Israeli strikes kill 22 in Beirut as Hezbollah leader evades assassination bid

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM – Israeli strikes killed 22 people and injured more than 100 in central Beirut on Oct 10, the Lebanese authorities said, as a senior Hezbollah official evaded an Israeli assassination attempt in the city, according to three security sources.

In Lebanon’s south, two UN peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s main headquarters in Naqoura, prompting the UN to say its personnel were facing increasing danger.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.

It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, and killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders.

Wafiq Safa, who heads Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, was targeted by Israel on the night of Oct 10 but survived, the security sources said.

The Israeli strikes hit a densely packed residential neighbourhood of apartment buildings and small shops in the heart of Beirut.

Israel did not issue evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes and had not previously attacked the area, which is removed from Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed by Israel.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 22 people killed and 117 wounded. Among the dead was a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, according to a security source.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,169 people in Lebanon over the last year, the Lebanese government said in its daily update. The majority have been killed since Sept 23, when Israel expanded its military campaign. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The attempt to kill Safa, whose role merges security and political affairs, marked a widening of Israel’s targets among Hezbollah officials, which previously focused on the group’s military commanders and top leaders.

There was no immediate comment on the incident by Israel or by Hezbollah.

The Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah have both endorsed a ceasefire as a means to end the conflict, but diplomats fear that diplomacy has taken a back seat to military operations.

Lebanon’s Acting UN Ambassador Hadi Hachem told the Security Council that “only diplomatic solutions and the implementation of international resolutions, the commitment to international law and international humanitarian law is the means to end this war and this aggression”.

Peacekeepers ‘in jeopardy’

Israel did say it had killed Muhammad Abdullah, the head of the Islamic Jihad’s network in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nur Shams in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Oct 11 that two people were killed in an Israeli strike on Nur Shams.

Abdullah, who Israel said had been involved in a number of attacks against its soldiers, was killed along with another “terrorist” in a strike near Tulkarm, the military and security agency said in a statement on Oct 11.  

The UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, said two of its personnel were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower on Oct 10 at its main headquarters in Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing the peacekeepers to fall.

The two peacekeepers were from Indonesia’s contingent and were in good condition after being treated for light injuries, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement.

The safety of more than 10,400 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly in jeopardy” and operations have virtually halted since late September, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council. That coincides with Israel’s escalation of its conflict with Lebanon.

Unifil called attacks on peacekeepers “a grave violation of international humanitarian law”. 

The White House said the US was deeply concerned by reports that Israeli forces fired on UN positions and was pressing Israel for details. 

Israel’s military said in a statement that its troops operated in the Naqoura area, “next to a Unifil base”.  

“Accordingly, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, following which the forces opened fire in the area,” Israel’s statement said, adding it maintains routine communication with Unifil.

The peacekeepers are determined to remain at their posts despite Israeli attacks and orders by Israel’s military to leave, Unifil spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. 

In New York, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel recommends Unifil relocate 5km north “to avoid danger as fighting intensifies”.

Mr Danon said attacking Hezbollah was necessary so 70,000 displaced Israelis could return to homes in northern Israel.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel’s response to an Iranian missile strike on Oct 1. 

US Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said de-escalation was needed.

“We have got to reach a ceasefire,” Ms Harris told reporters as she departed from Las Vegas, while commenting on the situations in Gaza and Lebanon. “We’ve got to de-escalate.”

A ceasefire remains elusive in Gaza and Lebanon. Washington’s occasional condemnation of Israel over civilian deaths has mostly been verbal with no substantive change in policy. REUTERS