The Israeli army attacked the Ramada Hotel in Raouche in the early hours of Sunday, the first strike on central Beirut since the conflict resumed last week, in a sharp expansion of Israel's offensive in Lebanon.
The attack, which Israel said targeted Iranian commanders in the Lebanese capital, killed at least four people and wounded 10, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. There was no warning.
Israel said it hit senior commanders of Iran's elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps but did not name them.
“The commanders of the Quds Force's Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli army said.
The four-star hotel is on the bustling Corniche, a promenade along the Mediterranean, where some displaced families have set up tents as Lebanese authorities struggle to support hundreds of thousands fleeing Israeli bombardment.
Close to busy restaurants and shops, the Ramada is in an area outside Hezbollah’s traditional areas of influence, which Israel has increasingly attacked as it broadens its military operations across Lebanon.
The Ramada was housing families displaced by the war. It is the second time that Israel has attacked a hotel sheltering displaced people.
The attack caused panic among residents. “It’s over, we’re not safe anywhere,” Taleb Marji, 29, told The National as he packed his belongings into his car. Mr Marji and his family fled Beirut’s southern suburbs last week and had been staying at a hotel next to the Ramada.
“It’s worse than last time. They strike anywhere, without warning. You don’t know how you will die,” he added.
After a sleepless night, the family found a place to stay at a relative’s home nearby. The strike marked the second time in a few days that a hotel far from the front line has been attacked.
Mr Marji said the family decided to avoid staying in hotels. “You never know who you might be staying with,” he added.
Last year, a pattern of strikes attacking displaced families caused fears about hosting displaced people and fuelled tension against the Shiite community as a whole.
The latest attack caused damage to the hotel, leaving a blackened hole in a room on one of the lower floors. Around the scene, shrapnel and shards of glass littered the ground. A resident told The National that debris from the strike wounded 10 people who were sleeping on the street opposite the Ramada.
In the middle of the night, a loud explosion echoed across Beirut, with the sound of sirens across the capital as ambulances rushed to the scene.
Earlier this week, the Israeli army warned Iranian officials in Lebanon to leave the country immediately or risk being attacked.
Following the warning, dozens of IRGC officers reportedly left Beirut in the past few days, according to US news outlet Axios.
Deadly attacks across Lebanon
The Israeli army also hit southern Lebanon throughout the night.
An Israeli strike in the town of Sir El Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh district killed at least 18 people in a residential building housing several families and injured six others, rescuers told The National.
The victims included women and children, Hussein Faqih, head of the Civil Defence in Nabatieh told The National.
“This time is much worse than the previous war,” he said, adding that rescue operations had ended.
Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon continued throughout Sunday. A strike on a building housing displaced people in Ghazieh, in the Saida district, killed at least two people in the morning, according to local reports. The victims included a retired Lebanese army brigadier general and his nephew.
In the village of Yohmor, 14 Syrian nationals were wounded when a poultry farm was hit by an Israeli strike.
Air strikes near the entrance of the Ain Al Hilweh camp, in the city of Saida, killed at least one person, according to a preliminary toll.
Eight people were killed in a strike in the southern town of Tafahata, including five members of a family, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported.
Israel’s military said it had killed nearly 200 Hezbollah members since the start of the latest escalation in Lebanon a week ago.
The military added that it had so far carried out more than 600 strikes on targets in Lebanon by air, sea and land, using nearly 820 munitions.
Hezbollah said it had carried out several attacks on Israel, including on Nahariya and Haifa, in renewed attacks after the start of US and Israeli strikes against Iran on Februray 28.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said a drone that crashed at a British base in Cyprus had been launched from Lebanon, probably by Hezbollah. In a message to Mr Kombos, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi described the incident as “shameful” and said it did not represent Lebanon.
Israel's military campaign has killed 394 people in Lebanon, including 83 children and 42 women, Lebanese authorities said on Sunday.
Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said 517,000 people have been displaced, including more than 117,000 sheltering in reception centres.
