BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 10 (Askume) – A senior Hezbollah official survived an Israeli assassination attempt in Beirut on Thursday, three security sources said, after Israeli attacks on Beirut killed 22 people and the United Nations said up to 100 people were killed in southern Lebanon. Many were killed.
Wafik Safa, head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for cooperation with Lebanese security agencies, was attacked by Israel late Thursday but escaped, security sources said.
Earlier on Thursday, a Lebanese security source told Askume that at least one senior official of the Iran-backed Hezbollah was targeted in Israeli air strikes in central Beirut.
The Israeli attack took place in central Beirut, a densely populated residential area filled with apartment buildings and small shops. Israel has never before attacked that area, which is far from Beirut’s southern suburbs and where Hezbollah headquarters have been repeatedly bombed by Israel.
Israel did not issue any evacuation warning ahead of Thursday’s attack, the deadliest assault in central Beirut since hostilities began.
The number of casualties rose rapidly and around midnight, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that 22 people had been killed and 117 injured. According to security sources, the dead included eight members of a family from the south, including three children.
Askume witnesses said at least one attack occurred near a gas station and thick smoke could be seen. Video broadcast by Hezbollah’s Mannar television showed rescue workers searching for survivors in rubble, with fires burning in the background.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the incident.
Safa was one of the few senior figures to survive the group’s top efforts to regroup after Israel killed several senior Hezbollah officials in recent weeks, including top leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The attempted assassination of Safa extends Israel’s targeting of Hezbollah officials, having previously primarily targeted the group’s military commanders and top leaders.
According to Middle Eastern media reports, Safa, who was born in 1960, led negotiations for a deal in 2008 under which Hezbollah would return the bodies of Israeli soldiers captured in 2006 to Israel in exchange for the surrender of the bodies of Lebanese prisoners. The 2006 incident triggered a 34-day war with Israel.
Askume also reported that Safa had warned a judge investigating Beirut’s devastating 2020 port explosion in 2021 that he was trying to question several Hezbollah-linked politicians whoHe will be removed from the investigation .
The Israeli military issued a new evacuation warning for Beirut’s southern suburbs late Thursday, including some buildings. Earlier in the day, Israel warned Lebanese civilians not to return to their homes in the southern region to avoid casualties from the fighting.
Peacekeepers ‘in danger’
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said an Israeli tank fired on a watch tower at the UNIFIL headquarters in Ras al-Naqourah on Thursday, resulting in an attack on the watch tower and the peacekeepers, injuring two personnel. The soldiers fell. There were no casualties in the other two incidents, UN sources said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement that both peacekeepers were from the Indonesian contingent and were in good condition after being treated for minor injuries.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council that the safety of more than 10,400 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon was “increasingly threatened” and that peacekeeping operations had been virtually suspended since the end of September. The incident comes as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon is escalating.
UNIFIL described the attacks on peacekeepers as “serious violations of international humanitarian law”.
The White House said the United States was deeply concerned about Israeli forces firing on UN targets and urged Israel to provide detailed information.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces were operating “near the UNIFIL base” in the Naqurah area.
The Israeli statement said: “As a result, the Israel Defense Forces instructed UN forces in the area to stay in safe positions, after which the troops opened fire in the area. The statement also said it maintains regular contact with UNIFIL.”
Peacekeepers spokesman Andrea Tenanti said the peacekeepers were determined to remain at their posts despite the Israeli attack and the Israeli army’s order to vacate the positions .
Hezbollah said it fired a missile at Israeli troops trying to evacuate casualties from the Ras Naqura area on Thursday, hitting them directly.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, said Israel had recommended UNIFIL move 5 kilometers (3 miles) north to “avoid danger if the fighting escalates.”
Danon said the attack on Hezbollah was necessary so that 70,000 displaced Israelis could return to their homes in northern Israel.
The conflict began a year ago when Hezbollah fired in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the early stages of the war in Gaza . The situation has intensified dramatically in recent weeks as Israel bombed the southern outskirts of Beirut, the south and the Bekaa Valley before sending in ground troops.
The Middle East is currently on high alert due to the possibility of escalation of tensions.Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack on October 1 is awaited.
At least 2,169 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon last year, the Lebanese government said in a daily update, with most killed since Israel expanded its military operation on Sept. 27. The death toll was split between civilians and combatants.
According to Israeli officials, Hezbollah’s cross-border fire against Israel during the same period killed 53 people, more than half of them civilians.
