UN rights chief condemns Israeli strike near Beirut hospital

At least 18 people were killed and 60 wounded in an Israeli strike near the Rafik Hariri Hospital, located on the outskirts of southern Beirut, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

The Israel Defense Forces later claimed that a Hezbollah target was located next to the hospital, which is a few kilometers from the center of Lebanon's capital, Beirut. The hospital itself was not targeted, the IDF claimed. No further information was provided.

Footage on social media appeared to show the strike hitting close to the hospital's entrance, and the Health Ministry reported that the facility was damaged.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said he was "appalled" by the strike.

"The fundamental principles of international humanitarian law concerning the protection of civilians must be respected," Türk said.   

More than 1,550 people have been killed in Israeli operations since the country intensified its air campaign on Lebanon in September, according to the AFP news agency.

Seven Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem were arrested on suspicion of planning to assassinate an Israeli scientist and a city mayor, on Iran's orders, Israeli police said.

The people were also allegedly tasked with bombing a police car and throwing a grenade at a house with a promised payment of 200,000 Israeli shekels ($53,000, €49,000).

 "This investigation underscores Iran's efforts to recruit Israeli citizens for terrorism," the police statement said, quoting a security official.

This comes a day after authorities dismantled a seven-member group of Israeli citizens accused of spying on military bases and energy infrastructure for Iran.

Lebanese militia group Hezbollah took responsibility for targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in the town of Caesarea.

 "If our hands didn't reach you the previous time, then days, nights and the battlefield are still between us," said Mohammad Afif, head of the Iranian-backed militant group's media office.

A drone hit Netanyahu's holiday home on Saturday, with Israeli media reporting that it hit the bedroom window, and that "significant damage" was caused to the house. Netanyahu was not there at the time. 

He reacted by calling it an assassination attempt by "Iran's proxy Hezbollah" and called it a "grave mistake."

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said intelligence agents had discovered a bunker belonging to former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that is now being used as a vault — and contains millions of dollars in gold and cash.

According to Israeli intelligence, the vault is located under a hospital in southern Beirut.

The IDF did not provide any evidence for the claim.

Lebanese parliament member and hospital director Fadi Alameh denied the IDF's claims and said the hospital only had underground operating rooms.

Alameh also invited the Lebanese army to look at the compound itself.

He said the hospital was being evacuated in anticipation of strikes. 

Earlier Tuesday, the IDF said it had targeted Hezbollah targets in the area of another hospital, Rafik Hariri. The hospital itself was not targeted, according to the IDF.

Social media footage, however, apparently showed the strike hit near the entrance of the hospital, with the Lebanese Health Ministry saying the building was damaged. 

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) called for a temporary ceasefire to allow people to leave areas of northern Gaza, as Israel continues an offensive against Hamas militants in the area. 

"In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die," said Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA. "They feel deserted, hopeless and alone."

Lazzarini called on both sides to allow a truce, "even if for a few hours," for the purpose of enabling safe humanitarian passage for those wishing to leave the area. 

Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have fled the assault on northern Gaza, and UNRWA says around 400,000 people were trapped in the area last week.

At least 13 people were killed and 57 wounded in an Israeli strike near the Rafik Hariri Hospital, Lebanon's biggest public hospital, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later said a Hezbollah target was located next to the hospital, which is a few kilometers from the center of the capital, Beirut. The hospital itself was not targeted, the IDF said.

However, footage on social media appeared to show the strike hitting close to the hospital's entrance and the Health Ministry said that the facility was damaged.

The IDF added it also struck a Hezbollah naval base overnight, while Hezbollah says it hit an Israeli tank in Lebanon's south.

This comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the region in an attempt to broker a ceasefire in the region.

Overnight airstrikes also hit elsewhere in Beirut overnight, with images showing flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike on the Dahiyeh neigborhood. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel, his first stop of a wider Middle East tour, in a bid to broker a cease-fire in the region.

This is Blinken's eleventh trip to the Middle East since the October 7 terrorist attacks and the war which followed.

It comes as the Israeli military has intensified its campaign in the north of the Gaza Strip, as well as in southern Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah are based.

US officials downplayed the chances of an immediate breakthrough. 

Air raid sirens blared in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, with five incoming projectiles from Lebanon sent toward central Israel.

Another 15 were fired toward northern Israel and the northern part of the Golan Heights.

In posts on Telegram, the Israeli military said most of the objects were intercepted but one landed in an open area in central Israel.

In the north, "some" were stopped and others fell in open areas.  There were no initial reports of injuries. 

Lebanon-based Hezbollah says it has launched volleys of rockets at two key bases near Tel Aviv and a naval base west of Haifa.

The Iran-backed militia group said it had attacked an Israeli military intelligence base near Tel Aviv, firing "a salvo of rockets at the Glilot base" in a suburb of the Mediterranean city.

Israeli media says the military intelligence base also houses the headquarters of Israel's foreign intelligence service Mossad.

The group also said it had launched a "salvo of rockets" targeting the "Stella Maris naval base northwest of Haifa," a coastal city in northern Israel.

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.

The United Nations on Monday condemned airstrikes that Israel claimed had targeted the militant group Hezbollah's financial system in Lebanon. 

More than a dozen sites tied to Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a financial firm linked to Hezbollah, were hit in strikes carried out across Lebanon on Sunday.

Israel's bombing campaign came two weeks after Israel assassinated an individual it called "Hezbollah's finance minister."

Israel has said that it is now focused on Hezbollah's finance system after having killed most of the group's top political and military leaders.

It said it struck around 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over 24 hours, ramping up its offensive to hit the group's finances.

US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Lebanon in a bid to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said Monday there was no alternative to UN Resolution 1701 but added that "new understandings" could be reached to implement it.

The resolution, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, called for the Lebanese militant group to withdraw towards the north of the Litani River away from the Israel border and mandated a UN peacekeeping mission to help the Lebanese army control the area free from the presence of Hezbollah or Israel. 

However, Israel maintains that the resolution was never implemented, and that Hezbollah has built up extensive military infrastructure.

rc,fmt/wmr (AFP, AP dpa, Reuters)