Israeli airstrikes hit different areas of central Beirut on Thursday evening, killing at least 22 people, Lebanon’s health ministry said, leaving two neighbourhoods smoldering and further escalating Israel’s bloody conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
The air raid on central Beirut — the deadliest in over a year of war — apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighbourhoods simultaneously, according to an AP photographer at the scene. It brought down one eight-storey building and wiped out the lower floors of the other.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reported strikes. Israeli airstrikes have been far more common in Beirut’s tightly packed southern suburbs, where Hezbollah bases many of its operations.
After the strikes, Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported that an attempt to kill Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group, had failed. It said that Safa had not been inside of either of the targeted buildings.
Thursday's strikes followed a year of tit-for-tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel that boiled over into all-out war in recent weeks, with Israel carrying out waves of heavy strikes across Lebanon and launching a ground invasion. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas deeper inside Israel, causing few casualties but disrupting daily life.
The attack came the same day as Israeli forces fired on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon and wounded two of them, drawing widespread condemnation and prompting Italy's Defence Ministry to summon Israel’s ambassador in protest.
Witnesses reported a large number of ambulances and people gathering in the rubble of two Beirut sites that were hit, in the Ras al-Nabaa neighbourhood and Burj Abi Haidar area.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said 22 people were killed and 117 others wounded, without elaborating on their identities. Recent Israeli airstrikes in neighbourhoods adjoining Beirut, in particular the densely populated southern suburbs, have killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and other senior commanders.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas and the Palestinians, drawing Israeli airstrikes in retaliation.
Hezbollah kept up rocket fire into Israel on Thursday, setting off air raid sirens in parts of northern Israel. Several drones heading toward Israel were intercepted, the military said.
Iran — which supports Hamas, Hezbollah and other armed groups across the region — launched some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of top Hamas and Hezbollah militants.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday that its response to the Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” without providing further details, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with President Joe Biden.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Israel’s security cabinet would convene Thursday night to discuss the country’s response.
Before the latest Beirut strikes, Lebanon’s crisis response unit said Israeli attacks over the past day had killed 28 people, bringing the total to 2,169 killed in Lebanon since the war erupted last October.
Hezbollah attacks have killed 28 civilians in northern Israel since the war began, as well as 39 Israeli soldiers, both in northern Israel since October 2023 and in southern Lebanon since Israel launched its ground invasion on Sept. 30. Israel says the invasion, so far focused on a narrow strip along the border, aims to push militants back so that tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in the north.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that its headquarters and positions “have been repeatedly hit" by Israeli forces.
It said an Israeli tank “directly” fired on an observation tower at the force’s headquarters in the town of Naqoura, Lebanon, and that soldiers had attacked a bunker near where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system. It said an Israeli drone was seen flying to the bunker’s entrance.
The two UNIFIL troops wounded in the attacks and hospitalized are Indonesian, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.
The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire at a U.N. base in southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had ordered the peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces.”
Later Thursday, the UN peacekeeping chief said 300 peacekeepers in frontline positions on southern Lebanon’s border have been temporarily moved to larger bases, and plans to move another 200 will depend on security conditions as the conflict escalates. Jean-Pierre Lacroix told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that peacekeepers with UNIFIL are staying in their positions, but because of air and ground attacks they cannot conduct patrols.
UNIFIL, which has more than 10,000 peacekeepers from dozens of countries, was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The United Nations expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to patrol a buffer zone set up along the border.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of establishing militant infrastructure along the border in violation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, sharply condemned Israeli strikes that hit UNIFIL positions as “an inadmissible act, for which there is no justification.”
From Italy, which has about 1,000 soldiers deployed as part of UNIFIL, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto went further, claimed Israel deliberately targeted the UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon in strikes that “could constitute war crimes.”
Several other countries, including France, Spain and Jordan, also denounced the Israeli attacks.
The UN peacekeeping chief, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said last week that peacekeepers would stay in their positions on Lebanon’s southern border despite Israel’s request to vacate areas before it launched its ground operation against Hezbollah.
Crosetto added: “The UN and Italy cannot accept orders from the Israeli government."
Even as attention has shifted to Israel’s close combat with Hezbollah in Lebanon and rising tensions with Iran, Israel has continued to strike at what it says are Palestinian militant targets across the Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza killed at least 27 people, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted Palestinian militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers.
