Israeli strike on residential building in central Beirut

The National News Agency Ani reports a “large number of dead and injured”.

An Israeli airstrike with “five missiles” targeted an eight-story residential building in the heart of Beirut, completely destroying it, state media said on Saturday, November 23, as the open war between Israel and Hezbollah enters its third month.

“The capital Beirut woke up to a terrifying massacre, with Israeli aircraft completely destroying an eight-story residential building using five missiles on Maamoun Street in the Basta neighborhood.”said the National Information Agency Ani. Ani added that rescuers were working to clear the rubble, reporting a “large number of dead and injured”.

AFP journalists across Beirut and surrounding areas reported at least three loud explosions, followed by a pungent smell, after a day of intense bombing targeting Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of pro-Hezbollah Iranian, in open war against Israel.

The strike damaged several nearby buildings and ambulances flocked to the site of the targeted building, which turned into a pile of rubble, in this popular and densely populated district of Basta, according to AFPTV images.

The center of the Lebanese capital has been targeted several times in recent months. Last Sunday, Hezbollah's media manager and four other members of his media team were killed in an Israeli strike targeting Ras el-Nabaa, a neighborhood near Basta, which left seven dead, according to the Ministry of Health.

A second Israeli bombing a few hours later on the Mar Elias shopping district left three people dead and 29 injured, according to this source. In mid-October, more than twenty people were killed when an Israeli strike on Basta and the neighboring district of Noueiri left 22 dead.