Separate Israeli airstrikes destroyed buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut and killed three journalists in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese official media on Friday.
“Our correspondent in Zahle reported the death of three journalists in an Israeli raid on Hasbaya,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said, adding that Israeli military planes struck at 3:30 am (0030 GMT) near the Syrian border.
A hotel in Hasbaya, about 50 kilometres south of the Lebanese capital, was struck by the airstrike, according to local media.
Separately, Israeli aeroplanes “destroyed two buildings and ignited a large fire, and black smoke covered the area” in the southern Choueifat Al-Amrousieh neighbourhood of Beirut, according to NNA.
“The raid that targeted the Saint Therese area also caused the collapse of two buildings near the Constitutional Council.”
About 30 minutes after Israel issued evacuation warnings for the Hezbollah bastion due to heavy attacks the previous evening, the NNA report of the strikes on Beirut’s south was released on Thursday.
“You are located near facilities and sites belonging to Hezbollah, which the Israeli Defense Forces will be targeting in the near future,” said the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee in a post on X that included maps of the locations.
AFPTV footage showed plumes of smoke rising from Beirut’s south following the strikes and AFP correspondents in the capital heard loud bangs.
“Israeli warplanes launched a new strike a short while ago on the Choueifat” area of south Beirut, NNA said, adding later that Haret Hreik and Hadath were also targeted.
Israel’s army claimed to have struck Hezbollah weapons production facilities “under and inside civilian buildings” after Israeli attacks on Wednesday night destroyed six buildings in south Beirut, according to official media and AFP film.
After a year of minor cross-border battles with Iran-backed Hezbollah over the Gaza war, Israel declared ground operations and began an aggressive air assault in Lebanon on September 23.
According to an AFP analysis of Lebanese health ministry statistics, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have since killed at least 1,580 people; however, the actual number is probably higher because of data gaps.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded the deaths of at least 128 journalists and media professionals in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon.
