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“The Israeli enemy’s attacks on the capital Beirut this evening resulted in an updated toll of 18 people killed and 92 others injured,” Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement read more
 "18 killed, 92 injured as fresh Israeli strikes target top Hezbollah official in Beirut")
People gather in front a destroyed building hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday. AP
Lebanon’s health ministry on Thursday said that at least 18 people were killed and 92 injured in fresh Israeli strikes that targeted a top Hezbollah official in central Beirut.
Israel has repeatedly pounded southern Beirut suburbs, the bastion of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, for more than two weeks but strikes have rarely targeted the city centre.
Earlier, the ministry had said that 11 people were killed an 48 injured.
“The Israeli enemy’s attacks on the capital Beirut this evening resulted in an updated toll of 18 people killed and 92 others injured,” AFP quoted Lebanon’s health ministry as saying.
Meanwhile, according to Times of Israel report, citing Hebrew and Arabic media, the target of the airstrikes was Wafiq Safa, one of the top political officials of Hezbollah and the head of its liaison and coordination unit.
Safa managed foreign relations for the group and made a trip to the United Arab Emirates in March, which was viewed as a potential thaw in relations between the group and the Gulf.
He also played a key role in the group’s security and notably threatened the judge investigating the Beirut port blast after the judge sought to interrogate Hezbollah-affiliated officials, added the report.
Safa was sanctioned in 2019 by the US Treasury Department, which described him as Hezbollah’s interlocutor to the Lebanese security forces.
“As the head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus, which is directly linked to Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, Safa has exploited Lebanon’s ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of Hezbollah, undermining the security and safety of the Lebanese people, while also draining valuable import duties and revenue away from the Lebanese government,” Times of Israel quoted the Treasury Department as writing at the time.
This is the third such attack beyond the southern suburbs of Beirut since Israel escalated its campaign against Hezbollah last month.
Following the airstrikes, ambulances rushed to the scene as reports of casualties emerged. Al-Makassed Hospital in central Beirut received several dead and wounded, reported Times of Israel.
Images from one airstrike site showed a collapsed apartment building, reminiscent of scenes from previous bombings in Dahiyeh, the southern suburbs of Lebanon.
Earlier in the day, Israel warned Lebanese civilians not to return to homes in the south to avoid harm from fighting.
The UNIFIL force said two of its peacekeepers were injured an incident when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s main headquarters in Ras al-Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing them to fall. There were no casualties in two other incidents, a U.N. source said.
“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that it was following up with the Israeli military.
Hezbollah said it had fired a missile salvo at Israeli forces on Thursday as they were trying to pull casualties out of the Ras al-Naqoura area, and they were directly hit.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
With inputs from agencies
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