Israeli air strikes have hit buildings in central Beirut and a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza, killing at least 45 people and leaving dozens more wounded. In Lebanon, two sites were hit in central Beirut, causing widespread destruction and killing at least 22 people. The ministry said the strikes badly damaged a residential building and caused another to completely collapse.
An Associated Press photographer in the neighbourhood of Ras al-Nabaa said an air strike appeared to have hit the lower half of an eight-storey apartment building, setting off a series of loud explosions. The second Israeli strike, in the western area of Burj Abi Haidar, collapsed an entire building which was engulfed in flames.
In Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced people, killing 27 people, including a child and seven women, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The Israeli military said it targeted a militant command and control centre inside the school, without providing evidence. Witnesses said the strike occurred while school managers were meeting representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police who provide security.
Israeli Strikes Ignite Fury in Lebanon and Gaza (Image via Getty)
The strike has sparked widespread condemnation, with the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, sharply condemning Israeli strikes that hit UN positions as “an inadmissible act, for which there is no justification”. The UN peacekeeping force said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers.
The war has already killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The conflict has also destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of establishing militant infrastructure along the border in violation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. It has warned people to evacuate from dozens of communities in southern Lebanon, many of which are outside the buffer zone.
