At least seven health and rescue workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in Beirut overnight, an Islamic health organization said Thursday, as Israel’s battle against the Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza raged, fueling concern of a wider regional conflict.
The strike in Beirut’s residential Bashoura district hit a multi-story apartment building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated with Hezbollah.
It was the second airstrike to hit central Beirut this week, and the second to hit the Health Society in 24 hours. The Associated Press said no Israeli warning was issued to the area before the strike. Residents reported a sulfur-like smell, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using phosphorous bombs in the strike, which are prohibited by international law for use near civilian populations.
Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement Wednesday night saying it had “conducted a precise strike in Beirut,” but there was no further information about the attack. It came amid intense bombing by Israel across southern Lebanon.
The Ministry of Health says Israel’s ongoing strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million from their homes over the last two weeks alone. The IDF issued new evacuation orders Thursday for 25 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of communities from which residents have been told to flee this week, since Israeli ground operations began in the area, to 77.
The Israeli Air Force said in a statement Thursday that “approximately 15 Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated” in a strike on a local government building in Bing Jbeil, southern Lebanon, which the IAF said was being used by the militant group.
Israel announced Monday that it was launching ground incursions into southern Lebanon, ramping up its fight against Hezbollah while continuing its devastating war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s air and ground operations in Gaza killed more than 50 people near the city of Khan Younis on Wednesday, including children, according to Palestinian health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.
The war in the densely packed Palestinian territory has killed more than 41,500 people since it was sparked almost a year ago by Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
