Israeli airstrike hits central Beirut near key government buildings and embassies

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike slammed into a densely populated residential area in Lebanon’s capital near key government and diplomatic buildings late Monday, killing at least five people as the U.S. pressed ahead with cease-fire efforts.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two missiles hit the area of Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhood – where local U.N. headquarters and Lebanon’s parliament and prime minister’s office are located.

Since late September, Israel has dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to severely weaken the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and end its barrages in Israel that the militants have said are in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

The U.S. has been working on a cease-fire proposal that would remove Israeli ground forces from Lebanon and push Hezbollah forces far from the Israeli border. Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who is mediating for the militants, is expected to meet with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein in the Lebanese capital on Tuesday. The White House has not confirmed Hochstein's visit.

Labor Minister Mostafa Bayram, who met with Berri on Monday, said Lebanon would convey its “positive position” to the latest U.S. proposal.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strike, which also wounded 24 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Many areas in central Beirut, including Zoqaq al-Blat, have become a refuge for many of the roughly 1 million people displaced by the ongoing conflict in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. The strike also occurred near a Hussainiye, a Shia mosque.

The target of the airstrike remained unclear, and the Israeli army did not issue a prior warning. Ambulance sirens echoed through the streets as an Associated Press photographer on the scene saw significant casualties on the street.

It was the second consecutive day of Israeli strikes on central Beirut after more than a month-long pause. On Sunday, a strike in the area of Ras el-Nabaa killed Hezbollah media spokesperson Mohammed Afif, along with six other people, including a woman. Later that day, four people were killed in a separate strike in the commercial district of Mar Elias.

The Israeli military has not said what the target of that strike was.

Minutes after Monday's strike, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a post on X, “All countries and decision-makers are required to end the bloody and destructive Israeli aggression on Lebanon and implement international resolutions, most notably Resolution 1701.”

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, ended a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah and was intended to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. However, the resolution’s full implementation has faced challenges from both sides.

The resolution is again on the table as part of an American proposal for a cease-fire deal, aiming to end 13 months of exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israeli ground forces, who invaded southern Lebanon on Oct. 1, would fully withdraw from Lebanon, where the Lebanese army and the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL would be the exclusive armed presence south of Lebanon’s Litani River. Hezbollah would withdraws from the area.

A Western diplomat familiar with the talks told The Associated Press there is a sense of “cautious optimism.” The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes negotiations, said a final deal, however, was “still in the hands” of the warring players.

Israel is said to be pushing for guarantees it can continue to act militarily against Hezbollah if needed, a demand the Lebanese are unlikely to accept. Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said Israel would continue attacking Hezbollah infrastructure while the US and other countries led negotiations for the ceasefire. “The military campaign will continue until the immediate threat from Lebanon is removed," he said.

Also on Monday, Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles against Israel. A rocket that hit the northern Israeli city of Shfaram killed one woman and injured 10, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services.

More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire — 80% of them in the past eight weeks — according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. In Israel, 77 people, including 31 soldiers, have been killed by Hezbollah projectiles, while over 50 soldiers have been killed in the Israeli ground offensive.

Israel has said it is targeting Hezbollah in order to ensure that thousands of Israelis can return to their homes near the border.

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Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman contributed from Tel Aviv.

Rescue workers and policemen search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers and residents search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Residents and rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Residents and rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Rescue workers work at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Residents and rescuers gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Civil defense workers extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Firefighters and rescuers gather outside a computer shop hit in an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Demonstrators in Georgia's capital have set up tents on a central thoroughfare and vowed Monday to stay around the clock to demand new parliamentary elections in the country.

The Oct. 26 election kept the governing Georgian Dream party in power, but opponents say the vote was rigged with Russia's assistance. Many Georgians viewed the election as a referendum on the country’s effort to join the European Union. Several large protests have been held since then.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results, declared on Monday that she would appeal the vote results to the Constitutional Court. Zourabichvili, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, has said Georgia has fallen victim to pressure from Moscow against joining the EU.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream, established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

On Sunday, demonstrators closed an avenue leading into the center of Tbilisi. Nika Melia, leader of Coalition for Change, one of the opposition groups, voiced hope that the protests around the clock will mark “the beginning of the intense, strong protest movement that will finish with the fall of Ivanishvili’s regime.”

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June after the country’s parliament passed a law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power," similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.

The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won about 54% of the vote in October. Its leaders have rejected opposition claims of vote fraud. European election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

Protesters warm themselves at a bonfire during a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections amid allegations that the vote was rigged in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Protesters' tents are seen in a street during a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections amid allegations that the vote was rigged in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Protesters warm themselves at a bonfire during a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections amid allegations that the vote was rigged in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

A protester sits between tents during a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections amid allegations that the vote was rigged in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)