Israel Bombs Beirut, Attacks In Michigan And Virginia, Housing Bill

Israeli forces struck Central Beirut. They ordered people to evacuate parts of Lebanon's capital and conducted air strikes on areas that weren't hit before. Israel's military chief says the operation in Lebanon will, quote, not be short. I'm Steve Inskeep with a Martinez, and this is up first from NPR News. Two acts of violence commanded attention on Thursday. A man drove a car into a synagogue in Michigan, and a shooting at a Virginia University left one victim dead and two injured. How are investigators thinking about those attacks? And the senate passed the largest housing bill in decades with both Republicans and Democrats, for the most part, on the same page. It would ban large corporations from buying up single family homes. Will it get the president's support? Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. Israel hit Central Beirut last night as part of its renewed offensive in Lebanon after the Iranian backed militant group, Hezbollah, launched rockets into Northern Israel. This has been a couple of nights of some of the fiercest fighting yet between the two sides since the beginning of the war in Iran. Israel says it will not stop until Hezbollah is completely defeated. NPR's Hadel al Shahlqi is in Beirut. Hadel, what happened last night? So this was the third Israeli strike in Central Beirut since the war in Iran began. But last night, it came with the first ever evacuation order for a part of Central Beirut. The Israeli military told people within a 300 yard radius of a building in the Bashurah neighborhood to leave the area. Now that neighborhood is a busy residential and commercial area about a kilometer from where I am. It's very close to the prime minister's office, the UN building, and some foreign embassies. And, you know, ever since I arrived two weeks ago, there's been this constant loud buzz of Israeli drones overhead, but it stopped around 05:30 local time last night. We heard the fighter jets overhead, then a whoosh of a warning strike telling people that the real attacks were coming. Then we heard two big booms, explosions one after another. Black plumes of smoke rose over the Beirut skyline, and the building targeted was damaged but not destroyed. Has Israel said anything about why they carried out this attack? So while we know that the Israeli military says it is targeting and killing Hezbollah operatives, we don't know what was being targeted in the building last night. But an official in the region not authorized to speak publicly and speaking on condition of anonymity told NPR the Israeli strike in Central Beirut was symbolic to send a message that Israel will not tolerate Hezbollah's fire much longer. You know, Hezbollah unleashed its heaviest barrage of rockets on Israel on Wednesday night. The Israeli military estimates that it included 200 rockets, and Iran fired ballistic missiles at the same time. But the Israeli messaging is, look, …