Israel has conducted the first air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah is based, since a ceasefire with the group came into force in November.
The Israeli military said it had hit a drone storage unit used by Hezbollah on Friday, after issuing an evacuation warning that sparked panic.
The attack occurred hours after two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel. Israel said it had intercepted one rocket, while the other failed to cross the border.
Hezbollah said it was not involved. Israel said the attack was a ceasefire “violation”, while the office of Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun also said Israel’s attack was a “violation of the agreement”.
The strike came after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for a building in the Hadath area in the Lebanese capital. Videos showed people leaving in panic. Schools were ordered to be evacuated.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on social media that the earlier rocket attack to which it was responding “constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and poses a direct threat to the civilians of the State of Israel”.
“The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement,” the IDF added.
The Lebanese Presidency posted on X that Aoun, who is in Paris for meetings, informed French President Emmanuel Macron as well as the Cypriot president and the Greek prime minister that “the Israeli attacks on the southern suburb and the threats are a continuation of Israel’s violation of the agreement sponsored by France and the US”.
“The international community must put an end to these attacks and force Israel to abide by the agreement, just as Lebanon is committed to it,” the statement read.
The latest developments put further pressure on the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political group, but, for now, the deal is likely to survive.
Friday’s attack is further proof of the challenges the Lebanese authorities face in trying to exert control over areas in the south of the country, where militant groups have been active for decades. Hezbollah is the most powerful of them, but Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad also operate there.
Despite the deal, Israel has carried out near daily air strikes on people and targets it says are linked to Hezbollah, saying it is acting to stop Hezbollah from rearming. Lebanon’s government says those attacks, and the permanence of Israeli soldiers in five locations in southern Lebanon, constitute violations of the truce.
The rocket fire aimed at Israel on Friday was the second attack from Lebanon in a week.
On 22 March, Israel carried out multiple air strikes on Lebanon after several rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel. The Israeli military said it had hit dozens of rocket launchers and a command centre belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said seven people, including a child, were killed and 40 injured in the air strikes.
Hezbollah said it had no involvement and remained committed to the ceasefire, and no other armed group claimed responsibility.
November’s ceasefire put an end to more than 13 months of conflict.
Hezbollah launched its campaign the day after the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The longstanding conflict escalated and led to an intense Israeli air campaign across Lebanon, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
The offensive killed about 4,000 people in Lebanon – including many civilians – and led to the displacement of more than 1.2 million residents.
Israel’s stated goal in its war against Hezbollah was to allow the return of about 60,000 residents who had been displaced from communities in the country’s north because of the group’s attacks, and to remove it from areas along the border.
