Pursuing a rapidly escalating war on multiple fronts, Israel struck central Beirut in the early hours of Monday for the first time since 2006, hours after bombing Yemen with long-range airstrikes by dozens of planes.
The Beirut attack targeted three senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organization linked to a series of high-profile plane hijackings in the 1970s.
The leftist faction, which does not play a key role in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, announced that a commander and a third member of Lebanon’s military and security forces have been killed.
Initial footage from the scene showed a two-story apartment building completely blown away and onlookers running toward the building. Two bodies, apparently ejected by the force of the explosion, could be seen lying on the road outside the building on top of a car. Explosions were heard throughout the city.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The attack comes as the United Nations reports 100,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria since the recent escalation of the war, and CNN cited an unnamed Biden administration official as saying Iran may attack. The move comes after the United States said it had changed its military posture in the Middle East amid concerns. Friday in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Palestinian militant group Hamas said a Lebanese leader was killed Monday in an Israeli military attack in the country’s south. Hamas said in a statement that “Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amin, the leader of Hamas in Lebanon and a member of the movement’s leadership abroad,” was killed in an airstrike on his “home in the al-Bas camp in southern Lebanon.” said that it was done.
Sources cited by Agence France-Presse said the Beirut airstrike was carried out using drones and struck near the Kola intersection, a popular reference point in the city where taxis and buses gather to pick up passengers.
Israel had limited its attacks on the Lebanese capital to the southern suburbs. The airstrikes raised questions about which areas of Beirut are still safe from Israel’s growing airstrikes. Israeli drones flew over Beirut for much of Sunday, and the loud explosions of new airstrikes echoed throughout the city.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief, Sheikh Naim Qasem, will give a speech at noon local time (9pm Japan time) on Monday, the organization’s Al-Manar television station announced. This will be Nasrallah’s first speech since the attack that killed him. Details of Nasrallah’s funeral have not yet been officially announced.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Sunday’s attacks across Israel left 105 people dead and another 359 injured. It said more than 1,000 Lebanese had been killed and 6,000 injured in the past two weeks, but it did not say how many were civilians. The government announced that one million people, one-fifth of the population, had been forced to flee their homes.
On Sunday, Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, raising fears that the country is sliding toward a devastating regional conflict on multiple fronts.
Dozens of Israeli military planes were involved in the attack on Yemen’s Hodeidah port, which appears to have targeted fuel facilities, power plants and piers at Ras Issa and Hodeidah ports. It was one of the largest operations to date in the nearly year-long crisis in the region.
Houthi media reported that four people were killed and 33 injured in the airstrike. Residents said the airstrikes caused power outages in most areas of Hodeidah.
Israeli military officials said the raid targeted the Houthis, who have been firing on Israeli targets for months in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis are also targeting international shipping in the Red Sea. On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel’s main international airport upon his arrival.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that Nabil Kaouk, vice-chairman of the Central Council, had been killed, making him the seventh Hezbollah official to be killed in an Israeli attack in more than a week. The group also confirmed that another senior commander, Ali Karaki, was killed in the airstrike that killed Nasrallah on Friday. Three days of mourning were announced starting Monday following Nasrallah’s murder.
Hezbollah has denied claims that Abu Ali Rida, commander of the group’s Bader unit in south Lebanon, was killed. Rida is the last surviving senior Hezbollah military commander.
Israel has vowed to continue its offensive and says it wants to make the northern region safe again for residents forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Asked if all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, Joe Biden said: “We have to.” The US president said he would talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon had “decimated” Hezbollah’s chain of command, but warned the group would work quickly to rebuild.
“I think people are safer without him walking around,” Kirby said of Nasrallah. “But they’re going to try to bounce back. We’re looking at what they’re going to do to fill this leadership vacuum. It’s going to be tough… their command. Many of the lineages are now extinct.
Kirby sidestepped a question on CNN’s State of the Union address about whether the Biden administration agrees with the way Israel has targeted Hezbollah leaders. The White House continues to urge Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day temporary ceasefire struck by the United States, France and other countries at last week’s United Nations General Assembly.
Reuters contributed to this report