The dead included a child and seven women, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought. An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances streaming into the hospital and counted the bodies, many of which arrived in pieces.
The Israeli military said it targeted a militant centre inside the school, without providing evidence. Israel has repeatedly attacked schools that were turned into shelters in Gaza, accusing militants of taking cover in them.
“There were no militants. There was no Hamas,” said Iftikhar Hamouda, who had fled from northern Gaza earlier in the war.
“We headed to tents. They bombed the tents ... In the streets, they bombed us. In the markets, they bombed us. In the schools, they bombed us,” she said. “Where should we go?”
Israel's offensive in Gaza started after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, when militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not specify between militants and civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times.
___
Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Magdy reported from Cairo. Edith Lederer contributed from New York.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives are claiming a win after the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released an updated report on the economic impacts of the federal carbon tax on Canadian households.
The northern lights could be visible across most of Canada on Thursday night.
A Halifax-area couple has been ordered to pay nearly $61,000 in damages and $4,000 in court costs after their dog attacked and injured a homecare nurse at their residence in 2016.
TD Bank will pay US$3 billion to settle charges that it failed to properly monitor money laundering by drug cartels, regulators announced Thursday.
Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night, causing widespread destruction and immobilizing critical infrastructure. The extent of the damage is not yet known.
The hosts of ABC's 'The View' clapped back at Donald Trump on Thursday, a day after the Republican nominee for president insulted co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Whoopi Goldberg.
Several models of Fisher-Price infant swings have been recalled in Canada after the company received reports of fatalities link to affected products.
The superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) has apologized over a message displayed during a professional development day on Wednesday.
Police north of Toronto have released video of what they’re describing as a violent, targeted robbery in Thornhill, where suspects boxed in the victim’s car and made off with a suitcase filled with cash.
Police north of Toronto have released video of what they’re describing as a violent, targeted robbery in Thornhill, where suspects boxed in the victim’s car and made off with a suitcase filled with cash.
Several models of Fisher-Price infant swings have been recalled in Canada after the company received reports of fatalities link to affected products.
One of the B.C. Conservative candidates running in the province's second-largest city has apologized for "completely unacceptable" comments he made about Muslims and Palestinians.
A Halifax-area couple has been ordered to pay nearly $61,000 in damages and $4,000 in court costs after their dog attacked and injured a homecare nurse at their residence in 2016.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he's in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves.
The superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) has apologized over a message displayed during a professional development day on Wednesday.
Ethel Kennedy, the wife of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy who raised their 11 children after he was assassinated and remained dedicated to social causes and the family’s legacy for decades thereafter, died on Thursday, her family said. She was 96.
A congressional candidate who said he was tricked by Democrats into running as a spoiler in a competitive House race in Minnesota suspended his campaign Thursday and endorsed his Republican rival.
A 59-year-old man was killed in a 'horrific' attack by a pack of dogs in a backyard next to a house where two dozen of the animals were kept, police said Thursday.
Donald Trump on Thursday again complained about the federal response to natural disasters that have damaged much of the Southeast as he seeks to gain a political advantage from the tropical weather.
Gunmen invaded another town north of Haiti’s capital on Thursday, shooting at people and setting homes on fire, just a week after a massacre killed at least 115 people in the country’s central region. The number of casualties was not immediately known.
Prince William and the Princess of Wales on Thursday carried out their first joint public engagement since the end of Kate's chemotherapy by meeting the bereaved parents of victims of a stabbing rampage in the seaside town of Southport.
The federal government is spending $4.9 million to remove a load of heavy oil from a United States military ship that sank off the coast of British Columbia nearly 80 years ago but now poses "significant risk" of a major spill due to deterioration.
Both the Liberals and Conservatives are claiming a win after the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) released an updated report on the economic impacts of the federal carbon tax on Canadian households.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that while his party backed a Bloc Quebecois motion seeking money to boost seniors' benefits, he thinks there are 'other ways' to address affordability for older Canadians.
Twin brothers who were born conjoined recently celebrated their first birthday after undergoing successful separation surgery.
Bayer must pay US$78 million to a Pennsylvania man who said he got cancer from using the company's Roundup weedkiller, a state court jury in Philadelphia found on Thursday.
For Scarlett Hicks, everyday life is challenging, as the two-year-old lives with a long list of medical conditions.
The northern lights could be visible across most of Canada on Thursday night.
