31 people killed, including children, in Israeli strike on Beirut

By Nathan Morley

Lebanese authorities say around 31 people were killed by Friday’s Israeli airstrike on Beirut.

In Beirut on Saturday, rescue workers continued to search through the rubble of a high-rise building for any survivors. 

Hezbollah has confirmed its senior commanders Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi were both killed in the strike on Friday, which killed at least 31 people, including three children.

On Friday, Hezbollah attacked Israel with 140 rockets launched from Lebanon.

Israeli military campaign: focus on Lebanon

Last week, the Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed that the country was moving the focus of its military campaign to Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the death toll in explosions targeting radios and pagers across Lebanon has risen to 37. Tuesday's pager explosions killed 12 people, with over 2,000 others injured.

Meanwhile, the death toll in blasts of wireless devices on Wednesday rose to 25, with injuries topping 600.

Earlier this week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the explosions were shocking, causing an unacceptable impact on civilians.

Speaking at the UN Security Council, Lebanon's top diplomat called it an unprecedented method of warfare in its brutality and terror.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border intensified last year, following a volley of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023. 

Israel then hit back by firing heavy artillery toward south-eastern Lebanon.