dpa
Beirut
At least 15 people were killed and dozens more injuredin a powerful Israeli strike that flattened a multi-storey building in densely populated central Beirut, theLebanese Health Ministry said on Saturday.
Body parts were recovered from the rubble of the building in the Basta district and will be identified, it said. The dawn attack was unleashed without any advance warning from the Israeli military, and causedhigh casualties among civilians, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The residential area that was struck is not far from the parliament and the Grand Serail government palace. Lebanese security sources said that the attack was aimed at an official from the pro-Iranian LebaneseHezbollah militia.
Violent explosions that resulted from the attackshook the entire city. A huge crater was seen where the eight-story structurehad previously stood while surrounding buildings were heavily damaged.
A weeping doctor stood on top of the rubble of the collapsed building.
“My mother and sister are still under the rubble,” said the doctor who declined to be identified as civil defence workers frantically searched forsurvivors.
A Lebanese man, who identified himself as Mohammed,stood outside his small house gazing at the havoc.
“My motherand my 3-year-old daughter weresleeping here,” he said as he pointed at the rubble. “They are now in the hospital suffering from various wounds,” he added.
Meanwhile, at least 13 people were killed on Saturday by Israeli airstrikes targetting villages near the ancient city of Baalbeck in eastern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry and security sources in the country.
The first strike hit Shmestar in the Baalbeck-Hermel region, killing eight people, including four children, the ministry said. An additional nine other people were wounded in the strike. Security sources stated that at least three Israeli airstrikes targeted the area, with the final strike hitting a three-storey residential building. Rescue operations are ongoing.
The other strike hit the village of Bodai at the outskirts of Baalbeck, according to the ministry. The village is known as a stronghold of the Lebanese militant Islamist Hezbollah movement.
In southern Lebanon,Israeli ground troops wereadvancing into strategically important locations, according to Lebanese security sources.
They added that the Israeli forces hadadvanced into the Christian town of Deir Mimas in southern Lebanon. Deir Mimas is considered strategically important in the current fighting, as the Litani River can be observed from the east.