Expectations are high for the long-awaited unveiling of Tesla's robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night. Too high for some analysts and investors.
Florida saw a record number of tornado warnings in a single day Wednesday. An expert says this phenomenon is not unheard of.
A newly released trailer for a Calgary-filmed movie features plenty of shots of local landmarks.
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has abandoned his bid to appeal his 2022 sexual assault conviction before Canada's top court.
A May 5 trial date was set in hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking case Thursday, and a prosecutor claimed defence lawyers were trying to exclude a 'damning piece of evidence' by saying it was leaked by the government.
Air Canada pilots have given the green light to a tentative agreement with the airline, dashing fears of a future strike and overcoming concerns about entry-level pay and quality-of-life provisions.
TD Bank will pay US$3 billion to settle charges that it failed to properly monitor money laundering by drug cartels, regulators announced Thursday.
Bayer must pay US$78 million to a Pennsylvania man who said he got cancer from using the company's Roundup weedkiller, a state court jury in Philadelphia found on Thursday.
As a parent, you want your child to spread their wings and fly, not crash down to reality when they first enter the job market.
A new poll suggests half of 18- to 50-year-olds in Canada who plan on having kids have delayed parenthood, with respondents citing reasons that include financial uncertainty, difficulties finding a partner and the cost of child care.
Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
Former Toronto Raptors guard Danny Green has announced his retirement from the NBA.
Strong winds from Hurricane Milton caused extensive damage to the roof of St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field, home of the MLB's Tampa Bay Rays.
Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced in a video message Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Dozens of cars were pulled out of the Detroit River in west Windsor on Tuesday, causing many questions for Windsorites.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are being recalled in Canada due to a steering-related issue that could increase a driver's risk of crash.
Mercedes-Benz has partnered up with the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) and the provincial government to launch a new “incubator program”. One of the first three locations is Windsor, with the other two going to Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.
Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
Saskatchewan’s Jessica Campbell has made hockey history, becoming the first ever female assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Have you ever seen videos of hovercrafts online or on TV and thought, 'Wow, I wish I could ride one of those.' One Alberta man did, and then built his own.
A B.C. couple is getting desperate – and creative – in their search for their missing dog.
Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
The driver involved in the hit-and-run that killed 19-year-old Damien Seguin in Burnaby, B.C., three years ago has been given a conditional sentence.
Mounties on Vancouver Island say they made an unusual seizure during a recent drug trafficking investigation.
The Supreme Court judge said there were “a number of problems” with a petition brought forward by a man trying to stamp out the entire Roman Catholic Church.
Police north of Toronto have released video of what they’re describing as a violent, targeted robbery in Thornhill, where suspects boxed in the victim’s car and made off with a suitcase filled with cash.
Three Toronto police officers have been injured in separate incidents involving alleged stolen vehicles in Etobicoke.
Mayor Olivia Chow is defending her handling of protests over the Israel-Hamas war that have rocked the city over the past year, a day after she faced criticism for missing a vigil to mark the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack which sparked the war.
More than a month after the Alberta government announced it would be pulling funding for Calgary's Green Line project, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says progress has been made.
United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) delegates are meeting in Calgary this week to discuss stalled labour negotiations with the province.
Calgary police are asking for the public’s assistance to identify two suspects believed to be involved with a shooting that took place in downtown Calgary last week.
Ottawa's Transit Commission says moving forward, its Zero Emission Buses (ZEB) program will procure 40-foot e-buses due to limited availability from manufacturers of 60-foot articulated buses.
Former Ottawa resident Angelina Armstrong-Mann says it was clear when Hurricane Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm in Florida Wednesday night—she heard it.
The transit service conducted a fare compliance blitz between September 3 and 30, with 12 fare inspectors "active across the transit network, enforcing fare regulations," OC Transpo said.
A man is in life-threatening condition after being shot in a Laval parking lot Thursday afternoon.
A 32-year-old woman from Ile-Bizard is facing jail time after she was found guilty Thursday of driving while impaired by prescription drugs.
Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher made a plea Thursday to parents of youth being recruited by criminal gangs: if officers knock on their door with information that their children are headed for trouble, please hear them out.
An Edmonton daycare has been shut down after failing to address concerns about unsupervised children, the province said Thursday.
The government of Canada will forgo up to $15.2 million in rental fees charged to the municipality of Jasper, Alta., as well as its residents and business owners over the next few years.
