Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut, security sources say

BEIRUT — A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

At least four people were killed and 23 wounded in the attack in Beirut's Basta neighborhood, Hezbollah's al-Manar broadcaster reported, citing the Health Ministry.

Lebanon's National News Agency said early on Saturday that the attack resulted in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroyed an eight-story building. Footage broadcast by Lebanon's Al Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said the agency. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.

The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m., Reuters witnesses said. Security sources said at least four bombs were dropped in the attack.

It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel's attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah media official in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

Israel has killed several leaders of its longtime foe Hezbollah, Tehran's most important ally in the region, in air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, following nearly a year of cross-border hostilities ignited by the Gaza war, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.

The conflict began when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas after it launched the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

In that attack, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and captured about 250 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. Israel says it believes Hamas is still holding 101 hostages, including 35 the military says are dead.

Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been designated as terror groups by the United States, the U.K. and other Western countries.

A U.S. mediator traveled to Lebanon and Israel this week in an effort to secure a cease-fire. The envoy, Amos Hochstein, indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.