Israel, Hezbollah trade fire as truce hopes rekindled

BEIRUT/GENEVA — An Israeli airstrike killed five people in central Beirut on Monday, Lebanon's Health Ministry said, the second day in a row Israel has hit a target within the capital as it presses its campaign against the armed group Hezbollah.

Smoke was seen rising from the strike in the densely populated Zuqaq al-Blat neighborhood, near the central Beirut district where the Lebanese government is headquartered. Two people were missing after the strike and another 31 were wounded, the ministry said.

Israel has intensified its bombardment in and around the Lebanese capital over the past week, and Hezbollah has kept up missile fire into Israel.