BEIRUT/JERUSALEM — Israel launched an airstrike in central Beirut early on Thursday, killing nine people, after its forces suffered their deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Hezbollah, as the latest escalation fanned concern of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Israel said it had conducted a precise airstrike on the Lebanese capital. Reuters witnesses reported hearing a massive blast, and a security source said it targeted a building in the district of Bachoura near parliament, the closest an Israeli strike has come to the central downtown district of Beirut.

Nine people were killed in the airstrike, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry on Thursday.

"Another sleepless night in Beirut. Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what's next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent," UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said on X on Thursday.

Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week, and loud blasts were heard, Lebanese officials said.

In the past 24 hours, the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in different areas of Lebanon reached 46 while injuries stood at 85, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

The elimination of Nasrallah dealt a major blow to the movement. Hezbollah and Iran's other regional allies, Yemen's Houthis and armed groups in Iraq, have launched attacks in the region in support of Hamas' fight against Israel in Gaza.

The Houthis, who have been carrying out attacks in shipping lanes in and around the Red Sea that have disrupted international trade, said on Thursday they attacked Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv with drones.

In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli military said that it killed a senior Hamas leader in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip around three months ago. It said that a strike on an underground compound in northern Gaza killed Rawhi Mushtaha and two other Hamas commanders.

The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, urged residents of Lebanese villages who have evacuated their homes not to return until further notice. "IDF raids are continuing," spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X on Thursday.

A day after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into Israel, Israel said on Wednesday eight soldiers were killed in ground combat in south Lebanon as its forces thrust into its northern neighbor.

Iran said on Wednesday its missile volley, its biggest ever assault on Israel, was over, barring further provocation, but Israel and the United States promised to hit back hard.

However, US President Joe Biden said he would not support any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites in response to its ballistic missile attack and urged Israel to act "proportionally" against its regional archfoe.

Amid fears of a wider conflict, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to take urgent actions to de-escalate the Lebanese-Israeli situation.

Plea for peace

"The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security," Fu said.

Warning that the current situation is "hanging by a thread", he said any passive procrastination would be irresponsible, and any rhetoric of condoning further military adventurism would send a wrong message and could cause serious consequences.

The ongoing fighting in Lebanon is causing another humanitarian disaster, as the total number of displaced persons in Lebanon due to Israeli airstrikes has risen to nearly 1.2 million.

According to a report released on Wednesday by the Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Lebanese Council of Ministers, most displaced individuals have relocated to their homes in other areas, stayed with family, rented accommodations, or found shelter in public or private spaces, while thousands of others traveled by air or crossed into Syria.

From Sept 23 to 29, the crossing of 234,023 Syrians and 76,269 Lebanese citizens into Syrian territory was recorded, it added.

Agencies-Xinhua