Middle East latest: Israeli strike in Beirut killed 7 health and rescue workers

An Israeli strike the Lebanese capital Beirut killed seven health and rescue workers early Thursday, an Islamic health organization said.

The airstrike early in the residential Bashoura district targeted an apartment in a multi-story building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated to Hezbollah. It was the closest strike to the central downtown district of Beirut, where the United Nations and government offices are located.

The strike came as Israel was pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah, while also conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said eight soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

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Here is the latest:

Strike in Beirut suburb killed seven health and rescue workers

An Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killed seven health and rescue workers, an Islamic health organization said.

The airstrike in the residential Bashoura district targeted an apartment in a multi-story building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated to Hezbollah.

It was the closest strike to the central downtown district of Beirut, where the United Nations and government offices are located.

It was the second airstrike to hit central Beirut this week and the second to directly target the Health Society in 24 hours. No Israeli warning was issued to the area before it was hit. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike in central Beirut.

Israel has mostly concentrated its airstrikes in south and eastern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah has a strong presence, but its attacks have spanned the entire country and killed many civilians.

Beirut’s southern suburbs also saw heavy bombardment overnight in areas where the Israeli army had earlier issued a warning online for residents to evacuate.

Japan readies military jets for evacuations

TOKYO — Japan on Thursday dispatched two Self Defense Force planes to prepare for a possible airlift of Japanese citizens from Lebanon.

Two C-2 transport aircraft are expected to arrive in Jordan and Greece on Friday, Japan NHK national television reported.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that there has been no report of injury involving the about 50 Japanese nationals in Lebanon.

Japan dispatched SDF aircraft in October and November 2023 to evacuate more than 100 Japanese and South Korean citizens from Israel.

Australia plans evacuation flights from Lebanon

SYDNEY — Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday her government had booked 500 seats on commercial aircraft for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families to leave Lebanon on Saturday.

The seats are available to 1,700 Australians and their families known to be in Lebanon on two flights from Beirut to Cyprus, Wong said.

“What I would say to Australians who wish to leave, please take whatever option is available to you,” Wong told reporters in Geelong, Australia.

“Please do not wait for your preferred route,” she added.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry raises death toll to 6 from airstrike near central Beirut

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry raised the death toll to six from an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building near the center of Beirut early Thursday morning. It said seven people were injured in the attack.

The airstrike hit near the residential in t district. The previous death toll had been two with 11 people injured.

Residents reported a sulfur-like smell following the attack, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using internationally banned phosphorous bombs. Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says 2 killed in Israeli airstrike in central Beirut

BEIRUT — At least two people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the Lebanese capital, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.

A further 11 people were wounded in the attack in Beirut early Thursday, the ministry says.

The airstrike started a fire in an apartment in a multistory building in the residential Bashoura district, not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament. Ambulances rushed to the scene.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station says the strike targeted a center of the group’s health unit.

There was no warning issued ahead of the strike.

Israel’s UN ambassador calls Iran a ‘danger to the world’

UNITED NATIONS — Israel’s U.N. ambassador said Wednesday that the “the time for empty calls for de-escalation is over.”

Danny Danon told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that “Iran’s true face is one of terror, death and chaos.”

“This is no longer a matter of words,” he said. “Iran is a very real and present danger to the world, and if they are not stopped, the next wave of missiles will not be aimed solely at Israel,” he said.

He called Iran’s missile barrage aimed at Israel on Tuesday “a cold-blooded attack against 10 million civilians” and “an unprecedented act of aggression.”

Danon stressed that Israel will not stop until all of the hostages taken by Hamas and other militants are back in Israel.

“Let the world understand: Israel will defend itself, and we will do so with justice and strength,” he said.

Iran’s UN ambassador says Iran has ‘consistently pursued peace and stability’

UNITED NATIONS – Iran’s U.N. ambassador says Iran had to launch a barrage of missiles at Israel to “restore balance” after escalating Israeli violence in the region.

Amir Saeid Iravani told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the missile attack Tuesday was “a necessary and proportionate response to Israel’s continued terrorist aggressive acts over the past two months.”

He says Iran has “consistently pursued peace and stability” and that Israel sees Iranian restraint “not as a gesture of goodwill but as a weakness to exploit.”

“Each act of restraint taken by Iran has only emboldened Israel to commit greater crimes and more acts of aggression,” Iravani said. “Consequently, Iran’s response was necessary to restore balance and deterrence.”

He also accused the United States of complicity “in Israel’s crimes” by helping to arm the nation after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.