Beirut buildings flattened by Israeli strikes on Hezbollah-run financial institutions
Beirut was rocked by explosions and missiles overnight as the Israeli military warned that residents should leave areas connected to Hezbollah's financial operations, ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith reports from Tel Aviv
Rescuers have worked to clear rubble in Beirut after Israeli strikes on Sunday night targeted nearly a dozen financial institutions run by the militant group Hezbollah.
The attacks flattened a nine-floor building but no casualties were reported. The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings ahead of the attacks.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said in a statement late on Sunday that residents should leave areas linked to the financial operations of Lebanon's Hezbollah group immediately.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has apologised for a strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday which killed three Lebanese soldiers.
The IDF said it struck a truck on Sunday that had entered an area where it had previously targeted a Hezbollah vehicle transporting a launcher and missiles.
IDF soldiers were not aware that the second truck belonged to the Lebanese army, an Israeli spokesperson said, adding the military is “not operating against the Lebanese Army and apologizes for these unwanted circumstances”.
On Sunday night in Beirut, after Hagari's warning about inbound attacks, explosions began in the city's southern suburbs and plumes of smoke billowed across the sky.
The strikes have targeted al-Qard al-Hassan "all over Lebanon,” a senior Israeli intelligence official said.
Al-Qard al-Hassan is a unit in Hezbollah that is used to pay operatives of the Iran-backed militant group and help buy arms, the official added.
The registered nonprofit, sanctioned by the US and Saudi Arabia, provides financial services and is also used by Lebanese civilians.
Blasts were heard in Lebanon's capital Beirut and smoke billowed through the dark skyline on Sunday
Al-Qard al-Hassan in a statement called the decision to target it a sign of Israel’s “bankruptcy” and assured customers it had taken “measures” to ensure their funds were safe. A stream of people left the areas surrounding its branches in Beirut.
There was no immediate information on what caused the explosions, or details of any casualties.
The blasts come a day after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in the Israel-Hezbollah war, and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut.
A year of escalating tensions and frequent cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the war in Gaza turned into an all-out war last month.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks, with Israel launching a ground invasion into Lebanon earlier this month.
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Since escalating its war against the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has been attacking the Lebanese capital and other areas in the south of the country with unprecedented intensity.
The strikes have often targeted crowded areas and destroyed residential buildings.
Meanwhile, a senior UN official warned on Sunday that the "nightmare in Gaza is intensifying" after at least 87 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
In recent weeks the Israeli military has been carrying out intense bombardment of northern Gaza, saying it wanted to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping there.
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