At least three people were killed and seven others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs early Tuesday morning, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. This attack further tests the fragile four-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military confirmed the strike, stating it targeted a Hezbollah militant “who had recently directed Hamas operatives and provided assistance to them.” The strike comes just days after a similar Israeli attack in the same area, which is a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh.
No immediate statement has been issued by Hezbollah regarding the identity of the target. However, eyewitnesses and a Reuters reporter on the ground noted significant damage to a building, with the upper three floors heavily affected, their balconies blown out. In contrast, the lower floors appeared untouched, indicating a precise strike. Emergency crews were seen at the scene, helping casualties, while local families fled to safer parts of the city.
The Israeli airstrike occurred without a prior evacuation warning for the area. Many residents evacuated the region in the aftermath, seeking refuge elsewhere in Beirut.
The incident has heightened tensions in a region already on edge. The ceasefire agreement, brokered by the U.S., had brought an end to the year-long conflict, calling for the withdrawal of Israeli ground troops from southern Lebanon and the deployment of Lebanese forces in the area to maintain peace. However, both sides have accused each other of failing to fully adhere to the agreement.
In recent months, the ceasefire has shown signs of unraveling. Israel delayed its troop withdrawal in January, and in March, it intercepted rockets fired from Lebanon, prompting retaliatory airstrikes on Hezbollah positions in Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the rocket fire.
The U.S. State Department backed Israel’s actions, calling the airstrike a defensive response to rocket attacks from Lebanon. A spokesperson also condemned the resumption of hostilities, placing the blame on “terrorists.”
The escalation comes against the backdrop of the broader Israeli-Lebanese conflict, which reignited after Hezbollah’s support for Hamas during the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. This conflict, which has already claimed thousands of lives, is a reflection of the complex and volatile dynamics in the region, with the Gaza war itself leaving more than 50,000 Palestinians dead according to local health authorities.
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