Monday, October 7, 2024

Live updates: Hamas leader in Lebanon killed; Israel strikes central Beirut for first time in 18 years

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PFLP says three leaders killed in Israeli strike

Freddie Clayton and Ammar Cheikh Omar

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has said that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli air strike on central Beirut’s Cola district.

It listed Mohammed Abdel Aal, Emad Odeh, and Abdel Rahman Abdel Aal among the deceased.

The leftist PFLP is designated a terrorist group by the U.S., but it is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a coalition recognized by the United Nations as the official representative of the Palestinians. 

Israeli officials are yet to comment on the strike on the Cola district.

Apparent Israeli strike hits central Beirut for first time

An apparent Israeli airstrike struck a building in the central Beirut neighborhood of Cola last night, according to videos posted to social media.

The videos, geolocated by NBC News, show damage to the multi-story building as debris is seen on the ground below. People are also seen gathering around the structure as multiple ambulances converge on the area.

Israel hit a Beirut apartment block on September 30, killing three members of a Palestinian armed group in its first strike on the city centre since the outbreak of the Gaza war last year.
AFP – Getty Images

It was not immediately clear whether there were deaths or injuries related to the reported strike, nor was it clear that the strike was intentionally aimed at Cola.

Cola, a stone’s throw from downtown Beirut, is known as a busy neighborhood and is the location of a bus station. This would be the first Israeli strike on the heart of the Lebanese capital during this round of conflict.

Hamas says its leader in Lebanon killed in strike

Hamas says Fateh Sherif Abu Al-Amin, the group’s leader in Lebanon, has been killed in an Israeli air strike in the country’s south.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the Palestinian militant group said Al-Amin was killed alongside his wife and children “in their home in the (Al-Bas) camp.”

While Hamas is based in Gaza, it has long had a presence in Lebanon.

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