The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a statement in the early hours of Monday that three of its leaders were killed in an alleged Israeli strike that targeted Beirut's Kola district, Reuters and Sky News Arabic reported.
The strike hit an upper floor of an apartment building in the Kola district, making it the first Israeli strike within Beirut’s city limits amidst the escalation, Reuters added.
According to Sky News Arabic, the members killed in the strike were Muhammad Abdel Aal, the head of the military security department of the PFLP, Imad Awda, the PFLP's military commander in Lebanon, and Abdul Rahman Abdel Aal.
Lebanon's National Broadcasting Network claimed that the strike was carried out by an Israeli UAV.
This comes after the IAF killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a targeted strike in Beirut on Friday.
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— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 29, 2024
Details of the strike
KAN posted video footage of the aftermath of an explosion, with people crowding around the rubble. Sirens can be heard in the background.
Local Lebanese media sites and Al Jazeera referred to it as a targeted Israeli strike.
Al-Mayadeen reported that an unexploded missile was still in the targeted apartment in Beirut.
Monday's attack in the Kola district appeared to be the first strike within Beirut's city limits.
Israel has not yet confirmed any details of the strike.
غارة اسرائيلية على منطقة الكولا في العاصمة بيروتhttps://t.co/Tl33JGY6Bh#عاجل #بيروت #الكولا pic.twitter.com/OWe8xsJURL
— لبنان الكبير (@grandlb) September 29, 2024
Additionally, the IDF announced on Sunday night they were carrying out strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in the Beqaa region of southern Lebanon.
Many of Israel's attacks have been carried out in the south of Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has most of its operations or Beirut's southern suburbs.
Recent escalation
Lebanon's Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 people have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians. The government said a million people - a fifth of the population - have fled their homes.
Israel has vowed to keep up the assault and says it wants to make its northern areas secure again for residents who have been forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Israeli drones hovered over Beirut for much of Sunday, with the loud blasts of new airstrikes echoing around the Lebanese capital. Displaced families spent the night on benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut's waterfront.
Israel's increasing frequency of attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen have prompted fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and the United States, Israel's main ally.
US reacts
The United States has urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon but has also authorized its military to reinforce in the region.
When asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, US President Joe Biden said, “It has to be." He said he would talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This is a developing story.