BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military said Friday it carried out a “precise strike” on the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut.
The Israeli army’s spokesman, Daniel Hagari, made the announcement in a televised address after the explosion in Beirut sent massive clouds of orange and black smoke billowing in the skies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had addressed the U.N. earlier in the day.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
BEIRUT (AP) — A series of intense Israeli airstrikes hit one of Beirut’s heavily-populated southern suburbs on Friday as blasts were heard throughout the Lebanese capital.
It was not immediately clear what the target was but thick black smoke was seen billowing from the area.
The massive explosion was so powerful it rattled windows and shook houses some 30 kilometers north of Beirut. Ambulances were seen headed to the scene of the explosions, sirens wailing.
The strike came an hour after thousands of people attended the funeral of a top Hezbollah commander who was killed the day before.
Earlier in the day, an Israeli airstrike killed a family of nine in a Lebanese border village, authorities said, as Lebanon struggled to deal with a rising death toll, a wave of tens of thousands fleeing their homes and the possibility of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.