By: Mohammed Jinadu
Two Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut on Thursday evening, in an attack which leveled an entire residential building, with fears of a mass casualty event.
At the upper Basta neighborhood where the multi-story building was hit is a densely populated neighborhood where hundreds of people have fled to after the intensive Israeli strikes in southern Beirut and other parts of Lebanon in recent weeks.
In the same event, two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon were injured in Israeli tank fire, the organization says. Italy summoned the Israeli ambassador, saying Italian bases were hit and calling Israel’s actions “unacceptable”.
Thick plumes of black smoke rose into the sky after strikes hit central Beirut Thursday evening.
Recall that the Defense Minister of Israel, Yoav Gallant, had earlier warned the retaliation would be “powerful, precise and above all – surprising.”
