Beirut strikes reportedly target Hezbollah leader

APTOPIX Lebanon Israel

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs which reportedly targetted Hezbollah’s leader. Source: AAP / Hassan Ammar/AP

Israel's military says it's carried out strikes on Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut which it claims is buried underneath residential buildings south of the city. The strikes hit several buildings and US media is reporting Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target.


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TRANSCRIPT

Sounds of airstrikes

The sounds of Israeli air bombardment over a residential area in Lebanon's capital Beirut, captured by a local Telegram user.

The attacks reportedly levelled six buildings.

While rescue workers told Al Jazeera it's been difficult to assess the situation and recover bodies from the rubble so far, at least six people have been confirmed dead and 91 others wounded.

The death toll is expected to rise significantly.

Israel says it was a precise attack on Hezbollah's headquarters which it claims is embedded somewhere underneath the civilian-filled Dahiyeh neighbourhood.

And Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says more strikes are likely.

"As part of the extensive aerial operation to degrade Hezbollah's terrorist infrastructure and capabilities, we are preparing to conduct strikes on strategic assets that Hezbollah has hidden underground beneath three buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh in Beirut."

The bombardment follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting a 21-day ceasefire proposal from the United States, Australia and others, telling his military to fight on with full force.

Israel's escalation in its cross-border attacks with Hezbollah has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon since Monday, including at least 50 children.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has demanded an immediate ceasefire after these attacks to avoid an imminent all-out regional war.

"War in Lebanon could lead to further escalation involving outside powers. I fully support the proposal for a temporary ceasefire allowing for the delivery of humanitarian relief and paving the way for the resumption of serious negotiations for a durable peace across the blue line. We need this ceasefire now. We cannot afford endless negotiations as we have on Gaza. We must avoid a regional war at all costs."
 
The U-N refugee agency's representative in Syria, Gonzalo Varga Llosa, says well over 30,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria over the last three days.

"Now, these, of course, are people who are fleeing bombs and who are crossing into a country that has been suffering from its own crisis and violence for 13 years now. We can imagine. Oh, well, maybe we can't imagine, you and I, just, what an incredible, difficult choice to make, that is."

At the U-N, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the campaign in Lebanon will go on.

In a speech to the general assembly, boycotted by a number of delegates, he says Israel is being unfairly targetted by the international community for its war in Gaza and attacks on Lebanon.

"The singling out of the one and only Jewish state continues to be a moral stain on the United Nations. It has made this once respected institution contemptible in the eyes of decent people everywhere. The ICC, prosecutors rush to judgment. His refusal to treat Israel with its independent courts the way other democracies are treated is hard to explain by anything other than pure antisemitism."

Iran’s Foreign Minister told the U-N Security Council the attack on southern Beirut utilised what are known as “bunker buster” bombs supplied by the United States.

Iran, which supports Hezbollah, has denounced Israel's bombing of civilian areas with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling an emergency meeting of his national security council.

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