Israel attacks heart of Beirut as Hezbollah pushes back in southern Lebanon | Israel attacks Lebanon news

Israel’s military has killed at least six people in an airstrike on central Beirut after suffering casualties in fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The attack on the Lebanese capital took place overnight and hit a residential building in the residential district of Bashoura, not far from parliament. Lebanese health authorities said another seven people were injured.

The attack is the second on the Lebanese capital this week. Hezbollah-allied al-Manar television said the apartment building was linked to the armed group’s health unit.

Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from the scene and said the sound of the explosion “reverberated around the buildings, shocking everyone nearby.”

Meanwhile, rockets also hit Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, a densely populated residential area that is also a Hezbollah stronghold and where the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed last week.

The elimination of Nasrallah dealt a major blow to the movement and removed Iran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East.

Hezbollah and Iran’s other regional allies, the Houthis in Yemen and armed groups in Iraq, have launched attacks in the region to support Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis, who have carried out attacks on shipping routes in and around the Red Sea that have disrupted international trade, said on Thursday they had attacked Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv with drones.

“The operation successfully achieved its objectives through the arrival of the drones without being detected or shot down by the enemy,” said the group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree.

Israel said it intercepted a suspicious air target in central Israel early Thursday.

A day after Iran fired more than 180 rockets at Israel, Israel said on Wednesday eight soldiers were killed in ground fighting in southern Lebanon as its troops invaded its northern neighbor.

Dozens of Israeli soldiers have also been injured since the ground offensive began on Tuesday.

Hezbollah reported that its fighters forced Israeli soldiers to withdraw from more than one location along the border.

The Lebanese group’s media chief, Mohammad Afif, said the fighting was only the “first round” and that the armed group had enough fighters, weapons and ammunition to push Israel back.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from Hasbaiyya in southern Lebanon, said Thursday morning that Israel appeared to have changed course after its losses.

“It had to be done [fall] back. It’s about soldiers lost when it penetrates through the ground, so it didn’t happen overnight, so again it’s this airstrike campaign where Israel really has the upper hand,” he said.

Khan reported that the two sides exchanged fire near the town of Nabatieh, which has been hit hard in recent days.

“We still hear a lot of airstrikes and a lot of artillery, but we also hear Hezbollah rockets being fired,” he said, referring to Hezbollah’s claim that it fired about 200 rockets at Israel.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday it fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli military helicopter flying over Beit Hillel in northern Israel, forcing it to retreat. The group did not say whether the helicopter was hit and there was no comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has said its ground offensive in Lebanon is largely aimed at destroying tunnels and other infrastructure on the border and that there are no plans for a broader operation targeting Beirut in the north or major cities in the south.

Still, it issued new evacuation orders for about two dozen towns along the southern border and urged residents to move north of the Awali River, which flows east-west about 60 km (40 miles) north of the Israeli border.

On Thursday, the Israeli military continued to urge residents of Lebanese villages who had evacuated their homes not to return until further notice. “The IDF (Israeli Army) raids continue,” spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 46 people in the southern and central regions within 24 hours.

Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati said about 1.2 million Lebanese had been displaced by Israeli attacks.