Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut near government buildings, embassies

People watch smoke billow from a building at night.

By Sally Abou Aljoud

Nov. 18, 2024 2:06 PM PT

BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike slammed into a densely populated residential area in Lebanon’s capital near key government and diplomatic buildings late Monday, killing at least five people as the U.S. pressed ahead with cease-fire efforts.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two missiles hit the Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood — where local U.N. headquarters and Lebanon’s parliament and prime minister’s office are located.

Since late September, Israel has escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

The U.S. has been working on a cease-fire proposal that would remove Israeli ground forces from Lebanon and push Hezbollah forces far from the Israeli border. Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants, is expected to meet with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein in the Lebanese capital Tuesday. The White House has not confirmed Hochstein’s visit.

Labor Minister Mostafa Bayram, who met with Berri on Monday, said Lebanon would convey its “positive position” to the latest U.S. proposal.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strike, which also wounded 24 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Several areas in central Beirut, including Zuqaq al-Blat, have become refuges for many of the roughly 1 million people displaced by the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. The strike also occurred near a Shiite mosque.

The target of the airstrike remained unclear, and the Israeli army did not issue a warning. Ambulance sirens echoed through the streets as an Associated Press photographer saw significant casualties on the street.

It was the second consecutive day of Israeli strikes on central Beirut after more than a monthlong pause. On Sunday, a strike in Ras el-Nabaa killed Hezbollah media spokesperson Mohammed Afif, along with six other people. Later that day, four people were killed in a separate strike in the commercial district of Mar Elias.

The Israeli military has not said what the target of that strike was.

Minutes after Monday’s strike, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a post on X, “All countries and decision-makers are required to end the bloody and destructive Israeli aggression on Lebanon and implement international resolutions, most notably Resolution 1701.”

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, ended a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah and was intended to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. However, the resolution’s full implementation has faced challenges from both sides.

The resolution is again on the table as part of an American proposal for a cease-fire deal, aiming to end 13 months of exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli ground forces, who invaded southern Lebanon on Oct. 1, would fully withdraw from Lebanon, where the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL would be the exclusive armed presence south of Lebanon’s Litani River. Hezbollah would withdraw from the area.

A Western diplomat familiar with the talks told the Associated Press there is a sense of “cautious optimism.” The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes negotiations, said a final deal, however, was “still in the hands” of the warring players.

Israel is said to be pushing for guarantees it can continue to act militarily against Hezbollah if needed, a demand the Lebanese are unlikely to accept. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said Israel would continue attacking Hezbollah infrastructure while the U.S. and other countries led negotiations for the cease-fire. “The military campaign will continue until the immediate threat from Lebanon is removed,” he said.

Also on Monday, Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles against Israel. A rocket that hit the northern Israeli city of Shfaram killed one woman and injured 10, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire — 80% of them in the last eight weeks — according to Lebanon’s health ministry. In Israel, 77 people, including 31 soldiers, have been killed by Hezbollah projectiles, while more than 50 soldiers have been killed in the Israeli ground offensive.

Israel has said it is targeting Hezbollah to ensure that thousands of Israelis can return to their homes near the border.

In Gaza, the United Nations suffered its worst loss of humanitarian aid when desperately needed food was stolen from 98 out of 109 trucks over the weekend.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the U.N. doesn’t know who hijacked the trucks. “When armed people try to take control of a vehicle and goods, we’re not asking questions,” he told reporters Monday.

Only 11 trucks made it to a warehouse in the city of Deir al Balah on Saturday, making this theft “the worst in terms of volume” during the 13-month war in Gaza, he said. As for the rest of the vehicles, he said, “we no longer have control of the trucks,” which suffered “severe damage.” He said the U.N. has no information about the drivers.

Aid groups accuse the Israeli military of hindering and even blocking shipments in Gaza. Almost the entire population of around 2.3 million Palestinians relies on international aid for survival, and doctors and aid groups say malnutrition is rampant. Food security experts say famine may already be underway in hard-hit north Gaza.

Dujarric said the convoy was instructed to depart from Kerem Shalom border crossing Saturday morning “via an alternate, unfamiliar route.” He said the trucks were stolen not far from the Karem Abu Salem crossing and Gaza’s old airport.

The U.N. spokesman reiterated that the United Nations does not accept protection for its convoys from any warring party — referring to the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Israeli military.

“The best protection for us is for people to know that aid will come in every day at massive levels,” he said. “It’s pretty obvious that we would be an even greater target if we were surrounded by armed soldiers from one of the two parties during this conflict.”

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon blamed Hamas for stealing the aid trucks and holding the drivers at gunpoint. He gave a slightly different number — 97 looted trucks — speaking at a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday.

He said Israel will continue allowing trucks into Gaza but the U.N. and international organizations must step up aid distribution, and “the focus must also shift to Hamas’ constant hijacking of humanitarian aid to feed the machine of terror and misery.”

Aljoud writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.