At least 6 dead in Israeli airstrike in Beirut as foreign nationals evacuated

An Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in Beirut overnight killed at least six people and wounded seven, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Thursday, as governments around the world scrambled to evacuate their citizens from the country. The airstrike hit near the capital’s residential Bashoura district.

Local residents reported a sulfur-like smell after the attack, and Lebanon’s state news agency National News Agency accused Israel of using it Phosphor bombswhose use near civilian populations is prohibited under international law. Human rights groups have done this in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus Incendiary shells hit towns and villages in conflict-affected southern Lebanon.

NOTE: This article contains images of injured children that may be disturbing to some readers.

CBS News’ Haley Ott reported that Lebanese health officials said shortly before the attack that 46 people had been killed and 85 injured by Israeli strikes in the country in the past 24 hours.

Israel began the launch ground incursions invaded southern Lebanon this week and intensified its fight against the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah while it continues to be devastating War against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza killed more than 50 people, including children, near the town of Khan Younis on Wednesday, according to Palestinian health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave.

The war in the densely populated Palestinian territories has killed more than 41,500 people since it broke out nearly a year ago with Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

Fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon – a much larger and better armed group than Hamas – was described as intense by Israeli forces on Wednesday, they confirmed eight soldiers had died in the operations.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to address the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Iran’s UN ambassador said his country did so fired almost 200 rockets at Israel on Tuesday as a deterrent against further Israeli violence. His Israeli counterpart called the barrage an “unprecedented act of aggression.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, while an Iranian commander threatened major attacks on infrastructure if Israel did so.

President Biden said Wednesday that the United States and its other partners were in discussions with Netanyahu’s government about Israel’s upcoming response to the Iranian attack. Mr. Biden stressed that this must be “proportionate” to Iran’s missile salvo, which has been largely thwarted by the U.S. ally’s advanced missile defense systems.

Mr Biden said he would not support an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to the missile attack, but that the US and its global allies would support Israel’s right to respond.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that Iran’s attack was “completely unacceptable and the entire world should condemn it,” but that “Israel effectively repelled this attack with the active support of the United States and other partners.”

According to the Israeli government, there has been an almost daily firefight between Israel and Hezbollah on the border with Israel since the day after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, in which terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis and took 251 others hostage to Gaza South Lebanon. Fighting has increased dramatically in the past two weeks since Israel was accused explodes Thousands of communication devices belonging to Hezbollah members and Assassination of the group’s highest-ranking leader in a targeted attack in Beirut.

Japan sent two Self-Defense Force aircraft on Thursday to prepare for a possible airlift of Japanese citizens from Lebanon. And Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday her government had reserved 500 seats on commercial aircraft for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families scheduled to leave Lebanon on Saturday.