Israel Targets Beirut Hotel Amid Expanding War with Iran and Allies
Health authorities in Lebanon say an Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut has killed at least four people, as Israel claimed the attack targeted commanders linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) amid an expanding regional conflict.
Early Sunday, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said an Israeli air raid struck a hotel room in the Raouche district of Beirut, a well known tourist area along the Mediterranean coast. In addition to the four fatalities, at least 10 others were injured.
Raouche had previously escaped Israeli strikes during the earlier war between Israel and Hezbollah, which ended with a ceasefire in November 2024, as well as during subsequent Israeli operations that critics say violated the agreement.
The coastal district hosts numerous hotels, many of which are now filled with displaced civilians who fled fighting in other parts of Lebanon. The targeted hotel was also sheltering people who had escaped violence in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, and some residents were seen evacuating the building amid fears of additional air strikes.
In a statement, the Israeli military said the strike was aimed at key commanders of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, though it did not disclose their identities. According to the military, the targeted figures were involved in planning attacks against Israel while coordinating operations for the IRGC.
Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency reported that at least 12 people were killed in three separate overnight strikes.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had launched another wave of attacks in Beirut, focusing on the city’s southern suburbs, an area widely considered a stronghold of Hezbollah. Footage from the area showed plumes of smoke following what appeared to be multiple air strikes hours apart.
The overnight raid marked the second Israeli strike on a hotel in the Beirut area this week. On Wednesday, an air strike hit a hotel in the largely Christian district of Hazmieh on the outskirts of the capital.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had launched rocket attacks early Sunday targeting Israeli forces and a city across the border, and reported clashes between its fighters and Israeli troops near the border town of Aitaroun.
Air raid sirens were also heard across several areas in northern Israel, though there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Separately, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation warning for four villages in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that the humanitarian and political consequences of the mass displacement could be unprecedented, saying Lebanon had been dragged into a destructive war it neither sought nor chose.
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