Israeli airstrike in Beirut kills three Palestinian leaders PHOTO

Three senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) were killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early September 30, marking the first time since 2006 that Israel has targeted the heart of Lebanon's capital.

This escalation in Israel's military campaign has seen strikes across Lebanon and Yemen as it broadens its conflict with Iran’s regional allies, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The PFLP, which is actively involved in the fight against Israel, confirmed the deaths of three of its leaders in the attack.

Initial footage from the scene revealed extensive damage, with two floors of an apartment building completely destroyed. Eyewitnesses described two bodies lying atop a car outside, apparently thrown by the force of the blast, and reported hearing the explosion across the city.

Israel has not yet commented on the strike, which reportedly involved a drone targeting the area near the Kola intersection, a well-known transport hub in Beirut. Previously, Israeli strikes in Beirut had been limited to the city's southern suburbs, but this latest attack has raised concerns about the safety of other areas in the capital. Israeli drones were reported to have hovered over the city throughout September 29, as further airstrikes reverberated around Beirut.

Notably, this latest escalation comes after Lebanon’s health ministry announced that Israeli strikes on September 30 had killed 105 people and injured 359 across the country. In the past fortnight, over 1,000 Lebanese have been killed, with 6,000 injured, although the number of civilian casualties remains unclear. The government has reported that a fifth of the population—around a million people—has been displaced.

Israel has also intensified its operations in Yemen, launching airstrikes against Houthi targets on September 29. The strikes, which involved dozens of Israeli aircraft, targeted fuel facilities, power stations, and docks in the ports of Hodeidah and Ras Issa. Houthi media reported that four people were killed and 33 wounded in the attack, with widespread power outages in Hodeidah. This marks one of the largest operations in the near year-long conflict in the region.

By Aghakazim Guliyev