17 Israeli strikes hit Beirut suburbs, 6 buildings levelled

Beirut: Lebanon state media reported 17 Israeli raids on Beirut's southern suburbs, with six buildings levelled and the vacated offices of a pro-Iran broadcaster hit on Wednesday, as the Iran-Hezbollah war reached its one-month mark.

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

The official National News Agency (NNA) reported at least 17 Israeli raids, marking one of the most violent nights in the area since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on September 23.

Six buildings were destroyed around the suburb of Laylaki, NNA said, calling the raids “the most violent in the area since the beginning of the war”.

The strikes came shortly after the Israeli military's 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 neighbourhood in southern Beirut.

That strike killed one person and wounded five others, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Pro-Iran broadcaster Al-Mayadeen on Wednesday said an Israeli strike targeted an office it had vacated there, adding that it holds the Israeli army “responsible”.

NNA said the Al-Mayadeen office was located in an apartment in a residential building in Jnah.

The office was hit by two rockets and “completely destroyed” in the strike, which sparked a blaze inside, NNA added.

Al-Mayadeen's office is located near the former premises of the Iranian embassy in Beirut and close to a Lebanese army checkpoint.

On September 23, Israel launched an intensive air campaign in Lebanon, after almost a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah over the Gaza war.

Since then, at least 1,580 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures, although the real number is likely to be higher due to data gaps.