At least four series of Israeli strikes targeted the neighborhoods of Haret Hreik, Ghobeiri, Msharafieh and Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday afternoon, leveling several buildings.
Explosions echoed across the capital, while columns of smoke billowed over the targeted area, which was covered in a thick black cloud.
The raids were carried out after Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee had called for buildings to be evacuated.
Raids were equally intensive in the Beqaa and South Lebanon, where several villages were targeted, causing tens of casualties.
Preliminary counts indicated that 33 people were killed and at least 13 wounded in raids on the villages of Younine, Sawwaniyeh, Beit Chama, Brital, Makneh, Nabha and Amchki.
The Ministry of Health reported that Wednesday's strikes on Maarakeh, in South Lebanon left 13 people dead and 44 wounded.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued its attacks on various sectors of Israel. For the first time since October 8, 2023, it claimed responsibility for an attack on southern Israel.
In a press release, Hezbollah claimed to have fired “quality” missiles on the Hatzor airbase, located east of Ashdod, 150 km from the Lebanese-Israeli border. It also claimed responsibility for several retaliatory strikes, including a missile salvo at 1 PM on northern Israel, as well as three attacks on gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the South Lebanon village of Khiam, where they are still positioned.
Additionally, Hezbollah said they targeted an Israeli reconnaissance site on the summit of Mount Hermon in the occupied Golan Heights. A site that it described as an “important intelligence-gathering center, belonging to the 210th Golan Division.”
At around 1:45 PM, it also targeted for the second time the Shraga base, “an administrative headquarters of the Golani brigade command” north of Acre.
For its part, the Israeli army, quoted by Haaretz, claimed that “15 rockets were fired from Lebanon in the direction of Nahariya, in northern Israel. The sirens were activated. Some of these rockets were intercepted.”
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