Aftermath of Israeli air strikes in central Beirut

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Members of the Lebanese civil defence battle a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's Basta neighbourhood on October 11

Members of the Lebanese <span>civil defence</span> battle a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's Basta neighbourhood on Friday [AFP]

Published On 11 Oct 2024

At least 22 people were killed and 117 others wounded in Israeli air strikes in central Beirut on Thursday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said, in the third such attack on the centre of the Lebanese capital since Israel escalated its bombing campaign last month.

Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan said many people who had been displaced from southern Lebanon in recent weeks had sought shelter in the capital.

“Many people who had fled southern Lebanon had found shelter here, and it’s just becoming re-traumatising, unpredictable and dangerous,” Khan said.

The injured were brought to local hospitals, which sent out a warning asking people not to donate blood because they were already overwhelmed by the number of casualties and the inflow of family members.

Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground said a family of five people that had fled southern Lebanon was killed alongside three relatives who were hosting them.

The attacks, which came without warning, mark the third time since Israel expanded its campaign on Lebanon in late September that its bombs have hit outside Dahiyeh, a southern suburb that has seen near-daily air raids in recent weeks.

A Lebanese security source, without giving further details, said a “Hezbollah figure” was targeted after a series of killings of top officials in the Iran-aligned movement.

Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli air strike, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11

Emergency personnel work at the site of an Israeli air strike, in Beirut, Friday. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]

Members of the Lebanese civil defence dig through debris at the site of an Israeli strike on Beirut's Basta neighbourhood on October 11

At least 22 people were killed in Israeli strikes on a densely populated area of central Beirut on Thursday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, with a security source saying a "Hezbollah figure" was the target. [AFP]

Boys look at the damage at the site of an Israeli air strike, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11

Boys look at the damage at the site of an Israeli air strike. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]

Ahmad al-Khatib stands in his in-laws apartment where he, his wife, Marwa Hamdan, and their 2 and a half-year-old daughter, Ayla, suffered injuries when an Israeli strike destroyed a three-story building next to theirs, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11

Ahmad al-Khatib stands in his in-laws apartment where he, his wife, Marwa Hamdan, and their two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Ayla, suffered injuries when an Israeli strike destroyed a three-storey building next to theirs. [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo]

Maha Haddad, mother-in-law of Ahmed Al-Khatib cleans rubble in their damaged apartment at the strike site in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11

Maha Haddad, mother-in-law of Ahmad al-Khatib, cleans rubble in their damaged apartment at the strike site. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]

Relatives of Ahmed Al-Khatib clean rubble in their damaged apartment at the strike site in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11

Relatives of Ahmed al-Khatib clean rubble in their damaged apartment at the site of the attack. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]

Kamal Khatib, a volunteer with the Animals Lebanon rescue group, kisses kittens after rescuing them from debris of destroyed buildings at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11

Kamal Khatib, a volunteer with the Animals Lebanon rescue group, kisses kittens after rescuing them from debris of destroyed buildings at the site of Thursday's Israeli air strikes. [Bilal Hussein/AP Photo]

People walk past the rubble of a building at the site of an Israeli strike on the Basta neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital Beirut on October 11

People walk past the rubble of a building at the site of an Israeli attack on the Basta neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital. [AFP]

Lebanese women pass next of destroyed cars, at the site of Thursday's Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11

Lebanese women walk past destroyed cars at the site of Thursday's Israeli air strikes. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

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