Israeli airstrikes hit two buildings in central Beirut on Thursday, and Israel ordered residents to leave another area in southern Lebanon, intensifying its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The airstrike, around 5:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. Brasília time), hit a building in the Bachoura neighborhood, about 1 km from the Lebanese government’s headquarters, the Grand Serail, in central Beirut.
Before the attack, the Israeli military issued a warning informing residents who lived near a Hezbollah facility that they planned to target.
Israel launched an air and ground offensive last week against Hezbollah, which had launched attacks against Israel on March 2, which, according to it, were aimed at avenging the death of Iran’s supreme leader at the outset of the war between the United States and Israel against Iran.
Hezbollah fired rockets and drones at Israel every day since then, including its largest barrage on Wednesday night, which triggered heavy Israeli strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israel bombarded the southern and eastern parts of Lebanon and the southern suburbs of the capital, killing more than 600 people, according to Lebanese authorities. The country also ordered mass evacuations in these same areas, displacing more than 800,000 people from their homes.
The Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, said that the military had been instructed to expand its operations in Lebanon.
‘We promise peace and security for the northern communities, and that is exactly what we will fulfill,’ he stated at a meeting with senior military officials.
