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Beirut residents had an uneasy night with several Israeli strikes reported in densely populated neighbourhoods in the heart of the capital overnight and into the early hours of Wednesday.
At least five Israeli attacks on central Beirut took place in less than 12 hours, according to reports by Lebanon's national news agency (NNA).
Two separate strikes hit two apartments in the central Zuqaq Al Blat neighbourhood, a residential area near the government's headquarters and several embassies.
Two additional strikes hit two apartments in the central Basta district, another densely populated residential neighbourhood in Beirut, NNA added.
The Israeli attacks on the capital came without warning, with at least 12 people killed and 41 wounded, according to a preliminary death toll by the Lebanese Health Ministry. Some residents were asleep when the strikes occurred, while others were having suhoor as Ramadan comes to a close. Israel's intensified attacks on Beirut are raising fears that nowhere is safe in the country.
“It all happened suddenly,” a Basta resident who did not want to be named told The National. “The whole building shook, we heard loud blasts, and shortly after, we could smell the smoke and hear the ambulances,” she said.
“People were out on the streets in seconds. It was chaotic and terrifying,” she continued.
In a separate attack, an entire building in the Bachoura neighbourhood in central Beirut was brought down in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Bachoura neighbourhood is adjacent to the capital’s downtown and only half a kilometre away from the Prime Minister’s official headquarters and the Lebanese parliament. It is highly populated, having welcomed thousands of people fleeing Israeli bombardment.
Footage shared by local media shows the building completely collapsing into rubble. The strike came after the Israeli army issued a forced displacement order for residents of the building at 4am local time.
Human rights groups have repeatedly warned that Israel's displacement orders often do not give civilians ample time to evacuate and do not take into account their safety, but are rather issued to spread fear and panic.
The Israeli army issued another mass displacement order for residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, including nearby Palestinian refugee camps, on Tuesday night.
The Unesco heritage-listed city is home to important historic sites, including an ancient castle, included in Israel's warning. Lebanon's news agency has since reported dozens of strikes on the ancient city.
Israel has intensified its attacks across Lebanon since Hezbollah entered the war with Iran on March 2, increasingly targeting civilian areas and infrastructure. The renewed fighting comes after a largely one-sided ceasefire went into effect in November 2024, with near-daily Israeli strikes recorded.
At least 912 people have been killed in the attacks over the past two weeks, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Israel has also issued unprecedented mass displacement orders in southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs that now cover more than 14 per cent of Lebanon's territory, amid rising fears of an expanded Israeli occupation. At least one million people have since left their homes, not knowing if they will have homes to return to.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned that Lebanon is facing “one of the fastest displacement crises on record, which is straining already fragile services and pushing communities to the brink”.
Magda Rossmann, IRC country director for Lebanon, warned that children and families are paying the highest price, with more than 300,000 children uprooted from their homes since March 2.
The UN's human rights office said on Tuesday that Israel’s attacks on civilians and medical staff in Lebanon, as well as the forced displacement of the population, could amount to war crimes.
