Heavy toll as Israeli strikes hit central Beirut and other areas, Lebanon reports 203 dead

First responders stand amid rubble at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. PICS/GETTY IMAGES

Lebanon's health ministry said on Thursday that at least 203 people were killed in widespread Israeli strikes in central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon on Wednesday. It said more than 1000 were wounded.

The death toll on Wednesday was the highest for a single day in Lebanon during more than five weeks of renewed war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah sites.

Destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes in Beirut

However, several of the buildings that were struck without warning during the afternoon rush hour were in densely-packed commercial and residential areas, leading to widespread civilian casualties.

Israel on Thursday said it killed Ali Yusuf Harshi - the nephew and personal secretary of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem - in a strike carried out in Beirut on Wednesday night. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has affirmed that Israel will persist in its military operations against Hezbollah. Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that continued Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon would bring "explicit costs and strong responses".

Meanwhile, Iran published a chart suggesting its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war, in a message that may be intended to pressure the US as uncertainty hangs over a days-old two-week ceasefire and further negotiations are expected in Pakistan.

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