Israeli warplanes conduct heavy strike on Beirut's southern suburb

By Said Amouri

JERUSALEM (AA) – In violent waves of airstrikes on night between Friday and Saturday, the Israeli army claimed to have struck weapons for the Hezbollah group underneath the targeted buildings in Beirut's southern suburb.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, Israeli warplanes carried out violent and successive airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburb, causing fires in multiple areas.

The Israeli army earlier claimed that air force carried out a series of airstrikes on the southern city of Tyre, claiming to have struck Hezbollah targets there.

However, the Hezbollah group later denied allegations by the Israeli army that weapons were stored in civilian buildings targeted in Beirut's southern suburb.

On Friday evening, Israeli jets conducted several heavy airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, claiming to have hit the main headquarters of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Following the airstrike, Israeli media said the army was verifying whether Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was inside the targeted area.

Lebanon's Health Ministry reported that six people were killed and 91 others were injured as a result of the strikes.

Hezbollah is yet to comment on the attack.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday morning, killing over 700 people and injuring nearly 2,200 others, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The ministry also said that the death toll in Lebanon since last October is 1,540, in addition to more than 77,000 displaced from southern and eastern parts of the country.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of turning the Gaza conflict into a regional war.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar