Israel bombs central Beirut for third time in barely 24 hours

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Israel bombed central Beirut for the third time in just over 24 hours on Monday night, killing at least five people and injuring 24 others, after 10 were killed on Sunday in other areas of the Lebanese capital that had previously been safe.

Monday's attack hit the Zuqaq Al Blat district, near the Lebanese parliament and prime ministerial office. The Israeli military gave no warning of the attack and the target was not immediately clear. Ambulances could be heard heading to the scene.

"I heard the sound of the rocket, it felt like it was passing right over my building," Lina, 51, a resident of a nearby neighbourhood, told The National. "Then came the explosion. There's a school nearby housing displaced families and they started screaming out of fear."

One of the Israeli strikes on Sunday killed Hezbollah media chief Mohammed Afif and four aides, as well as two other people, in Ras Al Naaba. It was followed by another strike on Sunday night on a busy shopping street in the Mar Elias district of south-west Beirut that killed three.

The strikes mark an escalation in Israeli attacks on the heart of the capital, with the bulk of its previous assaults directed at the southern suburbs.

Lebanese media had reported that US envoy Amos Hochstein would arrive in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday for talks on a ceasefire. However, the same outlets said later on Monday evening that the visit had been delayed, as Mr Hochstein sought further clarification on Lebanon's position. A Lebanese source told The National there were no official dates for the US envoy's visit.

The US last week submitted a truce proposal aimed at halting more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel has escalated its ground invasion in southern Lebanon and is maintaining its constant bombardment of south Beirut. However, the latest attacks focused on densely populated areas of central Beirut that were previously unscathed. The strike on Mar Elias was only metres from two popular confectioners that are often crowded with customers, on a bustling street lined with clothes shops and small restaurants.

“The sound of the explosion was so loud, I felt I was going deaf for a moment,” Hana, a resident of Mar Elias, told The National. “I walked through the area that was hit minutes before it happened. I went to check on my aunt who lives nearby and now I am afraid to go back home.”

A major sticking point in ceasefire negotiations has been an Israeli demand that they should be free to resume attacks if Hezbollah breaches the agreement. Lebanon has rejected that demand, saying it violates the country's sovereignty.

A previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 was ended with UN resolution 1701. It stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers could operate between the Israeli border and southern Lebanon’s Litani river. But the resolution was never fully implemented, with Hezbollah embedded in border areas.

Israel, meanwhile, has broken the UN resolution by repeatedly flying warplanes over its territory and occupying portions of land claimed by Lebanon.

Benny Gantz, a former member of Israel's war cabinet who is now a leading opposition figure, on Monday reiterated Israel's demand for the right to resume attacks.

“A condition for any agreement with Lebanon – full Israeli freedom of action against any violation,” he wrote in a post on X.

Sunday's strike on Mar Elias hit a building housing a company called Madi Technology, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said. The attack caused a large fire in the building. Israel did not issue a warning beforehand and did not immediately announce the target.

Both Hezbollah and Israel confirmed the death of media chief Mr Afif. Israel has rarely launched strikes on senior Hezbollah officials without a clear military role. Its attacks have flattened huge parts of Lebanon, but in particular the south, the Bekaa Valley and southern Beirut.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah, condemned the killing of Mr Afif as an “aggressive and terrorist act”, saying it was another attempt “to silence those exposing crimes in Palestine and Lebanon”.

Lebanese Education Minister Abbas Halabi said schools and higher education institutions in the Beirut area would be closed for two days after the attacks.

Elsewhere on Sunday, 11 people were killed and 48 injured in an Israeli strike on the southern Tyre region, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said it had struck “more than 200 targets” since Saturday morning.