Israel broadens strikes on Lebanon, bombs hotel and residential building

Israeli strikes hit a Beirut hotel and a residential building in Lebanon's east, Lebanese state media said Wednesday, as Israel announced "broad-scale strikes" on the country.

Lebanese state media said the Israeli attacks targeted a building in Baalbek, in Lebanon's east far from the border, as well as a hotel near Beirut in an area so far spared the violence.

In Aramoun and Saadiyat south of Beirut -- two towns outside the traditional strongholds of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah -- the health ministry said Israeli strikes killed six people and wounded eight others. It cautioned that this was a "preliminary toll".

It was not immediately clear what was targeted in these towns or in Baalbek, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which earlier announced "broad-scale strikes" against Hezbollah in Lebanon's south.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said among those killed in Lebanon were three paramedics, while another six people were wounded while recovering people who had been hurt by explosions.

Air raid sirens, meanwhile, sounded in parts of Israel's north along the border.

"Several projectiles that crossed from Lebanon... were intercepted," an Israeli military statement said, reporting no casualties.

Alerts were earlier activated in the border town of Metula, where Hezbollah said its fighters had targeted troops "with a missile salvo".

Hezbollah also said it had targeted northern Israel's Haifa naval base on Tuesday in response to the ongoing Israeli strikes. Hezbollah fired back at Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes on Saturday. Israel has carried out near-daily strikes on Lebanon, despite a ceasefire implemented in November 2024.

Early Wednesday, the Israeli military called on people to leave 16 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, in an "urgent warning" before airstrikes.

Israel has carried out successive air raids on the south of the country, as well some suburbs of the capital Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway.

But according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA), some of the attacks on Wednesday hit areas outside of Hezbollah's traditional strongholds.

The NNA said that "an Israeli air strike targeted a hotel in Hazmieh", in the first reported attack on the predominantly Christian area in Beirut's suburbs.

"Ambulances were dispatched to the scene," the report said.

Israeli strikes since Monday have killed at least 50 people in Lebanon, according to the health ministry.

Seeking to avoid being drawn into the regional war, the Lebanese government declared a ban on Hezbollah's military activities on Monday.

Israel said it had deployed troops to several locations in southern Lebanon in what it described as a "forward defence" measure along the border.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 13 attacks against Israel on Tuesday, saying it targeted at least five Israeli tanks, three of them in Lebanese territory.

These attacks came "in response to the criminal Israeli aggression on dozens of Lebanese cities and towns", Hezbollah said.

Lebanese authorities on Monday recorded the displacement of more than 58,000 people from areas targeted by strikes.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV broadcaster said its Beirut headquarters had been targeted.

A ceasefire agreement in November 2024 sought to end more than a year of war between Israel and Hezbollah, including an Israeli ground offensive.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has conducted regular air strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.