BEIRUT, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and 16 others injured on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting al-Noueiri, a densely populated area in central Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.
According to al-Jadeed local TV channel, the airstrike targeted and wrecked a residential building.
Ambulances rushed to the area to transport the victims to hospitals, and Civil Defense teams are working to remove the rubble in search of casualties.
The raid on Beirut coincided with a belt of fire that enveloped Beirut's southern suburbs with dozens of violent raids on the areas of Al-Hadath, Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry, and Burj Al-Barajneh, following a series of Israeli warnings to evacuate 20 buildings and those adjacent to them.
The latest airstrike on Beirut came as the Israeli political-security cabinet is reportedly expected to discuss and approve a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon on Tuesday evening, more than a year after the fighting broke out between Israel and Hezbollah on Oct. 8, 2023.
On Monday, Lebanon's Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said a ceasefire deal with Israel has become close after a meeting of the Parliament Bureau.
"We are approaching the ceasefire moment. This week or in the next 10 days, there will be a decisive position," Bou Saab said, according to the Lebanese official National News Agency.
But he also noted that the final decision for a ceasefire in Lebanon will be made according to developments in the war field.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October. ■
