Israel strikes heart of Beirut, signals long campaign

By Ahmed Kerdi, Maya Gebeily and Maayan Lubell

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 12 (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes hit two buildings in the heart of Beirut near the Lebanese government's headquarters on Thursday, ramping up Israel's offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah and dragging Lebanon deeper into the Middle East war.

A day after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched its biggest rocket salvo of the conflict, Israel's defence minister said the military had orders to expand the campaign and Israel's military chief said the operation in Lebanon would not be short.

Israel has pounded Lebanon's south and east and the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, killing nearly 700 people, according to Lebanese authorities. It has also ordered mass evacuations in those same areas, prompting more than 800,000 people to flee their homes.

STRIKES IN HEART OF BEIRUT

Widening Israel's attacks to downtown Beirut, an airstrike hit a building in the Bachoura neighbourhood, around 1 km (mile) from the Lebanese government's Grand Serail headquarters at around 5:30 p.m. (1530 GMT).

Before the strike, the Israeli military issued a warning telling residents they were near a Hezbollah facility it intended to target. It later issued a similar warning to residents of the nearby district of Zuqaq al-Blat, before hitting a building even closer to the Serail.

A pre-dawn strike on Thursday in another area of Beirut killed 12 people, according to Lebanon's health ministry. It hit a seafront sidewalk where dozens of displaced families had set up tents and were sleeping out in the streets.

"Who's in these tents? There are children, elderly people, and women in them. Israel... what justification will it create for last night's strike?" said a displaced man who gave his name as Abu Ali.

Mahmoud Kassem, another displaced man at the scene, said: "My heart is dead".

After ordering residents out of a swathe of southern Lebanon last week, the Israeli military issued new instructions on Thursday telling people to leave another expanse of the south, with evacuation orders now covering around a tenth of Lebanon.

"We promised quiet and security to the communities of the north, and that is exactly what we will deliver," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said at a meeting with senior military officials.

'THIS OPERATION WILL NOT BE SHORT'

Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said: "This operation will not be short. We will bring additional troops and capabilities to the north ... We continue moving forward."

Israel launched its offensive against Hezbollah last week after the group opened fire on Israel on March 2, saying it aimed to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader.

Hezbollah has fired rockets and drones at Israel every day since, including its largest barrage late on Wednesday that triggered heavy Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had carried out the attack simultaneously with Iran, firing 200 rockets and 20 drones as Iran launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had conducted a joint operation with Hezbollah.

Zamir said that only two launches out of hundreds fired at Israel on Wednesday night had hit Israeli territory.

UN OFFICIAL: CIVILIAN COST 'TOO HIGH'

The Lebanese health ministry said the number of people killed by Israeli attacks had risen to 687, including 98 children, 62 women and 18 medics. The toll does not otherwise distinguish between civilians and combatants.

"The cost on civilians is too high," Imran Riza, U.N. resident coordinator in Lebanon, told Reuters, calling on U.N. member states to press belligerents to respect international humanitarian law.

"The expectation as we go along is... that we will have more and more displacement. We don't see any signs right now of things ... calming down," he said.

ISRAEL WARNS LEBANON

Katz warned Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that if the Lebanese government could not prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel, "we will take the territory and do it ourselves," according to a statement released by his office.

Lebanon said last year it aims to establish a state monopoly on arms and its cabinet last week outlawed any military activities by Hezbollah.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi summoned theIranian charge d'affaires over the joint attack, saying it violated last week's decree, said a source familiar with the matter.

Israel says it has killed several members of Iran's Quds Force in Lebanon, including in a strike on a hotel in Beirut's seafront Raouche district on Sunday.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry, Khalil Ashawi, Mohamed Azakir in Beirut, Laila Bassam; Alexander Cornwell, Pesha Magid, Maayan Lubell and Steven Scheer in Jerusalem; Enas Alashray and Yoman Ehab in Cairo; Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Writing by Maya Gebeily and Tom Perry; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Ros Russell)