Assailants Open Fire at Kataeb Party HQ in Beirut

Head of Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel. NNA file photo
Head of Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel. NNA file photo
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Assailants Open Fire at Kataeb Party HQ in Beirut

Head of Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel. NNA file photo
Head of Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel. NNA file photo

The Kataeb Party headquarters in Beirut's Saifi district has come under attack by unknown assailants.

The party issued a statement condemning the attack and calling on the state to find and arrest the assailants after they opened fire on the building at dawn Sunday.

The building’s eastern facade was targeted with six bullets, it said.

In its statement, the Kataeb pledged that “the building that embodies independence and freedom ... will remain open to all Lebanese.”

The party will not be intimidated by such attacks, it added.



Lebanon Says 8 Killed in Israel Strike Near Coastal City of Sidon

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)
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Lebanon Says 8 Killed in Israel Strike Near Coastal City of Sidon

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on the Haret Saida neighborhood, Sidon, Lebanon, 27 October 2024. (EPA)

Lebanon's health ministry said at least eight people were killed and 25 others wounded Sunday in an Israeli strike near the southern city of Sidon, where an AFP correspondent said a building was targeted.

The strike hit a densely-populated area in a Sidon suburb that saw an influx of families displaced from areas further south.

It was the first strike there since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted last month.

"The Israeli enemy's raid on Haret Saida resulted in a... toll of eight killed," the health ministry said, revising an earlier toll of two dead.

The official National News Agency said a child was among the victims.

An AFP correspondent said one apartment was destroyed in the strike on a three-storey residential complex.

Surrounding shops and buildings were also damaged, the correspondent said, as paramedics rushed to the site of the attack to search for survivors.

The Israeli army had issued an evacuation warning for several areas in south Lebanon on Sunday, but Haret Saida was not listed among the areas to be targeted.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military urged residents of 14 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately and move north of the Awali river.

Elsewhere in the south, a strike on Zawtar al-Sharkiya killed three people and a Saturday bombing of Marjeyoun killed five, it said.

Israel said four of its soldiers were killed in south Lebanon fighting.

Hezbollah also said it had fired a large missile salvo at the Zevulon military industries facility north of Haifa in northern Israel. Hezbollah rockets hit a house and cars and rescue crews responded to put out the fire.

One woman was seriously injured, according to Israel's ambulance service.

The war since September 23 has left at least 1,615 people dead in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of nationwide health ministry figures, though the real number is likely to be higher due to gaps in the data.

At least 1.3 million people have been displaced, more than 800,000 of them within Lebanon's borders, according to the UN's migration agency.

More than half a million people have crossed into Syria, according to Lebanese authorities, most of them Syrians.