Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut for the first time in nearly a year of conflict

The first apparent Israeli airstrike on central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict levelled an apartment building early on Monday.

The airstrike hit a multi-storey residential building, according to witnesses. Videos show ambulances and a crowd gathered near the building in a mainly Sunni district with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops.

The airstrike killed at least one person and wounded 16, according to an official with the Lebanese Civil Defence.

He said the person killed was a member of the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya or the Islamic Group — a Sunni political and militant group that is allied with Hezbollah. The group is not known to have played any meaningful role in the current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

A Palestinian leftist faction in Lebanon said three of its members were killed in the airstrike.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said in a statement early on Monday that its military and security commanders in Lebanon and a third member were killed in the attack.

It comes as Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs over the past week, where the militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence — including a major strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah — but had not hit locations near the city centre.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

Other senior Hezbollah leaders killed

Earlier, Hezbollah confirmed that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of the militant group’s Central Council, was killed on Saturday.

This makes him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader killed in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. They include founding members who had evaded death or detention for decades.

Hezbollah also confirmed that Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in the strike that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 other Hezbollah militants were killed, including one in charge of Nasrallah’s security detail.

The Lebanese health ministry documented at least 105 people killed around the country in airstrikes on Sunday.

Strikes hit elsewhere in Lebanon

Two strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometres south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and injured at least 47. There were other strikes.

The Israeli military previously said it carried out another targeted strike on Beirut but did not immediately provide details.

Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern, and western Bekaa and the south, as well as strikes in Beirut. The strikes have targeted buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.

In a video of a strike in Sidon, a building swayed before collapsing as neighbours filmed. One television station called on viewers to pray for a family caught under the rubble, posting their pictures, as rescuers failed to reach them.

The Lebanese health ministry reported at least 14 medics were killed over two days in the south.

The Israeli army says its strikes have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities and the number of launches would be much higher if Hezbollah had not been hit.