An Israeli strike overnight in the Lebanese capital Beirut killed seven health and rescue workers, a health organization said Thursday.
The airstrike in the residential Bashoura district targeted an apartment in a multi-story building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated to Hezbollah. It was the closest strike to the central downtown district of Beirut, where the United Nations and government offices are located.
Another seven people were wounded in the attack in Beirut late Wednesday.
Israel said it conducted a precise airstrike on Beirut.
There was no warning issued ahead of the strike.
Residents reported a sulfur-like smell following the attack, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using internationally banned phosphorous bombs. Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon.
Three missiles also hit the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, and loud blasts were heard, Lebanese security officials said. The southern suburbs came under more than a dozen Israeli strikes on Wednesday.