A controversial casino has been approved for south Edmonton.
Hurricane Milton's devastation in Florida impacts Maritimers near and far
The aurora may be visible in some parts of the Maritimes Thursday night.
Doctor Scott Bowen at the Cumberland Regional Hospital in Amherst, N.S is said he is alarmed by the state of Nova Scotia’s emergency rooms.
A woman is speaking out after an assault on a Winnipeg Transit bus sent her and her daughter to the hospital.
The superintendent of the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) has apologized over a message displayed during a professional development day on Wednesday.
A new report taking a second look at sleep safety in infants found a fundamental shift is needed to prevent babies from unnecessarily dying in their sleep.
RCMP say officers have found an abandoned vehicle and seized a firearm connected to an armed robbery in the Whitewood, Sask. area Wednesday night, but are still on the hunt for two suspects.
Amid what could be Saskatchewan's tightest election in 17 years, the leader of the NDP is asking voters to set party politics aside and support what's the best course for the province.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe says he would get tough on those disrupting the public and will shut down nuisance properties if re-elected premier on Oct. 28.
Ontario Provincial Police have arrested a Waterloo man who they believe is linked to a group that has been scamming victims across Canada.
The City of Guelph is calling its new bylaw, banning encampments in the downtown core, a compassionate and cautious approach to the growing problem in the community.
The skills of international students are being put to good use in the Canadian job market, according to a new first-of-its-kind study by University of Waterloo (UW) researchers.
Emails obtained by CTV News show a Saskatoon private school embroiled in abuse allegations considered mayoral hopeful Gord Wyant a "friend," but he says he cut off contact when the allegations came to light.
The Saskatchewan RCMP is responding to a report of an armed carjacking in Red Pheasant First Nation.
Amid what could be Saskatchewan's tightest election in 17 years, the leader of the NDP is asking voters to set party politics aside and support what's the best course for the province.
An Ontario man said he feels 'devastated' after learning his identity was stolen to take out two fraudulent loans under his name.
A 14-year-old student received non-life-threatening injuries Thursday afternoon in a collision with a vehicle in Chelmsford in Greater Sudbury.
TD Bank will pay US$3 billion to settle charges that it failed to properly monitor money laundering by drug cartels, regulators announced Thursday.
At around 9:15 a.m. emergency services responded to reports of a possible stabbing in the area of Oxford Street West and Fiddlers Green Road.
Just before 5:00 p.m., police were called to the two vehicle collision on 1st Avenue North between 4th Street and 5th Street NW, in the Municipality of Arran-Elderslie.
A blaze which at its peak reached 20 feet in the air had St. Thomas firefighters busy on Thursday.
Provincial police say seven people are facing charges after a massive grow operation bust outside Orillia, Ont., where over $2 million in cannabis plants were seized.
Police in Barrie are investigating a theft at a convenience store that they say turned violent on Wednesday afternoon.
Police are investigating a report of a foiled robbery at a Barrie business allegedly involving several suspects.
Brett Iler has pleaded not guilty to six charges of careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act in a collision that killed two people and injured three others.
A Harrow mother is advocating for her eight-year-old daughter’s bus stop to be moved, over concerns the current location puts her in harm’s way.
The removal of 13 vehicles and one trailer from the Detroit River in Sandwich Town is complete.
Mounties on Vancouver Island say they made an unusual seizure during a recent drug trafficking investigation.
The federal government is spending $4.9 million to remove a load of heavy oil from a United States military ship that sank off the coast of British Columbia nearly 80 years ago but now poses "significant risk" of a major spill due to deterioration.
One of the B.C. Conservative candidates running in the province's second-largest city has apologized for "completely unacceptable" comments he made about Muslims and Palestinians.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
The Interfaith Food Bank is busy preparing Thanksgiving bundles and has some tips for anyone hoping to cut down on their holiday dinner costs.
A weapons complaint that led to the temporary lockdown of two Lethbridge schools Thursday turned out to be no threat, police said in a media release.
Thousands more Lethbridge residents will soon be without a family doctor.
Sault Ste. Marie Police Service said two people were arrested following a heavy police presence on Chapple Avenue on Thursday.
An annual international mining conference is underway in Greater Sudbury, Ont., marking the first time the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Conference of Mining Regions and Cities has been held in North America.
Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
