Israeli military says strike in Beirut did not target hospital

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli jets hit a Hezbollah target close to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut late on Monday but did not target the hospital and it was not affected by the strike, the Israeli military said on Tuesday.

During a press conference on Tuesday, the director of the hospital, Jihad Saadeh, said Beirut's main government medical facility had sustained damage due to an Israeli attack nearby.

"We were subject to an attack yesterday. Whether it was targeted or not, we don’t know, but Israel has no red lines," Saadeh said.

He said debris, likely from heavy ammunition, damaged the hospital’s solar panels and front facade and shattered its windows.

While there were no casualties among the staff, efforts to rescue people in front of the hospital were ongoing.

"We won’t evacuate the hospital following the targeting of hospitals in Dahiyeh - we are the only one left," Saadeh said.

Dahiyeh is a district in Beirut's Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs repeatedly hit in Israeli airstrikes against the powerful Iran-backed militia.



(Reporting by James Mackenzie, Nayera Abdallah and Tala Ramadan; editing by Kevin Liffey and Mazrk Heinrich)