BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike that hit a central Beirut building early Saturday killed 11 people and wounded 63, raising an earlier toll as rescue efforts continued.
“The Israeli enemy strike on Basta al-Fawqa in Beirut killed 11 people, including a large amount of body parts that are being identified. The final death toll will be determined after DNA tests are carried out,” the ministry said in a statement. It added that 63 people had been wounded and that rescuers were still removing the rubble.
Five Israeli missiles struck a residential building in the heart of Beirut on Saturday, Lebanese state media earlier reported.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-storey residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in the Basta area,” the National News Agency reported.
Journalists heard at least three large explosions in the capital.
The strikes come after a day of bombardment in the capital’s southern suburbs as Israel fights the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
On Friday, air strikes on southern Beirut demolished an 11-storey building, as Israel kept up its bombardment of alleged strongholds of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes in the south of the country killed five paramedics.
