Israeli strike on Ramada Hotel in Beirut kills four

At least four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a room at the Ramada Hotel in downtown Beirut early Sunday (March 8) morning, Reuters reports, citing Israeli military sources.

Israel says the attack targeted Iranian commanders operating in the Lebanese capital.

The Israeli military clarified that the strike was aimed at key members of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), though their names were not disclosed.

“Commanders of the Lebanese branch of the Quds Force acted to advance terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its citizens while working for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Lebanon was pulled into the widening U.S.-Israel war with Iran on March 2 after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah fired rockets ⁠and ​drones into Israel. Israel responded with ​heavy strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon and near Beirut.

By Khagan Isayev