Israeli airstrike kills 1, injures 3 in central Beirut

By Stephanie Rady

BEIRUT (AA) – One person was killed and three people were injured in an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut on Sunday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

The strike targeted a building in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood, marking the second such attack on the area since last October.

A ministry statement said that efforts were underway to search for survivors under the rubble.

The Israeli army staged at least five airstrikes on Ras al-Nabaa and the nearby Basta neighborhood in the Lebanese capital early Sunday.

Israel launched an air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are targets of the Hezbollah group in late September, in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare over Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

More than 3,400 people have been killed, over 14,600 injured and more than 1 million displaced by Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi