Update: Death toll from Israeli airstrike on Beirut's Jnah area rises to 18

BEIRUT, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen people, including four children, were killed and 60 others injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Jnah area in Beirut on Monday night, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported Tuesday, updating the previous casualty count of 13 deaths and 57 injuries.

The Israeli airstrike targeted the Jnah area near the Rafic Hariri University Hospital, a densely populated area in Beirut.

The airstrike forced many residents in the area to leave their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.

Israel has been intensifying raids and shelling in southern and eastern regions of Lebanon, as well as Mount Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. In addition, Israel announced the launch of a ground operation near the border with southern Lebanon earlier this month. ■