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Southern Beirut suburb hit by Israeli strike

Southern Beirut suburb hit by Israeli strike after days of retaliation threats
MENA
20 min read
30 July, 2024
A large strike was reported in Beirut's southern suburb on Tuesday evening, after days of threats from Israel.

Beirut was hit by a large Israeli airstrike on Tuesday evening with reports of damage to buildings as emergency services rushed to the scene.

News agency Reuters reported that a senior Hezbollah commander was said to be the target, but no reports of casualties as yet.

Footage shared online showed billows of smoke and a the side of a building crumbling. Emergency services rushed to the scene in the area of Haret Hreik in south Beirut, known as Dahiyeh.

The neighbourhood is recognised as an area with a large Hezbollah presence and home to many of Lebanon's Shia community, as well as migrant populations.

Gaza's civil defence and medical officials said on Tuesday that it had recovered bodies of 22 Palestinians found in eastern parts of Khan Younis city after Israeli troops withdrew from the area following a weeks-long offensive.

Hundreds of families returned on foot or in carts to eastern Khan Younis following Israel's reported withdrawal. Palestinians said they saw whole neighbourhoods flattened.

Overnight Monday and into Tuesday seven people were killed in the area by Israeli attacks and taken to Nasser Medical Complex, according to reports. 

Israeli shelling was also reported in and around Gaza City, north of Bureij camp in central Gaza and north of Rafah.

Meanwhile, Lebanon braced itself for a heavy Israeli response to the Majdal Shams attack, blamed on a Hezbollah missile, which killed twelve children. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be deciding “when and where” Israel would launch a retaliation.

Rocket attacks continued across the Lebanese-Israeli border known as the ‘blue line’ through Monday, with Hezbollah announcing the death of a fighter.

Health officials in Gaza warned that polio and skin diseases were spreading among children in the dense enclave as humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate with 90 percent of the population living in tents alongside a collapse in sewage and rubbish services and lack of clean water.

Negotiations to hammer out a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas are still stalled after several rounds of talks with mediators from the US, Qatar and Egypt.

Netanyahu and Hamas continue to trade blame for preventing a deal which aims to release the captives in Gaza and bring an end to nearly ten months of indiscriminate Israeli war, which has so far killed over 39,000 Palestinians while utterly devastating the Gaza Strip.