IDF pounds Beirut after Hezbollah’s rocket attack at central Israel Thursday

Israeli army has descended heavily on Lebanon as series of airstrikes have been launched on Beirut’s southern suburbs, destroying six buildings and causing widespread fires.

The air raid is coming after the Lebanese terror group, Hezbollah fired rockets at central Israel as the country began marking the Simhat Torah holiday.

AFPTV footage showed a massive explosion followed by smaller blasts after an Israeli army evacuation warning for the area, where Hezbollah holds sway.

The strikes came shortly after the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued evacuation warnings on social media platform X.

There was no warning, however, for a strike that hit the Jnah neighborhood in southern Beirut that targeted an office the pro-Iran TV channel Al-Mayadeen said it vacated.

“Al-Mayadeen holds the Israeli occupation accountable for the attack on a known media office for a known media outlet,” said the pan-Arab broadcaster, which is aligned with Hezbollah.

The strike killed one person and wounded five others, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The name of the person killed was unknown.

Meanwhile, before the Israel-Hezbollah border skirmishes began last year, at least 50,000 people lived in Tyre, a vibrant city home to both Christians and Muslims. The city was emptied of most of its population when Israel’s escalated its offensive against Hezbollah last month.

Only 14,500 remained there on Tuesday, said Bilal Kashmar of Tyre’s disaster management unit.

But the city saw a fresh exodus on Wednesday as people began to escape immediately after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for four neighborhoods at 8am.

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