Deadly Israel strike hits close to Beirut hospital

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Rescue workers search for survivors at the site of an Israeli strike near Rafik Hariri University Hospital. [Yara Nardi/Reuters]

Published On 22 Oct 202422 Oct 2024

Thirteen people, including a child, have been killed in an Israeli strike near a hospital in southern Beirut, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says.

The overnight attack near Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon’s biggest public health facility, located a few kilometres from the city centre, also wounded 57 people, the ministry said on Tuesday. Rescuers were searching for survivors beneath the rubble.

Israel had issued evacuation warnings shortly before targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs with heavy strikes.

There was no warning, however, for the area around Rafik Hariri Hospital, which is densely populated and has seen an influx of people displaced from areas farther south.

Nearly a month of war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed at least 1,489 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanese Health Ministry figures.

More than a million people are reported to have been displaced, and tens of thousands have crossed the border to neighbouring Syria.

The overnight strikes on Beirut’s Ouzai and Jnah neighbourhoods triggered an exodus of residents, piling more pressure on shelters struggling to accommodate the displaced.

Israel issued no warning before the attack for the area near Lebanon's largest public hospital. [Yara Nardi/Reuters]

Lebanon's Health Ministry said 13 people, including a child, were killed in the attack in southern Beirut. [Yara Nardi/Reuters]

Fifty-seven other people were reported to have been wounded in the strike. [Yara Nardi/Reuters]

The hospital is located a few kilometres from the centre of Beirut. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

The area around the hospital is densely populated and has seen an influx of people displaced from areas farther south that have been subject to heavier bombardment. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

Rescue workers search for victims at the site of the Israeli strike, which destroyed buildings facing the hospital. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]

Nearly 1,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel stepped up its air strikes on the country and began a ground offensive in southern Lebanon last month. [Hussein Malla/AP Photo]