Airstrikes hit central Beirut's Basta, destroying at least one building

A series of Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut's Basta neighbourhood early Saturday, destroying at least one building and leaving a crater in the ground.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli war planes completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles.

It was not immediately clear how many people were injured or killed, but ambulances rushed to the scene. The Israeli military did not issue a warning for residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it.

The strikes, which occurred around 4 am local time, came after a day of heavy bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs and the southern coastal city of Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes.

 

Heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border.

The escalation comes after US envoy Amos Hochstein travelled to the region this week in an attempt to broker a cease-fire deal to end the more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has erupted into full-on war in the past two months.

Israeli bombardment has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon and wounded more than 15,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. It has displaced about 1.2 million, or a quarter of Lebanon's population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by rockets, drones and missiles in northern Israel and in fighting in Lebanon.