Over dozen people killed in Israeli strikes near Beirut's main hospital

Israeli airstrikes in and around Beirut caused significant damage to the country's largest public hospital and killed more than a dozen people, Lebanese health officials said, as Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel hours before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the region.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said that 57 others were wounded in airstrikes late Monday that destroyed several buildings facing the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, located on the outskirts of southern Beirut.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hezbollah target, without elaborating, and that it had not targeted the hospital itself.

The State Department said Blinken would focus on ending the war in Gaza, securing the release of hostages held by Hamas and alleviating the suffering of Palestinian civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group. Hamas says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

On Oct 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel's security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducting another 250. Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between militants and civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.