Israeli strikes devastate Dahiyeh, claim 24 lives in northeast Lebanon

Israel’s air force pounded Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh overnight, destroying dozens of buildings in several neighbourhoods.

Several hours after the strikes, smoke was still rising from the rubble of some of the collapsed structures.

Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 24 people in the country’s northeast on Friday, raising the death toll from eight fatalities reported earlier there. Lebanese officials have not yet released casualty figures from the Dahiyeh strikes.

Despite growing pressure from the United States and others in the international community for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, intensified Israeli strikes against the Hezbollah militant group are expanding beyond Lebanon’s periphery.

Lebanon’s Heath Ministry said more than 2,800 people have been killed and 13,000 wounded since 8 October 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets almost daily into Israel, drawing retaliation.

Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon at the start of last month.

According to Palestinian health officials, more than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the year-long conflict between Israel and Hamas, without specifying how many of the casualties were civilians or combatants.

The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.