Lebanese officials announced that 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a residential building in the center of Beirut.

Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Saturday killed at least 15 people, officials said, as once-rare attacks in the heart of Lebanon’s capital continued without Israeli warning and diplomats brokered a ceasefire.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said 63 people were injured in the attacks, and this was the fourth attack in central Beirut in less than a week.

This tension came after US ambassador Amos Hochstein went to the region to negotiate a ceasefire to end the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been going on for months and has turned into an all-out war.

Israeli shelling has killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. The conflict has displaced approximately 1.2 million people, a quarter of Lebanon’s population. On the Israeli side, approximately 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians were killed in the bombardment and clashes in northern Israel.

8-storey building turned into a pile of rubble

An eight-storey building in the center of Beirut was destroyed in the attacks that took place at 4 am. Hezbollah legislator Amin Shiri said no Hezbollah officials were inside. Some facades of nearby buildings were ripped off and residents watched from among crumpled cars.

“The area is full of cramped buildings and narrow streets, making the situation difficult,” said Walid Al-Hashash, a first responder from the Lebanon Civil Defense.

The Israeli army did not comment on casualties.

Also on Saturday, two people were killed and three others were injured in a drone attack in the southern port city of Tire, according to the state-run National News Agency.

Mohammed Bikai, spokesman for the Palestinian Fatah group in the Tire area, said those killed were Palestinian refugees who went fishing from the nearby al-Rashidieh camp.

Despite the Israeli army’s warning last month to stay away from Lebanon’s southern coast, “you can’t tell someone who needs to eat that you can’t fish,” Bikai said.

Other airstrikes killed eight people, including four children, in the eastern town of Shmustar, five in the southern village of Roumin and five in the northeastern village of Budai, the Health Ministry said.

ceasefire talks

Two Western diplomatic officials on Saturday outlined the sticking points between Israel and Lebanon in ceasefire negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the conversations.

The current proposal calls for a two-month ceasefire in which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon and end Hezbollah’s armed presence along its southern border south of the Litani River. Thousands more Lebanese troops will patrol the border area alongside UN peacekeepers, and an international committee will oversee enforcement.

Israel wants more guarantees about the removal of Hezbollah’s weapons from the border area, officials said. Israeli officials have said they would not accept an agreement that did not explicitly grant them the freedom to launch attacks in Lebanon if they believed Hezbollah had violated it.

Lebanese officials have said adding such a term would violate Lebanon’s sovereignty, while Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said this week that the militant group would not accept a deal that did not require a “complete and comprehensive end to the aggression.”

Lebanon and Israel are also arguing over which countries will be on the monitoring committee. Officials said Israel did not allow France, which has been close to Lebanon since colonial rule ended. Lebanon refused to accept Israel’s close ally, Britain.

Deadly attacks and people trapped under rubble in Gaza

The Health Ministry said at least 80 people were killed in northern Gaza between Thursday and Friday, including near Kamal Adwan and Al-Ahli hospitals. It was stated that dozens of people were trapped under the rubble.

The Israeli military said it was not aware of an attack near Kamal Adwan and did not respond to other attacks.

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At least six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis on Saturday, according to Associated Press reporters and Nasser Hospital staff.

“We suddenly woke up to dust, smoke and fire,” said grieving father Ahmad Ghassan. “We found him dead and his brother injured.” Another father cried while carrying his child’s body in a bloody sheet.

The death toll of Palestinians in the 13-month-long war exceeded 44,000 this week, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in the count. It was stated that more than half of the dead were women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants, without providing any evidence.

The war began when Hamas-led militants raided southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250 others, according to Israeli officials. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza and at least a third are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has devastated large areas, and nearly 90 percent of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people live in tent camps with little food, water and basic services.

At least two women waiting in line for bread in central Deir al-Balah were shot and killed Saturday, relatives and witnesses told the AP. It was not clear who shot and why.