Israeli strike on central Beirut kills 11, many injured

By Nathan Morley

As of late Saturday afternoon, rescuers were using heavy machinery to search for survivors in central Beirut. The explosions shook the Lebanese capital city, and footage showed a thick black plume of smoke rising high into the sky.

Reports on Lebanese radio say the attack, which happened at around 4 a.m., flattened an 8-story building in downtown Beirut, a densely populated area. 

Reports also say a Hezbollah leader was one of the targets.

The Israeli military said it had struck a number of sites linked to Hezbollah during the last 24-hours.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the Israeli military said it had carried out bombings "against Hezbollah terrorist targets in Dahiyeh [a southern suburb of Beirut], a key Hezbollah stronghold."

The targets included "several Hezbollah command centers, weapons storage facilities, and other terrorist infrastructure," the military said.

Elsewhere, three paramedics were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting their vehicle in southern Lebanon. 

Around the same time, four Italian peacekeepers were injured when two rockets hit the United Nations Interim Force in the south of the country.