Israel widens conflict

An apartment building in Beirut was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Monday, according to Reuters witnesses, in the first attack within city limits as Israel escalated hostilities against Iran’s allies in the region.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a statement early on Monday that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district.

There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.

Israel’s increasing attacks against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen have prompted fears that Middle East fighting could draw in Iran and the United States.

Israel on Sunday launched airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen and dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after earlier killing the Hezbollah leader.

Also, Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Monday that its leader in Lebanon Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was killed in an Israeli strike in the south of the country.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians.

The government said a million people have fled their homes. The intensifying bombardment over two weeks has killed several Hezbollah leaders, including its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel has vowed to keep up the assault and says it wants to make its northern areas secure again for residents who have been forced to flee by Hezbollah rocket attacks.

The United States has urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon but has also authorised its military to reinforce in the region.

U.S. President Joe Biden, asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, said “It has to be.” He said he will be talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.