Lebanese premier condemns Israeli strike on Beirut as ‘mass genocide’

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) - Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najiib Mikati said on Friday that the recent Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut is a serious escalation.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 8 people and injured 59 others in Beirut's southern suburb, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Mikati emphasized that this action is part of a broader pattern that resembles “mass genocide.”

His comments came during a Cabinet session he chaired in the government headquarters in Beirut, according to a statement from his media office.

An Israeli Army Radio report cited an unnamed security official as stating that the strike aimed to assassinate Ibrahim Aqil, head of operations for Hezbollah. The official, however, did not confirm the assassination.

Lebanese Health Minister Firas al-Abiad said on Friday that the explosions targeting wireless communication devices in the country constitute a “war crime,” noting that the victims were civilians.

His remarks came during a visit to the injured at the Baalbek government hospital and Dar al-Amal University Hospital, the National News Agency reported.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 37 people were killed and more than 3,250 others, including children and women, were injured in a series of explosions that struck “pager” and “ICOM” wireless devices in Lebanon.

There has been no Israeli comment on the blasts, which came amid an escalation in cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio​​​​​​​ in Istanbul