Death toll in Israeli shelling of Beirut rises to 45

The number of dead in the Israeli shelling of the Lebanese capital Beirut, which occurred on September 20, has increased to 45. This was reported by the Lebanese Ministry of Health on September 22.

According to the Ministry, whose message is quoted by the TV channel "Al-Jazeera", the removal of the rubble continues for the third day. DNA tests will be needed to identify some of the dead.

Israelistrike on Lebanese capital targeted - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sought to eliminate Hezbollah Shiite commander Ibrahim Aqil, who is a member of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah ' s top military body, the Jihad Council. The movement confirmed Akil's death. According to the Jewish state's army, other senior Hezbollah leaders who were part of the Radwan force, a special unit within the Shiite group's ranks, were killed along with him. Two residential buildings collapsed in the city after the strike.

The next day, the IDF said it had destroyed some 180 sites and thousands of rocket launchers in southern Lebanon. The installations, the Jewish state army indicated, were on alert to launch projectiles into Israeli territory.

Prior to that, on September 19, the IDF launched a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, attacking 100 of the group's launchers and facilities. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said before that the Jewish state was moving its forces to the northern front because a new phase of the war had begun and the center of gravity of hostilities had shifted.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas launched a massive barrage of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip and invaded border areas in the south and took hostages. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.