Israel said its military attacked Hizbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs yesterday after the Iran-aligned armed group fired into Israeli territory, and the Lebanese state news agency said three people were killed.
The Israeli military said earlier that Hizbollah had launched three projectiles towards communities in northern Israel, calling it a blatant ceasefire violation.
The IDF has now attacked targets of Hizbollah in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of Beirut, in response to Hizbollah’s firing into Israeli territory, a joint statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Three people were killed and four others wounded in the strike, which targeted an apartment in Dahiyeh, state news agency NNA reported.
Lebanese security sources said the attack appeared to be a targeted strike with two missiles. The Israeli military said it conducted a ‘precise’ strike on a Hizbollah command centre.
There was no immediate comment from Hizbollah on the Israeli statements, but the group said it launched missiles and drones towards Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Last week, an Israeli strike on Dahiyeh triggered an exchange of fire between Israel and Iran that threatened to derail a US-Iran deal that would end the wider war.
Washington and Tehran appear to be close to a deal to end the more than three-month-long conflict that disrupted energy supplies and rattled the global economy.
Iran has long made the cessation of fighting in Lebanon a condition for any wider agreement with the US.
“Israel will not tolerate firing into its territory,” Netanyahu said in a post on X after the attack.
The Israeli military had issued a wide-scale evacuation warning earlier yesterday for residents of at least 30 towns and villages in southern Lebanon.
Israeli forces have occupied swathes of southern Lebanon, and Israel says it is seeking to dismantle Hizbollah infrastructure on its borders.
Fighting with the Iran-backed group has not halted in the area despite the Lebanese government holding ceasefire talks with Israel in Washington.
Hizbollah has rejected the negotiations and said any ceasefire with Israel should secure an end to all hostilities, including in southern Lebanon and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.
Earlier this month, Israel said fighting in south Lebanon would continue and warned Lebanese residents against moving back to the south.
Hizbollah entered the war by firing at Israel on March 2, two days after the US and Israel began air strikes against Iran.
Israel said it would respond forcefully and has since carried out air strikes that have killed thousands in Lebanon and displaced more than a million people.
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