Beirut hotel, residential building hit: Israeli strikes kill six in Lebanon as Middle East crisis enters Day 5

Israeli air strikes hit several areas in Lebanon, killing and injuring civilians, as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in the wider Israel-Iran conflict.Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the towns of Aramoun and Saadiyat, south of Beirut, killed six people and wounded eight others. In a statement, the ministry said “the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the areas of Aramoun and Saadiyat” resulted in six deaths and eight injuries, describing it as a preliminary toll.Both towns are outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds.Lebanese state media, cited by AFP, also reported that an Israeli strike hit a hotel in Hazmieh, a suburb of Beirut. The strike was part of a series of bombardments on the capital’s outskirts.In eastern Lebanon, an Israeli air strike hit a four-storey residential building in Baalbek early Wednesday, the state-run National News Agency reported.It said that “enemy aircraft targeted a four-storey building at dawn” inside a residential complex in Baalbek. A number of martyrs and work is underway to rescue families from under the rubble”. The Israeli military earlier issued an “urgent warning” for residents of 16 towns and villages in southern Lebanon. “For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately” and move to “open areas”, said a statement.Meanwhile, Hezbollah also targeted northern Israel’s Haifa naval base on Tuesday with “a barrage of high-quality missiles” at 8:00 pm local time. Shortly after, the Israeli military said several incoming projectiles were detected and most were intercepted.The situation in the Middle East continues to evolve after a joint US-Israeli strike that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.