Witnesses report first Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict [Video]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Witnesses on Monday reported the first Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict, hours after Israel struck targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people as Hezbollah sustained a string of deadly blows to its command structure, including the killing of its overall leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The airstrike hit a multi-story residential building, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene. Videos showed ambulances and a crowd gathered under the building, where the strike appeared to have targeted an apartment.

In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence – including a major strike on Friday that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah – but had not hit locations near the city center. The area where the strike took place is a primary Sunni district with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops and …