Israeli Strikes Kill 22, Injure 117 In Central Beirut
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday has risen to 22, according to the country’s health ministry with reports indicating that Senior Hezbollah official, Wafiq Safa was the target in an air attack that has wounded more than 117 people.
According to the reports, one of the strikes hit the lower half of an eight-story apartment building in the area of Ras al-Nabaa, while the second strike, in the area of Burj Abi Haidar, collapsed an entire building, which was engulfed in flames.
There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military, which has launched frequent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in recent weeks, but strikes in central Beirut are rare.
Emergency workers and volunteers were seen handling search and rescue works around the demolished apartment building aftermath of the Israeli attack on the Nowayri neighbourhood of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon on Thursday, 10 October 2024.
In a related development, at least 28 people, including women and children, have been killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza on Thursday morning.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had responded to 27 fatalities and 54 injuries after the strike on the school-turned-shelter in Deir al-Balah. The Israeli military said it targeted militants who were operating in the compound.
Biden, Netanyahu On Iran’s Retaliation
The latest strikes come amid hints that United States (US) President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have moved closer to an understanding of the scope of Israel’s planned retaliation against Iran during their call on Wednesday.
Axios reports cited three unnamed US and Israeli officials as confirming the development, noting that the Biden administration accepts that Israel will soon launch a major attack on Iran. Still, it fears that current plans are more aggressive than the White House would like, the report said, and could dramatically escalate the regional war.
However, after the Biden-Netanyahu call, a U.S. official said, “We are moving in the right direction.” Axios reported that another U.S. official said the administration was a little less nervous about Israel’s plans after the call.
The Israeli security cabinet convened on Thursday night local time for a briefing about the plans to attack Iran and about the understandings with the Biden administration, Axios reported, citing Israeli officials.
IRGC Commander Esmail Ghaani Under Investigation
Meanwhile, mystery is the latest action surrounding the whereabouts and health of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander, Esmail Ghaani, amid reports that he was being investigated over how Israel managed to penetrate and crush the command structure of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia at the heart of the Iranian “axis of resistance”.
It is known that Ghaani, who leads the IRGC’s al-Quds force, was in Beirut at the time of the killing of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, but Iranian authorities have insisted he is alive, and even in line for an award for valour.
The Qatari-backed outlet Middle East Eye claimed Ghaani had been put under house arrest and was being investigated over the failures that allowed Israel to penetrate the Hezbollah network so effectively. Another Arabic outlet claimed Ghaani had suffered a heart attack during questioning.
Israeli sources said the reports, regardless of their veracity, showed the degree of stress inside the IRGC over the destruction of the Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon.
Ghaani was appointed commander of al-Quds, a branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in 2020. – With The Guardian report