Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut

BEIRUT

Lebanese state media reported two Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, about an hour after the Israeli military posted evacuation calls online for parts of the Hezbollah bastion.

"Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in the Kafaat area," the official National News Agency said.

The southern Beirut area has been repeatedly struck since Sept. 23 when Israel intensified its air campaign also targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east and south. It later sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.

AFPTV footage showed grey smoke billowing over south Beirut.

The raids "caused massive destruction over a large geographical area" of the Kafaat district, NNA said.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned on social media platform X that the military would strike "Hezbollah facilities and interests" in the Hadath and Burj al-Barajneh districts, also sharing maps of the areas to be evacuated.

Lebanon raises toll to 29 killed in central Beirut Israeli strike

Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday that the Israeli strike on central Beirut's working-class Basta district on Nov. 23 killed at least 29 people, updating an earlier toll.

"The Israeli enemy strike on Basta al-Fawqa in Beirut killed, in an updated but still not final toll, 29 people and wounded 67 others," the ministry said in a statement.

"Rubble is still being removed" from the strike site, it added.

Hezbollah fires more than 185 rockets and other projectiles in response, wounding at least 7

Hezbollah fired at least 185 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding 7 people, in response to the deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Lebanon's military said an Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center killed one soldier and wounded 18 others on the southwestern coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura. Israel's military expressed regret and said the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah, adding that its operations are directed solely against the militants. The strike was under review.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on U.S.-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

Meanwhile, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday.