Beirut: The Israeli military struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs early Tuesday, killing at least four people, as the military said it had targeted a member of the Hezbollah militant group.
The airstrike came without warning days after Israel launched an attack on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday for the first time since a ceasefire ended fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group in November. The Israeli military then had warned residents in the crowded suburbs before the attack after two projectiles were launched from southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah denied firing.
At least seven other people were wounded in Tuesday’s airstrike, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said in a statement the latest strike targeted a Hezbollah member who had been helping the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip in attacks against Israel. It said the airstrike was “under the direction of the Shin Bet,” Israel’s domestic intelligence agency.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the airstrike.
“We must prevent any violation of sovereignty from abroad, or from infiltrators within who provide an additional pretext for aggression,” Aoun wrotie in a statement posted on X. The former
military chief vowed after his election in January that all weapons would be at the
hands of the Lebanese state, indirectly referring to Hezbollah’s arms.
Among those killed in the airstrike were Hezbollah official Hassan Bdeir and his son, Ali, according to a Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly to the media.