Israel-Lebanon war latest: Israel strikes Beirut despite US pressure to reduce attacks on capital
Updated 2:05 PM Oct. 16, 2024
An Israeli air strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday morning, a day after Lebanon said it had received a guarantee from the US that Israel would reduce the number of strikes on its capital.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said air force jets carried out a strike on an underground Hezbollah weapons stockpile in Dahieh, a key stronghold for the Iran-backed group.
It added that the attack was guided by “precise intelligence” and that numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including warning the local population in advance.
Photos showed a large smoke plume rising over the Beirut skyline.
The strike was the first Israeli strike on Beirut since last Thursday, which killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others.
Washington said at the time that it was pressing Israel to protect civilians during its operations, particularly in densely populated areas of Beirut.
On Monday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue attacking Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including in Beirut.
Watch: Israel’s navy strikes ‘dozens’ of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
Israel’s navy has struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in the western sector of southern Lebanon, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.
The Israeli military said the navy has been acting in support of the IDF’s 146th division, which began raids near Lebanon’s southwestern coast on October 7.
“The joint combat capabilities of the IDF can be seen in the offensive operation Northern Arrow,” Rear Admiral Eli Soholitzky said. “Missile boats, patrol vessels, intelligence bases, command and control, fire and other vessels are playing an integral role in offensive and defensive missions in the north, and in supporting the 146th Division.”
The IDF said the targets included missile launchers, military positions and weapons caches.
Footage from Israeli Navy missile boat supporting the 146th Division in the southern Lebanon pic.twitter.com/Ii0HvP0fqv
— Lazar Berman (@Lazar_Berman) October 16, 2024
Death toll from Israeli strike on Qana rises to 15, Lebanon says
The death toll from an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Qana on Tuesday has risen to 15, Lebanon’s civil defence agency said.
Qana has a dark history of civilian deaths in previous conflicts.
In 1996, Israeli artillery shelling of a UN compound in the town killed at least 100 people.
During the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, an Israeli strike on a residential building killed nearly three dozen people, a third of whom were children.