At least 22 killed, dozens wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Beirut

Israeli air strikes on central Beirut have killed 22 people and wounded at least 117, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says.

Videos published by local news channels and verified by media’s fact-checking agency show chaotic scenes in the aftermath of Thursday’s air strikes on Ras el-Nabaa and al-Nuweiri in Beirut.

The strikes appear to have hit densely populated residential areas as flames and smoke rose from two residential blocks.

Many residents left their apartments in the high-rise blocks in the area and gathered in courtyards as emergency services rushed to the scene.

The area is outside the city’s southern suburbs, where attacks by Israeli forces regularly occur.

media’s Dorsa Jabari, reporting from Beirut, said the attacks took place “in the heart of the Lebanese capital, where people have taken shelter over the past few weeks”.

The attacks, which came without warning, mark the third time since Israel expanded its campaign on Lebanon in late September that its bombs have hit outside Dahiyeh, a southern suburb that has seen near-daily air raids in recent weeks.

Israel also attacked Beirut’s Kola on September 29 and Bachoura on October 3.

There was no immediate comment on the incident by Israel, but its army issued a new evacuation warning on Thursday night for Beirut’s southern suburbs, including specific buildings.