Rescue workers scoured the wreckage of a central Beirut neighborhood Friday after Lebanese officials said Israeli airstrikes had killed at least 22 people, in what would be the deadliest attack in Lebanon’s capital in more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, which came as it escalates its bombing campaign against Hezbollah militants and their top leaders.

One of the strikes in Beirut hit the central Basta neighborhood, which is close to several Western embassies and the Lebanese parliament, and near the site of an attack that killed nine rescue workers last week. Another hit the Ras el-Nabaa neighborhood a few blocks to the south, near the French Embassy.

On Friday afternoon, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, suggested that Hezbollah may agree to withdraw its fighters from southern Lebanon in accordance with a U.N. resolution passed in 2006. The Lebanese government has long supported that resolution, but Hezbollah has never abided by it.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah responded to Mikati’s statement Friday afternoon, but both indicated they believed the war will continue. In Beirut, Mohammad Afif, a Hezbollah spokesperson, told reporters that “the battle with the Zionist enemy is still in its earliest stages.”

And in a video posted online, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, said Israeli forces “will not stop until we ensure that we can safely return the residents not just now, but with a future outlook.”

Israel has been heavily bombing sites across Lebanon in recent weeks as part of a major offensive against Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group. Several strikes in Beirut have succeeded in killing their targets, including longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and some of his close associates or presumed successors.

Here’s What Else to Know:

— Yom Kippur begins: Businesses closed and radio and television broadcasts came to a halt Friday afternoon as Jews prepared to mark one of the holiest days of the year, Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. It is the first Yom Kippur since the Israeli government failed to stop the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. For many, the day brought to mind a similar intelligence failure that led to the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

— Security Cabinet meets: Israel’s security Cabinet convened Thursday night to discuss Israel’s response to an Iranian barrage of ballistic missiles last week, officials said. The Cabinet was expected to authorize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to initiate the response at their discretion, said two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. Details of the meeting were not released.

— Peacekeepers struck: United Nations officials said Friday that two peacekeepers were injured after explosions at their headquarters in southern Lebanon, leading one of them to be hospitalized. It followed a separate attack Thursday in which two peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired on the same U.N. facility in Naqoura, Lebanon.

— Northern Gaza: Many residents of northern Gaza are staying put despite the Israeli military’s dropping of leaflets over the town of Jabalia over the weekend, warning people to evacuate to the south because of a coming offensive against Hamas. About 400,000 people remain in Gaza’s north, according to the U.N., and many do not have the means to flee or are fearful of being permanently displaced from their homes.

— Oil prices: The spiraling conflict between Israel and Iran has sent shock waves through the oil market, increasing prices as investors grapple with potential disruptions to the global oil supply. Oil prices have jumped since Iran fired about 200 ballistic missiles at Israel last week. Brent crude, the international benchmark, surpassed $81 a barrel in the days afterward, a gain of about 15%. It traded around $79 a barrel Friday.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Liam Stack, Christina Goldbaum and Euan Ward/Sergey Ponomarev
c. 2024 The New York Times Company