Israel strikes Beirut suburb in first heavy bombing since November truce

Israel’s air force conducted a heavy strike on a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on Friday, a Reuters witness said, the first heavy bombardment there since a truce in November ended a war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The strike, which resounded across Beirut and produced a large column of black smoke, followed an evacuation order by the Israeli military for the neighbourhood and three smaller drone strikes on the building intended as warnings, security sources told Reuters.

Israel had warned on Friday it would attack a building belonging to Hezbollah in a south Beirut suburb and ordered residents to evacuate, its first such move since a November ceasefire that has been seriously disrupted over the past week.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted a map highlighting a building in the suburb of Hadath that he said belonged to the heavily armed Hezbollah.

Gunfire was heard in the area after the release of the Israeli statement, which was taken as a warning to leave before airstrikes pounded the area, witnesses told Reuters.

Israel bombarded Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon on Friday after intercepting a rocket fired from its northern neighbour, the Israeli military said, although Hezbollah denied involvement in the incident.

Israel had vowed a strong response to protect its security, in what amounted to a further blow to the shaky ceasefire deal between the sides that ended a year-long war, a spillover of the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

A senior Hezbollah official denied in a statement that the group was involved in Friday’s rocket launch, which followed a rocket salvo into northern Israel on March 22 for which Hezbollah also denied responsibility.

Hezbollah said the incidents appeared to be part of what it called attempts to create pretexts for the continuation of Israeli military action in Lebanon.

Israeli warning

Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel held Lebanon responsible for missile fire into the Galilee region of northern Israel. “We will ensure the security of the residents of Galilee and will act forcefully against any threat,” he said.

Lebanese media said Israeli warplanes were flying over the country on Friday.

A second rocket launched from south Lebanon on Friday landed inside the region, the Israeli military said.

The truce disruptions have coincided with Israel’s renewal of war against Hamas in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it.

Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon on March 22, killing at least eight people, after Israel said it intercepted rockets fired from across the border.

Hezbollah denied responsibility for rockets fired on Saturday, saying it had “no link” to the launches and remained committed to the ceasefire.

Under a deal agreed in November, Hezbollah was to remove its weapons from southern Lebanon, Israeli ground forces were to withdraw, and the Lebanese army was to deploy in the area.

The agreement tasked Lebanon’s government with dismantling military infrastructure in the south and confiscating unauthorised weapons.

The truce ended Israel’s bombardment and ground operations in Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah’s daily rocket fire into Israel. Both sides have accused each other of failing to fully implement the terms.

Israel says Hezbollah maintains military positions in the south. Lebanon and Hezbollah say Israel continues to violate the deal by carrying out airstrikes and keeping troops at five hilltop positions near the border.