General
Thursday Briefing: Strikes Leave 6 Dead in Beirut
Plus, new evidence in the Trump election case.
Destroyed buildings in Dahiya, a densely populated area south of Beirut.Credit…Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York Times
Strikes killed 6 in Beirut, the health ministry said
After a day in which Israeli and Hezbollah troops fought at close range in southern Lebanon, Israel kept up its bombing campaign.
Three massive explosions were heard in Beirut around midnight local time, shortly after Israel announced that it was conducting “a precise strike.” State media reported that a health authority building in the Bachoura neighborhood was hit by an Israeli strike, and officials said that six people were killed and seven others injured.
Israel said eight of its soldiers had been killed in the first day and a half of combat in Lebanon, a relatively high toll compared with the daily losses the military has taken in the war in Gaza. Here’s a map of the invasion.
Several officials said Israel had yet to make a decision about how to respond to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday. The exact nature of its response may not become clear until after Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, which runs until sundown tomorrow. President Biden said yesterday that he would not support an attack by Israel on Iranian nuclear sites and that he believed Israel’s response had to be proportional.
Beirut dispatch: Hezbollah gave media outlets, including The Times, a tour of southern Beirut suburbs where it is the dominant power. Airstrikes targeting members of Hezbollah have brought the Dahiya neighborhoods to a standstill, with residents fleeing and businesses shuttering.
