EXPLAINERThe 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.
What exactly happened?
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.
Where is Kola?
Kola is an important intersection in Beirut, bordering the popular neighbourhoods of Mar Elias and Tariq el-Jdide and not far from Mazra’a.
The surrounding neighbourhoods are predominantly Sunni, though people of all sects pass through Kola to travel south.
What is the history of Kola?
It’s named after a Coca-Cola factory that operated there until the late 1960s. Protests by locals led to the factory being abandoned until it was taken over by a Palestinian armed group and then bombed by the Israelis.
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