News: Israeli army assassination target Hezbollah liaison office senior member escaped the attack

According to three security sources, a senior member of Lebanon's Hezbollah escaped Israel's killing operation in Beirut on Thursday night. Lebanon says 22 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the attack that night.

Reuters quoted security sources as saying that Wafiq Safa, head of Hezbollah's liaison and coordination unit working with Lebanese security agencies, survived Thursday night's attack and was targeted for assassination by Israeli forces.

The Israeli strike hit a densely populated residential area of apartment buildings and shops in central Beirut. Israel has not previously attacked the area, which is some distance from Hezbollah's headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The area where Hezbollah's headquarters are located has been bombed several times by Israel.

Earlier Thursday, a Lebanese security source said at least one senior Hezbollah member was the target of an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut on Thursday.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that as of midnight Thursday, 22 people had been killed and 117 wounded in Israeli attacks. Security sources said eight of the dead were family members, including three children, who were civilians evacuated from the south.