Oct. 22 (UPI) — An Israeli airstrike opposite a hospital in south Beirut killed at least 13 people and injured 57 others hours before U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken touched down in Tel Aviv on his 11th visit in the year since Israel was attacked to try to broker peace talks in the war-torn region.
The strike late Monday hit the Al Janah district of the capital where the main government-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital is located, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said in an update on X citing its Public Health Emergency Operations Center.
It warned the death toll could rise.
Rescue teams were continuing to comb through the rubble Tuesday morning in the hope of finding survivors from at least three destroyed medium-rise buildings as well as other buildings badly damaged in the strike in the neighborhood, one of Bierut’s poorest.
The Israeli military said the hospital was not struck in the raid, which it said was targeted at a Hezbollah facility, and that the hospital continued to operate normally.
The BBC reported that the Al Janah district was absent from a targets list released by Israel Defense Forces ahead of a series of air strikes on Monday night.
However, a second hospital was evacuated after the IDF alleged it housed a secret underground bunker used by Hezbollah to store cash, sparking panic that an airstrike could be imminent.
The Israeli army also hit the coastal city of Tyre with 10 rounds of strikes after calling on residents of the al-Hawsh neighborhood to evacuate.
Hezbollah ramped up its attacks against Israeli territory firing around 80 “projectiles” across the border in the first half of the day, at least 10 of them rockets launched toward the Neot Mordechai kibbutz in northern Israel, and tripping air-raid sirens in areas of upper and Western Galilee.
No injuries have been reported although there was no information regarding damage.
The group, which is designated a terror organization by the United States and many other Western countries, confirmed Tuesday that it was responsible for a failed attempt over the weekend to attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea with three explosive drones.
The announcement at a press briefing in Beirut came as Netanyahu sat down for talks with Blinken with Netanyahu’s office posting a photo on social media of the pair in the Israeli leader’s office in Jerusalem.
Blinken, who traveled to the region to try to kickstart negotiations for an Israel-Hamas cease-fire in Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 17 killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, also intends to follow through on pressurizing Israel to improve humanitarian aid access in Gaza after threatening to halt weapons shipments over the issue.
The Washington Post cited an anonymous State Department official aboard Blinken’s aircraft en route to Israel as saying he would assess the measures Israel has taken to improve the situation since he and Defense Secretary Llloyd Austin wrote the Israeli defense and strategic affairs ministers last week warning the United States could suspend military assistance.
The State Department said in a statement that during his four-day trip, which will also take in other capitals in the region, Blinken would also be discussing the need to “reach a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that fully implements U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701” and allowed civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return to their homes.
“He will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to work with partners across the region to de-escalate tensions and provide lasting stability,” the department said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.