By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Amidst its intensive aggression on Lebanon, Israel hit the vicinity of a government hospital and the Ouzai area in Beirut for the first time.

The Israeli occupation army targeted Monday night the vicinity of Rafik Hariri University Hospital in the Jnah area in Beirut, killing 13 people, including a child, and wounding 57 others, a statement by the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced on Monday that the Israeli airstrike caused significant damage to the medical facility.

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes conducted the strike near the hospital without prior warning.

It added that Israel launched 235 airstrikes on Lebanon in the last 24 hours.  

A source at the government hospital said that “the strike targeted a place near the hospital, apparently the hospital’s parking lot,” according to Russia Today (RT).

The Lebanese Health Ministry says four people, including a child, were killed and 32 others injured in Israeli strikes on the premises of Rafik Hariri Hospital, which is Beirut’s main public hospital. pic.twitter.com/ahM8sOAlHq

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) October 22, 2024

The raid on Rafik Hariri University Hospital came in conjunction with other raids the Israeli army conducted Monday evening in Beirut’s southern district namely in the neighborhoods of Haret Hreik, Ruwais and Ghobeiry, amongst others.

The Israeli occupation army also hit for the first time the Ouzai area in Beirut.

The latest Israeli strikes in the Lebanese capital are part of Israel’s continuous aggression, targeting various towns and cities across the country, particularly in the south of Lebanon and Bekaa.

UN Condemnation

The UN Human Rights Office condemned on Monday what it labeled as the “extensive damage to civilian objects caused by the attacks against Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial association,” in reference to the attacks Israel carried out Sunday night on various branches of the organization, NNA reported.

“We condemn the heavy Israeli bombardment of various urban and residential areas in the southern Beirut suburbs, south Lebanon and Bekaa in the past 24 hours, which the IDF says targeted various location facilities affiliated with the Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial association, stating that they are involved in financing the activities of Hezbollah against Israel,” the UN was quoted as saying by NNA.

The UN Human Rights Office added that these attacks resulted in “extensive destruction to residential properties, civilian infrastructure, and business premises, in addition to indescribable panic and another wave of displacement among residents of those areas.”

Phones still ringing under the rubble near #Beirut's Rafik Hariri Hospital as a search for survivors continues. An Israeli strike there on Monday night flattened 4 buildings. 13 people, including a child were killed & 57 others were wounded. There was no evacuation warning. @AFP… pic.twitter.com/6bj6Q3nJNP

— Hashem Osseiran (هاشم) (@HashemOsseiran) October 22, 2024

It stressed that under international humanitarian law, facilities “that contribute economically or financially to the war effort of a party to a conflict may not be lawfully made the target of the attack on that basis alone as they do not fulfill the definition of a military objective.”

The UN office demanded that international humanitarian law be respected at all times which entails not harming civilians or civilian infrastructure.   

“This spiraling violence must end.  A ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table is essential to serve the needs of the civilian population and advance regional stability,” it added as quoted by NNA.

War on Lebanon

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, 2023, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.

Israel escalated its aggression with the cyber-terror attacks on September 17 and 18, which claimed the lives of at least 37 people including children, and injured around 3000 others.

This went hand in hand with a series of assassinations of Hezbollah leaders, the last of which was that of the Secretary-General of the resistance party Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.

These developments coincided with unprecedented bombings and airstrikes by Israel’s army on different cities across Lebanon particularly in the south, Bekaa and the southern district of Beirut.

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The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced on October 22 that 2,483 Lebanese were killed and 11,628 were injured since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

The Lebanese Government Emergency Committee announced on October 16 that the number of shelters has reached 1,059 centers, 876 of which stand at maximum capacity.

The Head of the committee, Minister of Environment Nasser Yassin revealed that around “50 thousand families have been displaced to approved shelters, noting that the total number of displaced people exceeds 1.2 million.”

According to the committee,  326,467 Syrians and 124,225 Lebanese crossed into Syrian territory from September 23 to October 14.

(PC, Anadolu)