Fresh Israeli strikes hit Beirut, target Hezbollah's media office, intelligence HQ

In a fresh wave of attacks, multiple airstrikes were heard in Beirut on Thursday, with one of them reportedly hitting the office of Hezbollah’s media department and the other targeting the militant group’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.

“Enemy aircraft launched three strikes on (Beirut’s) southern suburbs,” AFP quoted the official National News Agency (NNA) as reporting.

A source close to the group told AFP the strike “targeted a building housing Hezbollah’s media relations office,” which had already been “evacuated”.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it hit Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.

“Israeli fighter jets struck targets belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut, including terror operatives belonging to the unit, intelligence-gathering means, command centres and additional terrorist infrastructure,” AFP quoted the military as saying in a statement.

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Israel’s military had earlier issued evacuation orders to Lebanese residents in more than 20 towns and villages.

According to The Guardian, one of the strikes reportedly struck Kayfoun, a village southeast of Beirut in Mount Lebanon, an area which previously was thought to be outside the area which Israel would target.

This week, Israel announced that its troops have begun “ground raids” in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, following days of intense bombardment in areas controlled by the militant group.

After nearly a year of low-intensity cross-border skirmishes, Israel is shifting its focus from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has resulted in over 1,000 deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands.

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Last week, Israel targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a densely populated residential area of southern Beirut, prompting residents to flee the violence.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s army said it returned Israeli fire for the first time on Thursday in nearly a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah after a second soldier was killed by Israeli fire.

“A soldier was killed after the Israeli enemy targeted an army post in the Bint Jbeil area - in the south, and the personnel at the post responded to the sources of fire,” AFP quoted the army as saying in a statement.

A military official said this was the first response to Israeli fire since last October because the post had been “directly” hit, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it killed 15 Hezbollah terrorists in an airstrike south Lebanon and bombed Beirut.

Israeli troops said it killed Hezbollah members in a strike on the municipality building of the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbell where they were operating.

Bint Jbell is the same area which was heavily damaged during Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006.

Also, it marks the first time Israel has struck Beirut since 2006. Israel’s strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 1 million residents since it escalated its war with Hezbollah. The nation is already mired in economic and political crisis.

In central Beirut, nine members of Lebanon’s health ministry were killed in the Israeli strike.

Hezbollah said seven paramedics and rescue workers from its medical arm the Islamic Health Committee were killed in the strike that hit its office in Bashoura.

The health ministry said 14 others were wounded in the strike early Thursday.

The Lebanon’s Health Ministry also said that it is running DNA tests on remains they have obtained to identify others.

The ministry further said that prior to the attack, 55 people were killed and 156 others were wounded in the Israeli strikes over Lebanon on Wednesday.

With inputs from agencies