heart of the capital.

“The Israeli enemy strike on Ramlet al-Bayda in Beirut led to an initial toll of seven dead and 21 wounded,” the health ministry said in a statement.

Local media published footage showing chaos and smoke along the seaside corniche after the strike on Thursday.

It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began, after a raid on an apartment on Wednesday and a strike on a seafront hotel on Sunday.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group also said early Thursday that it launched missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

It was the Iran-backed group’s latest attack in a major new operation against Israel, which said it had struck 10 Hezbollah targets in southern Beirut.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.

Its offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

People displaced by the conflict have been sleeping out in the open or in tents on the streets of Beirut including in the seaside area of Ramlet al-Bayda.

 The Sun Malaysia