Workers cleared the rubble on Wednesday (March 18), from Beirut's Zuqaq al-Blat district, following Israeli strikes.

Israel stepped up airstrikes in central Beirut on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and destroying a 10-story building, Lebanese authorities said, in attacks that shook the capital in the third week of Israel's war with Hezbollah.

Central Beirut was hit by four airstrikes over an eight-hour period, targeting buildings in a cluster of neighbourhoods within walking distance of the city's downtown and the headquarters of the Lebanese government.

The Israeli military statement said it had "struck assets" of a Hezbollah-run financial institution, Al-Qard Al-Hassan, in Beirut, and that the Israeli Navy had targeted Hezbollah militants in the city. It did not give specific locations.

A strike at around 1:30 a.m. (2330 GMT) destroyed several floors of an apartment block in the Zuqaq al-Blat district.

Another strike, around 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT), tore through a floor of a second building in Zuqaq al-Blat, some 50 meters from the site of the earlier strike.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

BEIRUT, LEBANON (MARCH 18, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. AMBULANCES AND CIVIL DEFENCE VEHICLE AT SITE OF ISRAELI STRIKES, PEOPLE GATHERING

2. VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM BUILDING / PEOPLE GATHERING

3. CIVIL DEFENCE VEHICLE AT SITE

4. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT SITE

5. PEOPLE CLEANING STREET IN FRONT OF SHOPS

6. PEOPLE WALKING NEAR AMBULANCE, CIVIL DEFENCE VEHICLE AND OTHER DAMAGED VEHICLES

7. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CARS

8. VARIOUS OF WORKERS AND HEAVY MACHINERY CLEARING RUBBLE

9. VARIOUS OF DESTROYED VEHICLES / POLICE OFFICER AT SITE

10. VARIOUS OF LEBANESE ARMY SOLDIERS AT SITE