Local residents and rescuers gather at a site targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the Zuqaq al-Blat district in central Beirut, Lebanon, on Monday. According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, two missiles struck the district. Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA-EFE
Nov. 18 (UPI) — A new densely populated neighborhood in Beirut was hit by an Israeli air strike Monday evening, killing five people and wounding 24, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
After a short lull during the day, Israel resumed its attacks on Beirut, targeting a building in the Zokak el Blat neighborhood situated at the entrance of the city’s downtown area, the official National news agency and witnesses reported.
Two missiles were fired on a ground-floor office and a coffee shop of an old building in the overcrowded area that became home for thousands of displaced residents from south Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Ambulances and civil defense workers rushed to the scene to evacuate the casualties and remove the rubble. The Lebanese Red Cross called for blood donations.
There were no immediate details on the specific targets of the strike on Zokak el-Blat, which is mainly controlled by the Shiite Amal movement led by House Speaker Nabih Berri.
Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, has been negotiating a U.S. cease-fire proposal on behalf of the Iran-backed group.
On Sunday, 10 people, including Hezbollah spokesman Mohamad Afif and four of his team, were killed and 45 others wounded in two separate Israeli strikes on the Ras al Nabaa and Mar Elias neighborhoods.
The strike, which came without any Israeli alert to evacuate, pushed residents to flee the area.
Israel has stepped up its air strikes on the southern suburbs and eastern Lebanon for the past days to force Hezbollah to accept its cease-fire conditions.
Lebanon responded positively Monday to the U.S. written cease-fire offer that was previously discussed with American special envoy Amos Hochstein.
Hochstein, who was expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday, was reported to have delayed his visit until Lebanon clarifies its stance on the proposed agreement, in a further sign of pressures exerting on the tiny country.
Cease-fire talks have been focusing on the complete implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, but has not been fully respected by both parties since.
The resolution calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah and for the Army and U.N. peacekeeping troops to be the only force in charge of security in the southern border area.
Israel has been trying to impose new conditions to secure more enforcement mechanisms and prevent Hezbollah’s rearming and funding.
Lebanon rejected the Israeli conditions. saying they violate Lebanon’s sovereignty, and insisted on the implementation of Resolution 1701 as is.
An estimated 3,516 people have been killed and 14,929 wounded since October 2023.