2 killed, 22 injured in Israeli airstrike on Beirut neighborhood

BEIRUT, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and 22 others injured on Sunday night in an Israeli airstrike targeting Mar Elias, a densely-populated neighborhood in Beirut, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Local TV channel Al-Jadeed reported that the airstrike targeted Hezbollah's head of operations on the southern front, Mahmoud Madi, but his fate remains unknown.

The channel reported that the airstrike targeted Madi Technology, an electronics shop owned by Hassan Madi, the brother of Mahmoud Madi. The explosion of electronic devices at the shop following the airstrike triggered a massive fire.

Civil defense teams quickly arrived on the scene to extinguish the fire, while ambulances were dispatched to transport the injured to the hospital.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified airstrikes on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. In early October, Israel launched a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon.