Rubble of destroyed buildings is pictured at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Rweiss neighbourhood in Beirut's southern suburbs, on March 8, 2026. AFP
Israel, which has kept up strikes on Lebanon despite a 2024 ceasefire, launched multiple waves of strikes this week across the country and sent ground troops into border areas.
Early Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli air strike hit Beirut's city centre, targeting "a hotel room", killing four people and wounding 10 others.
The Israeli occupation army earlier announced it had "begun an additional wave of strikes in Beirut".
Israel claims to have targeted key commanders in the Quds Force, the elite wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The hotel's area of Raouche is a major tourist destination and had remained untouched by Israeli strikes during 2024 war.
Dozens of panicked guests were fleeing the hotel with their luggage, An AFP photographer said.
Two witnesses said they had heard a loud bang, before ambulances rushed to the scene.
Rockets
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.
This 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, near the presidential palace and several government ministries and diplomatic missions.
AFPTV live footage from Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday showed smoke following what appeared to be at least two air strikes several hours apart.
Hezbollah meanwhile announced rocket attacks early Sunday targeting Israeli forces and a city across the border, "in response to the criminal Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns", according to statements from the group.
Hezbollah 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.
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