Rescuers Look for Survivors After Israeli Strike in Beirut

An Israeli airstrike killed two Lebanese soldiers on Friday, Lebanon's military said, hours after troops fired on the headquarters of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, injuring two peacekeepers for the second time in as many days. The attacks entangling both Lebanon's official army—which has largely stayed on the sidelines of the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants—and the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon has raised alarm as Israel broadens its campaign against Hezbollah with heavy airstrikes across the country and a ground invasion.

• Hunt for survivors: In central Beirut, rescue workers combed through the rubble of a collapsed building, searching for survivors of an airstrike that killed at least 22 people in the Lebanese capital the night before, the AP reports.

• Context: Since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza, drawing Israeli retaliatory airstrikes, more than 2,229 Lebanese—including Hezbollah fighters, civilians, and medical personnel—have been killed, according to the Lebanese health ministry. That includes 60 people killed and 168 wounded by Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours alone, the ministry said. Hezbollah attacks have killed 29 civilians as well as 39 Israeli soldiers, both in northern Israel since October 2023 and in southern Lebanon since Sept. 30, when Israel launched its ground invasion.

• Latest strikes: The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said explosions struck near an observation tower at its headquarters in the southern town of Naqoura. The Israeli military said soldiers operating in southern Lebanon identified a threat and responded with fire, hitting a UNIFIL post. The army said an initial review found that the intended target was some 50 yards from the UNIFIL position. Israeli tank fire hit the same UNIFIL headquarters a day earlier, drawing international criticism.
• US plea: The French foreign ministry on Friday accused Israel of deliberately firing at peacekeepers and summoned the Israeli ambassador in protest. In a call with his Israeli counterpart, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed ensuring the safety of UNIFIL forces and urged Israel to "pivot from military operations to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible," the Pentagon said.

(More Israel-Hamas war stories.)