The Israeli military said in a statement that it attacked a Hezbollah militant “who had recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them.”
The attack took place a few days after a previous strike by Israel on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh.
There was no immediate statement from Hezbollah on the identity of the target.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli airstrike, calling it a “dangerous warning” that signals premeditated intentions against Lebanon.
Aoun said Israel’s growing “aggression” requires Lebanon to intensify diplomatic outreach and mobilise international allies in support of the country’s full sovereignty.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the Israeli strike and said it was a flagrant breach of UN Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire arrangement.
Nawaf said that he has been closely monitoring the aftermath of the strike in coordination with the ministers of defence and interior.
The strike appeared to have damaged the upper three floors of a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with the balconies of those floors blown out.
The glass on the floors below was intact, indicating a targeted strike. Ambulances were at the scene to recover casualties.
There was no evacuation warning issued for the area ahead of the strike, and families fled in the aftermath to other parts of Beirut, according to witnesses.
November’s ceasefire agreement halted the year-long conflict and mandated that southern Lebanon be free of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, that Lebanese troops deploy to the area and that Israeli ground troops withdraw from the zone.
But each side accuses the other of not entirely living up to those terms.
The US-brokered truce has looked increasingly flimsy lately. Israel delayed a promised troop withdrawal in January and said that it had intercepted rockets fired from Lebanon in March, which led it to bombard targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.
The Iran-aligned Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the rocket firings. (Reuters)
