Beirut:
Lebanon said an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed four people, including a child, near its largest public hospital near southern Beirut, with state media reporting more than a dozen attacks.
“An attack by Israeli enemies near Hariri Hospital killed four people, including a child, and injured 24 others,” the health ministry said, adding that the attack “caused significant damage to the hospital.”
The ministry said in a separate statement that the strike hit the entrance of the hospital “which is still operating and receiving a large number of patients”.
It denied the Israeli army’s claim that Hezbollah had stored $500 million under a Sahel hospital south of Beirut.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that Israel launched at least three attacks in the Uzai area south of Beirut.
While much of Beirut’s southern suburbs have emptied out, the densely populated residential area of Uzaei remains packed because it has never been targeted before.
-“There is no room for escape”-
The NNA reported more than a dozen attacks in various areas of southern Beirut, including Haret Hreik and Hadas, south of Ouzai.
Hezbollah-affiliated rescue workers told AFP they were searching for survivors amid the destruction in Uzai, adding that the evacuation order and subsequent strike caused “panic among residents” who “started running in the streets.”
“They left no room for people to escape. The strike came shortly after the warning,” one person said.
An Israeli airstrike near Beirut’s only international airport forced the Lebanese national airline, which is close to the main runway, to change its landing strip, a Lebanese security official told AFP.
“Middle East Airlines changed the runway it was using because the main runway was close to the Ozai strike site,” said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
AFP footage showed thick smoke billowing from Beirut’s southern suburbs, and AFP reporters heard several loud bangs before the attack.
The video also shows two attacks sparking a fire with black smoke billowing from the surrounding area and orange flames dissipating.
Just before the attack, the Israeli military in its latest appeal called on residents to leave parts of southern Beirut.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted a new appeal on social media, identifying several locations that needed to be evacuated, including an area near Beirut’s airport.
“You are located in the vicinity of Hezbollah-affiliated facilities and interests that the IDF will target in the near future,” he wrote.
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