An apparent Israeli airstrike on central Beirut has leveled an apartment building. It came after Israel hit targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people, as Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure,

The first apparent Israeli airstrike in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict hit hours after Israel struck targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people as the Hezbollah militant group sustained a string of deadly blows to its command structure,

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.

Iran will not leave any of "the criminal acts" of Israel unanswered, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday, referring to the killing of Hezbollah's chief and an Iranian Guard deputy commander in Lebanon.

The past holds bitter lessons for leaders who entertain grand ambitions of tectonic changes in Lebanon, and in the Middle East in general.

The US is urging Israel not to escalate the conflict further. But Israel is likely to see the current moment as too good an opportunity to miss. Many now want to press home the advantage, in the hope of striking a decisive blow against not just Hizbollah but Iran — and the “axis of resistance” that it leads,

With the Middle East stumbling closer to an all-out war, Israel also launched a fresh wave of airstrikes against Houthi ­targets in Yemen on Sunday.