Airstrike hits apartment in Beirut city centre – as minister warns Lebanon on ‘verge of catastrophe’
An apparent Israeli airstrike has hit an apartment building in central Beirut in what is believed to be the first attack in the centre of Lebanon’s capital city since the current conflict with Hezbollah began.
The residential neighbourhood in the Kola district – a major transportation hub – was hit early on Monday morning with images released by the Associated Press from the scene showing damage to buildings and emergency services gathered outside.
Palestinian militant group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – which is taking part in the fight against Israel and promotes a one-state solution to the conflict – claimed the strike killed three of its leaders.
A Lebanese civil defence official said at least one person was killed in the strike and 16 people were injured.
Lebanon ‘on verge of catastrophe’; follow Middle East latest
The Israeli military has not commented or confirmed it was behind the attack.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese health ministry claimed at least 105 people had been killed across the country in separate airstrikes on Sunday.
The scene after an apparent Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s city centre. Pic: AP
It claimed two attacks near the southern city of Sidon, about 28 miles south of Beirut, killed at least 32, and separate attacks in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed a further 21 and injured at least 47.
A further 11 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the northeastern Lebanese village of al Ain, according to Lebanon’s state news agency.
Six of the bodies were recovered but rescuers are still searching the rubble of the destroyed home for the remaining five, it added.
Personnel inspect damage after strike. Pic: AP
They are among the rough estimates from the Lebanese health ministry that say 1,000 have been killed and 6,000 wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes in the past two weeks.
The intensifying Israeli bombardment over the past couple of weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah officials, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Medical and security sources said over the weekend that Nasrallah’s body was found “intact” in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh – where senior members of the militant group were gathered.
Pic: AP
He was found with no direct wounds and is believed to have died from the blunt trauma of the explosion.
Hezbollah confirmed senior official Ali Karaki was also killed in Friday’s strike.
Footage from the site – a residential area of the Lebanese capital – shows a huge crater between high-rise buildings.
The site of Israel’s Friday airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Pic: Reuters
Damage at the site of Friday’s airstrike in Beirut. Pic: Reuters
‘Verge of coming to catastrophe’
The number of displaced people across the country has increased from 300,000 to almost a million in a matter of hours, Nasser Yassin, Lebanon’s head of emergency disaster management, said.
He told Sky News’ special correspondent Alex Crawford that despite hundreds of shelters being opened, Lebanon is “in a very critical moment”.
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Displaced people flock to Beirut mosque
“We don’t want this to collapse fully, but we are on the verge of coming to a catastrophic humanitarian situation,” he said.
Lebanon has one of the largest refugee populations per capita in the world – with 1.5 million Syrian refugees and 2,500 Palestinians – to a population of around 3.5 million.
In its first statement since Nasrallah’s death, the Lebanese military called for calm at “this dangerous and delicate stage” of the conflict.
Displaced people in southern Beirut following strikes this weekend. Pic: Reuters
But both Israel and Hezbollah continued to launch attacks on Sunday.
Israel also launched airstrikes against the Houthi militant group in Yemen – which is part of an Iran-aligned regional alliance, alongside Hamas and Hezbollah.
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The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in airstrikes on the country’s port of Hodeidah.
Israel claimed the strikes were a response to Houthi missile attacks.
World
Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes
Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The warrants against the senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that Israel launched following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks. It is unclear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding “whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The court originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and today announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
The new UK Labour government said in the summer it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters
Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Netanyahu previously spoke of his “disgust” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
“The court has minimised how Hamas fights – deliberately from within civilian infrastructure and cruelly using Palestinian civilians as human shields, tragically leading to many casualties,” the board said.
“Democratic governments, and people around the world, should consider how they would have responded to an October 7th perpetrated against their country, involving mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking.
“We should all be focused on defeating the Hamas terrorists, liberating the hostages, ensuring that civilians in Gaza receive all necessary aid and working towards a sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent these horrible conflicts in the future.
“The decision of the ICC is counter-productive in all these respects.”
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A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP
Warrant for Hamas leader
The ICC also said it has issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that he is responsible for crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes including taking hostages.
Discussing the 7 October attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings of members of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it therefore concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”
In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was not in a position to determine whether Al Masri is dead or alive, so was issuing the arrest warrant.
The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas who was subsequently killed in July.
The home secretary has refused to say if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he landed on British soil after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence secretary Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.
But Yvette Cooper said the ICC, which the UK is a member of, is independent and while the government respects that, it “wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment” on the processes involved.
She told Sky News: “We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process.
“What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
However, Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told Sky News: “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC.
“Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”
The government said after winning July’s election it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
An ICC arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks in Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel claims Al Masri was killed earlier this year but the ICC said that has not been confirmed, so it was issuing the arrest warrant.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (right) have arrest warrants against them. File pic: Reuters
Netanyahu’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary and he would guarantee the arrest warrant would “not be observed”.
However, both France and Italy signalled they would arrest Netanyahu if he came to their countries.
Read more:
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Why have arrest warrants been issued?
The ICC originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and on Thursday announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
It is the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.
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