At least 22 dead in Beirut after Israeli strikes

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 11, ARMENPRESS. At least 22 people were killed and at least 117 wounded in Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut Thursday night, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

The strikes Thursday targeted parts of central Beirut far from Hezbollah’s stronghold in the city’s southern suburbs, according to CNN. 

In the upper Basta neighborhood, a multi-story building packed with residents and recently displaced people was struck, according to witnesses and a Lebanese security source. Two witnesses told CNN they saw the building collapse after it was hit. “The bomb hit. And the entire building fell down,” Hassan, one of the witnesses, told CNN. “There were so many people in the building.”

A senior Hezbollah official was the target of the strikes, according to a source in the militant group, and Israeli media reports. Wafiq Safa, the leader of Hezbollah’s liaison unit, survived the assassination attempt, the Hezbollah source told CNN.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah fired 190 shells on Israel in 24 hours.