Child among dozens killed in Israeli strike near major Beirut hospital

Rafic Hariri University Hospital in Lebanon suffered ‘significant damage,’ says health ministry

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At least 13 people, including one child, were killed in an Israeli strike near Lebanon's largest public hospital on Monday night, rescue workers said on Tuesday. The site was just one of over a dozen strikes that bombarded Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Israeli army, which had warned residents to flee several locations in southern Beirut just 15 minutes before the first strike, did not mention the hospital as among its targets.

At least 57 others were wounded, seven of whom are in critical conditon, in the air raid, which hit near an entrance to the Rafic Hariri University Hospital in southern Beirut, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The hospital, which hosts a newly-opened trauma centre by the International Committee of the Red Cross, suffered “significant damage” in the attack, Lebanese state media reported.

Rescue efforts were ongoing Tuesday morning in Jnah, near the Rafic Hariri Hospital, after the previous night's strike on the hospital vicinity leveled several residential buildings.

Saad al Ahmar, director of the regional civil defense center in Choueifat, told The National that at least seven people were killed, dozens were wounded, and 14 remain missing under the rubble. "There was a lot of destruction when we first arrived, and a lot of casualties because the building was full. It was the middle of the night and people were still sleeping," he said. He added that his teams pulled "mostly women and children" from the rubble.

The strike hit a few hundred meters from Rafic Hariri Hospital, causing some damage. Shrapnel has cracked the building, and several windows were shattered, leaving glass scattered on the floor.

"They fired two rockets at the apartment over there." Jihad Saadeh, the director of the hospital said. "But this has not affected hospital operations."

Many of the injured were treated at the hospital. "We found a child among the dead," he said, adding he expects the death toll to rise.

The centre is operating as normal, while the Sahel Hospital, which Israel claimed Monday evening was being used by Hezbollah to hide cash and hundreds of thousands of dollars, is operating at partial capacity “despite the extremely difficult security conditions”, the ministry said.

“How long will this indifference continue, and how many innocent people will be killed and vital buildings destroyed and damaged, before the world's conscience awakens and the Israeli entity stops its attacks Lebanon's health sector?” it added.

Israeli attacks killed four paramedics, five were wounded, and three ambulances were damaged over the past 24 hours, according to the ministry. Civil defence and medical workers have been regularly targeted in Israeli strikes across the country, which have hit fire stations and ambulances rushing to the wounded.

Air strikes hit at least 13 different locations across southern Beirut on Monday night, state media added, including the Ouzai neighbourhood, which was hit for the first time since the war began.

A Lebanese security official told AFP that the country’s national airline had to switch landing strips on Monday after Israeli strikes near Beirut’s only international airport hit close to the main runway. “Middle East Airlines switched the runway it was using because the main runway is close to the site of the Ouzai strike,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

Bombing was reported on the area about 15 minutes after the Israeli army issued a displacement order for local residents, with video footage showing people fleeing in panic. Attacks were also reported across the south and the eastern Baalbek governorate.

The southern town of Khiam was hit by continuous strikes from early Tuesday morning, state media added, with artillery shelling also targeting the town and the nearby village of Kfar Kila.