An Israeli airstrike has struck a densely populated residential area in Lebanon's capital close to the U.N. headquarters, Parliament, the prime minister's office and several embassies.

The Hezbollah militant group has a strong presence in central Beirut, known as the Dahiyeh, and the strikes came as Lebanese officials are considering a U.S.-brokered cease-fire proposal.

Israel killed Hezbollah’s chief spokesman in a rare central Beirut airstrike. An anonymous Hezbollah official confirmed the death of Mohammed Afif to the Associated Press, while two Lebanese security sources confirmed it to Reuters.

BEIRUT - Two people were killed and 22 others injured on Sunday night in an Israeli airstrike targeting Mar Elias, a densely-populated neighborhood in Beirut, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

The decision followed two Israeli airstrikes, one targeting the busy shopping district of Mar Elias and another in the Ras al-Nabaa area of Beirut. According to the Ministry of Public Health, the Mar Elias strike killed three people and injured 13 others, while the Ras al-Nabaa strike killed four and injured 14.

Mohammed Afif died in an attack against the socialist Baath party's headquarters that came without warning near a busy intersection.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said Mohammed Afif was killed in the strike on Sunday.

Lebanon said an Israeli strike on central Beirut's Mar Elias district killed two people, the second such raid targeting the capital Sunday after an earlier strike killed a Hezbollah official.Earlier Sunday,