Israel’s attack on Beirut’s Kola: What happened and why it matters

The attack on Sunday was the first one to target a central district of Beirut, not its suburbs, since October 7.

Israel killed four people including three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in Beirut’s central Kola district on Sunday night, marking the first time since last October that it has hit a target inside the capital and not in its suburbs.

The Kola area is a popular transport hub for people looking to travel south from Beirut.

Here’s all you need to know about the attack.

Israel hit an apartment in a building near the Kola intersection in Beirut. Images of the attack show one floor of a six-story building destroyed. The rest of the building appears to be intact.

The assassinated people included Imad Audi, PFLP’s military leader in Lebanon; and Mohammad Abdel Aal and Abdel Rahman Abdel Aal, members of the group’s political bureau. The fourth victim is yet to be identified.