Israeli dawn strike on Beirut suburb kills four
The Israeli army struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs before dawn on Tuesday, killing at least four people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The strike came without a warning at around 3:30am during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel’s military said it targeted Hassan Bdeir, a Hezbollah member accused of coordinating attacks on Israel with Hamas.
The attack marks the second strike on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire ended over a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel in late November.
The first strike levelled a building in Dahiyeh, the capital's southern suburbs, just days earlier, on Friday. Before the strike, the Israeli army sent out bombing notices to the residents in the area after two projectiles were fired on Israel from southern Lebanon.
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Hezbollah has denied firing any rockets, and no military activity from Lebanon towards Israel was reported before Tuesday's attack.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that Israel’s attacks on Dahiyeh marked “a serious warning of hostile intentions against Lebanon”.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the attack.
“The aggression on the southern suburbs is a blatant violation of UN Resolution 1701, which affirms Lebanon's sovereignty,” he said, referring to the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
On Saturday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem condemned Israel’s resumption of strikes on Dahiyeh, saying they “cannot allow this to continue”.
Israel and Hezbollah engaged in cross-border clashes for over a year since 8 October 2023, following the start of the war on Gaza.
The clashes turned into a full-blown war last September, when Israel launched a widespread bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon.
Under the November ceasefire agreement, Israel was supposed to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon by 18 February after missing the initial January deadline.
The Israeli army remains stationed in five points near the border, which it has deemed “strategic”.
Hezbollah meanwhile pulled its forces to the north of the Litani River, to be replaced by the Lebanese army.
In a statement last week, Aoun said that Hezbollah has been respecting the terms of the ceasefire.
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