Death toll from Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburb rises to 6

BEIRUT

The Lebanese Health Ministry announced late Friday that the number of fatalities from the Israeli airstrike in the evening on the Haret Hreik neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburb has increased to six, with 91 more people injured.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli jets conducted several heavy airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, claiming to have targeted the main headquarters of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

In a statement, the Lebanese Health Ministry said operations to remove rubble in the targeted area are still underway.

Separately, the ministry reported that four more people were killed and 17 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on Baadaran, a town in central Lebanon.

According to an Anadolu correspondent in Beirut, Israeli warplanes launched 10 airstrikes on the southern suburb, which is regarded as a Hezbollah stronghold, and a large smoke plume was seen over the area later.

Shortly after the strikes, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the attack targeted Hezbollah's main headquarters, which he claimed was built underneath civilian buildings.

Following the airstrike, Israeli media said the army was verifying whether Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was inside the targeted area.

Lebanon's Health Ministry reported that two people were killed and 76 others were injured as a result of the strikes. But Prime Minister Najib Mikati later said information indicated that there were "a large number of people."

Hezbollah is yet to comment on the attack.

Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday morning, killing over 700 people and injuring nearly 2,200 others, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The ministry also said that the death toll in Lebanon since last October is 1,540, in addition to more than 77,000 displaced from southern and eastern parts of the country.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of turning the Gaza conflict into a regional war.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar