Israeli airstrikes killed 22 people and injured more than 100 in central Beirut on Thursday, Lebanese authorities reported, as a senior Hezbollah official narrowly escaped an Israeli assassination attempt, according to three security sources.
Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, two U.N. peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower near the U.N.’s main headquarters in Naqoura, raising concerns about the growing danger to U.N. personnel.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which began a year ago when the resistance group launched attacks in support of Hamas during Israel's genocidal Gaza war, has escalated sharply in recent weeks.
Israel has intensified its bombings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the south, and the Bekaa Valley, killing several of Hezbollah’s top leaders.
Wafiq Safa, head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, was targeted by Israel on Thursday night but survived, the security sources said.
The Israeli strikes hit a densely packed residential neighborhood of apartment buildings and small shops in the heart of Beirut.
"I was praying. We heard the first strike, and I thought it was in my house. The second one was much more powerful," said Ala’a Baydoun, a resident whose home was damaged. "I went to see where the strike was, and I saw that my windows and glass had shattered. It was a horrifying scene, something unbelievable."
Israel did not issue evacuation warnings ahead of the strikes and had not previously attacked the area, which is away from Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported 22 dead and 117 wounded.
Among the victims was a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, according to a security source.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,169 people in Lebanon over the past year, according to the Lebanese government’s daily update.
The majority have been killed since Sept. 23, when Israel expanded its military campaign.
The attempt on Safa’s life, whose role bridges security and political affairs, marks a broadening of Israel’s targets among Hezbollah officials, which had previously focused on the group’s military commanders and top leaders.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from Israel or Hezbollah.
Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah have both backed a cease-fire as a way to end the conflict, but diplomats fear diplomacy has been overshadowed by Israel's increased military operations.
Lebanon’s acting U.N. Ambassador Hadi Hachem told the Security Council that "only diplomatic solutions and the implementation of international resolutions, along with a commitment to international law and humanitarian law, can end this war and aggression."
Israel said it had killed Muhammad Abdullah, the head of Islamic Jihad’s network in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nur Shams in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Friday that two people were killed in an Israeli strike on Nur Shams.
Abdullah, who Israel said had been involved in several attacks against its soldiers, was killed in a strike near Tulkarm, the Israeli military and security agency said in a statement Friday.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said two of its personnel were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower on Thursday at its main headquarters in Naqoura, causing the peacekeepers to fall.
The two peacekeepers, from Indonesia’s contingent, were in good condition after being treated for minor injuries, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement.
The safety of more than 10,400 U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon is "increasingly in jeopardy," and operations have virtually halted since late September, U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council.
This coincides with Israel’s escalation of its conflict with Lebanon.
UNIFIL called attacks on peacekeepers "a grave violation of international humanitarian law."
The White House said the U.S. was deeply concerned by reports that Israeli forces fired on U.N. positions and was pressing Israel for more information.
Israel’s military said in a statement its troops were operating in the Naqoura area, "next to a UNIFIL base."
"Accordingly, the IDF instructed U.N. forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, after which Israeli forces opened fire in the area," the statement said, adding that it maintains routine communication with UNIFIL.
Despite Israeli attacks and orders by the Israeli military to leave, peacekeepers remain at their posts, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.
In New York, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel recommends UNIFIL relocate 5 kilometers (3 miles) north "to avoid danger as fighting intensifies."
Danon said attacking Hezbollah was necessary so 70,000 displaced Israelis could return to homes in northern Israel.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation, awaiting Israel’s response to an Iranian missile strike on Oct. 1.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said de-escalation was necessary.
"We have got to reach a cease-fire," Harris told reporters as she left Las Vegas, commenting on the situations in Gaza and Lebanon. "We’ve got to de-escalate."
A cease-fire remains elusive in Gaza and Lebanon. Washington’s occasional condemnation of Israel over civilian deaths has mostly been verbal, with no substantial change in policy.
