A senior Hezbollah figure has reportedly survived an Israeli assassination attempt during air strikes on two buildings in Beirut which killed 22 people and injured 117.
Security sources quoted by local media say Wafiq Safa - a close ally and brother-in-law of the armed group’s assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah - was the intended target of the deadliest attack so far.
He is head of Hezbollah’s liaison and co-ordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, according to Reuters news agency.
Neither the Israeli military nor Hezbollah have commented. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported Safa had not been inside of either of the bombed buildings.
Loud explosions were heard in Bachoura, a small Shia area of the Lebanese capital.
Rescuers were seen digging through the rubble of the densely packed residential neighbourhood of apartment buildings and small shops.
Ambulances rushed many injured to the American University hospital.
The attack happened at around 8pm local time with no warning in streets and flats would have been packed with people.
Among the dead were a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, according to a security source.
The air raid brought down one apartment building and wiped out the lower floors of the other.
It was the first time this area of Beirut, away from the southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed over the past weeks.
Many believe it could mark a new chapter in the Middle East war.
After killing most of Hezbollah’s leaders and military commanders, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s troops could be shifting its focus to other key figures.
The Israeli military issued a new evacuation warning on Thursday night for Beirut’s southern suburbs including specific buildings.
Earlier in the day, Israel warned Lebanese civilians that to avoid the fighting they should not return to homes in the south.
Thursday’s deadly attack came as a UN official told the security council that the safety of more than 10,400 peacekeepers in Lebanon was “increasingly in jeopardy” and operations had virtually halted since late September, coinciding with Israel’s escalation against Hezbollah.
Hours earlier, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured in southern Lebanon when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower causing them to fall, according to the UN.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) is a peacekeeping mission created in 1978, monitoring hostilities and helping to ensure civilians access humanitarian aid. The organisation’s chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said Unifil had decided to relocate about 300 staff to larger bases temporarily for their safety and that one contractor had already been killed.
Monday marked the first anniversary of Hamas’ murderous October 7 attacks on southern Israel, which triggered Israel’s subsequent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting the Israeli response to an Iranian missile strike on October 1.
