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Targeting Hezbollah Leader.. 15 Killed in Violent Strike on Basta Fawqa
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Israel appears to be continuing its strategy of targeting leadership, despite Hezbollah's repeated denials of their leaders' presence in targeted locations
Additional information has emerged regarding the Israeli attack on the heart of the Lebanese capital early Saturday morning. Israeli security sources reported that the strike on the Basta Fawqa area in central Beirut targeted Hezbollah leader Mohammed Haider but failed to achieve its objective.
Hezbollah MP Amin Sherri refuted claims that the strike targeted any party leader, stating during his inspection of the strike site, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency, that "there were no party figures in the two targeted buildings." He added that there was a high toll of victims and injured "but no party figure with any title or position was present."
Fifteen people were killed and dozens were wounded in the Israeli strike that destroyed an 8-story residential building in the populated Basta Fawqa area, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The National News Agency reported that Israel used bunker-buster bombs, causing a deep crater, with the smell of explosives lingering in Beirut hours after the attack. Security sources indicated that at least 4 bombs were used in the attack.
This bombardment marks the fourth time the Lebanese capital has been targeted by Israel within a few days.
Last week, Israel began bombing the Mar Elias area, and before that Ras al-Nabaa where they assassinated Hezbollah's media official Mohammed Afif, as well as the Zuqaq al-Blat area located about 500 meters from the government and parliament headquarters, and previously Cola.
It's worth noting that after a year of cross-border fire exchange between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has escalated its attacks since September 23 on Hezbollah positions in southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburb, and began what it called "limited" ground operations on the 30th of the same month.
Recently, Israel has managed to eliminate several prominent Hezbollah leaders, particularly the party's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in a violent raid on Beirut's southern suburb on September 27.
Levant-Agencies
