Health officials in Lebanon have said an Israeli attack on a hotel in the centre of the capital, Beirut, has killed at least four people, with Israel saying it targeted commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as it escalates its attacks on Iran.

Lebanon was drawn into the regional war on March 2, when Iran-backed group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28 and have killed more than 1,300 people.

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Early on Sunday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said an Israeli air raid hit Beirut’s city centre, targeting “a hotel room” in Raouche, a popular tourist destination. In addition to the four killed, at least 10 people were wounded, it added.

Raouche had remained untouched by Israeli strikes during the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which ended with a ceasefire in November 2024, as well as Israel’s subsequent attacks in violation of the agreement.

The area along the Mediterranean coast is home to dozens of hotels, now overcrowded with displaced people who fled their homes elsewhere in Lebanon due to the ongoing fighting.

The targeted hotel was also housing displaced people fleeing the war in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, and some were seen leaving the building for fear of further air strikes.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it targeted key commanders of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force, but did not name them.

“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” it added.

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Israel launched multiple waves of strikes this week across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.

In southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency said at least 12 people were killed in three separate strikes overnight.

The Israeli military earlier announced it had “begun an additional wave of strikes in Beirut”, saying it was targeting the capital’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Footage from Beirut’s southern suburbs showed smoke following what appeared to be at least two air attacks several hours apart.

The overnight attack is the second Israeli attack on a hotel in the Beirut area this week. On Wednesday, an Israeli air strike hit a hotel in the predominantly Christian neighbourhood of Hazmieh outside Beirut.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed rocket attacks early on Sunday targeting Israeli forces and a city across the border. It also said its fighters were engaged in clashes with Israeli forces near the border town of Aitaroun.

Air raid sirens sounded in several areas of northern Israel, with no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Sunday issued another forced evacuation order to four villages in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam recently said, “The consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented.”

“Our country has been drawn into a devastating war that we did not seek and did not choose,” he said.