Rare Israeli strike in central Beirut apartment kills 7

Associated Press Beirut: An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed seven Hezbollah-affiliated civilian first responders. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital. There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central Beirut not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister's office and parliament. Hezbollah's civil defence unit said seven of its members were killed.

The Lebanese Red Cross, meanwhile, said an Israeli strike wounded four of its paramedics and killed a Lebanese army soldier as they were evacuating wounded people from the south. It said the convoy near the village of Taybeh, which was accompanied by Lebanese troops, was targeted Thursday despite coordinating its movements with UN peacekeepers. In a separate development, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of villages and towns in southern Lebanon that are north of a United Nations- declared buffer zone established after the 2006 war. The warnings issued Thursday signalled a possible broadening of Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon, which until now has been confined to areas close to the border. At least eight Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, where Israel announced the start of what it says is a limited ground incursion earlier this week.

The region was meanwhile bracing for Israeli retaliation following an Iranian ballistic missile attack. Residents reported a sulfur-like smell following strike in Beirut, and Lebanon's state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using phosphorous bombs, without providing evidence. Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Hezbollah has an armed wing with tens of thousands of fighters but it also has a political movement and a network of charities staffed by civilians. In a separate development, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they had launched two drones at Tel Aviv overnight. The military said it identified two drones off the coast of the bustling metropolitan area, shooting one of them down while the other fell in the Mediterranean Sea.

The escalating violence in Lebanon has opened a second front in the war between Israel and Iranbacked militants that began nearly a year ago with Hamas' surprise Oct 7 attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed a senior Hamas leader in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip around three months ago. It said that a strike on an underground compound in northern Gaza killed Rawhi Mushtaha and two other Hamas commanders.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas. Mushtaha was a close associate of Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas who helped mastermind the Oct 7 attack. Sinwar is believed to be alive and in hiding inside Gaza.