Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 20 people in central Beirut, Lebanese officials have said, while diplomats scrambled to broker a ceasefire.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 66 people were also injured in the strikes on Saturday, which were the fourth in central Beirut in less than a week, as the once-rare attacks on the heart of the country’s capital continue without warning.
The escalation comes after US envoy Amos Hochstein travelled to the region in pursuit of a deal to end months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of the country’s population. On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel.
The 4am strikes on Saturday turned an eight-story building in central Beirut into rubble. Hezbollah legislator Amin Shiri said no Hezbollah officials were inside. The attack stripped the facades from some nearby buildings and crumpled cars.
“The area is residential, with closely packed buildings and narrow streets, making the situation challenging,” said Walid Al-Hashash, a first responder with the Lebanese Civil Defense.
Israel’s military did not comment on the casualties.
Also on Saturday, a drone strike killed two people and injured three in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency.
Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area, said those killed were Palestinian refugees from nearby al-Rashidieh camp who were out fishing.
Despite a warning last month by Israel’s army to avoid Lebanon’s southern coast, “you can’t tell someone who needs to eat that you can’t fish”, Bikai said.
The health ministry said other airstrikes killed eight people, including four children, in the eastern town of Shmustar, five others in the southern village of Roumin, and another five people in the northeastern village of Budai.
The attacks come as two Western diplomatic officials on Saturday described disputed points between Israel and Lebanon in ceasefire negotiations. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks.
The current proposal calls for a two-month ceasefire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River. Thousands more Lebanese army troops would patrol the border area with UN peacekeepers, and an international committee would monitor the deal’s implementation.
The officials said Israel wanted more guarantees that Hezbollah’s weapons are removed from the border area. Israeli officials have said they would not agree to a deal that did not explicitly grant them freedom to strike in Lebanon if they believe Hezbollah is violating it.
Lebanese officials have said the inclusion of such a term would violate their country’s sovereignty. And Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said this week that the militant group would not agree to a deal that does not entail a “complete and comprehensive end to the aggression”.
Lebanon and Israel also dispute which countries would sit on the monitoring committee. The officials said Israel refused to allow France, which has been close with Lebanon since its colonial rule there ended. Lebanon refused to have Britain, a close ally of Israel.
Additional reporting by agencies
