Israel pounds Beirut with airstrikes killing at least 25 despite 'promise to stop'

Israeli for the first time in six days, despite saying it had been promised attacks on the capital would stop.

At least 25 people were killed in strikes across the country. In the south, 15 died in an attack on Qana, a village where bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. Rescue workers carried away the remains of the dead and used a ­bulldozer to remove rubble, as they searched for more victims.

The Israeli army said the fighter jet attack had killed their target – Jalal Mustafa Hariri, Hezbollah’s com­­mander of the region.

Elsewhere, Ahmad Kahil, the mayor of Nabatieh, and five others were killed in an attack on southern Lebanon’s largest city.

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Caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati accused of “intentionally targeting” a council meeting co-ordinating relief efforts. However, the Israeli military said it had aimed at Hezbollah command centres and weapons facilities which have been based in civilian areas.

While Mr Mikati said the international community had been “deliberately silent” about the killing of civilians, the UN’s Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called reports of Mr Kahil’s death alarming. She added: “This attack follows other incidents in which civilians and civilian infrastructure have been targeted across Lebanon.”

Resuming its barrage on sections of Beirut after the pause, Israel again targeted the southern suburbs, hitting what it said was an arms warehouse under a block of flats. The Israeli military gave an evacuation warning ahead of the strike.

Mr Mikati said the bombing had taken place despite the US giving him assurances Israel would curb its attacks on Beirut.

Hezbollah has a strong presence in southern Beirut, known as the Dahiyeh, which is also a civilian residential and commercial area.

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