Israel has carried out an airstrike on Beirut, for the first time since a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah came into effect in late November 2024.
The major airstrike, which targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, came in retaliation for an earlier rocket launch from Lebanon, reported Reuters.
Striking Beirut
On Friday, the Israeli military hit what it said was a drone storage facility used by Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut (Dahiyeh). The strike was heard across the Lebanese capital and caused a large column of black smoke.
Before the strike, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order to Lebanese residents in the neighborhood. “To everyone located in the building marked in red on the map, as well as the surrounding buildings: you are in close proximity to Hezbollah-affiliated facilities. For your safety and the safety of your families, you must evacuate these buildings immediately and move at least 300 meters away, as indicated on the map,” the statement said.
Israel also said that its airstrikes targeted “Hezbollah command centers, terrorist infrastructure sites, launchers, and terrorists” in multiple locations across southern Lebanon, according to CNN.
Civilian Casualties
The Lebanese state news Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli strike on Kfar Tebnit in the southern governorate of Nabatiyeh killed 3 people, including a woman. It also injured at least 18 other people, including six children and eight women.
Moreover, the Lebanese government suspended classes in the area after the Israeli evacuation order, urging “all students, teachers, and administrative staff” to leave the area.
Israeli Threat
The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said that Friday strikes were in response to two projectiles fired at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. “If there is no peace in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no peace in Beirut either,” Katz said, according to a Defense Ministry statement.
Similarly, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that Israel would “attack everywhere” in Lebanon in retaliation for any threat against it.
“Those who have not yet internalized the new situation in Lebanon received today another example of our determination,” he said. “We will not allow firing on our communities, not even a drizzle … We will attack everywhere in Lebanon against any threat to the state of Israel, and we will ensure that all our residents in the north return to their homes safely,” Netanyahu warned.
Lebanon’s Response
On Friday, the Lebanese army said it had found a rocket launch site from which projectiles could have been fired at Israel, saying it had opened an investigation to identify the perpetrators.
Furthermore, the Lebanese army called Israel’s strikes on Beirut “a blatant and repeated violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and the security of its citizens, a challenge to international law, and a flagrant breach of the ceasefire agreement.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah denied any responsibility for the rocket attacks. It said that the incident appears to be designed to create “pretexts for the continuation of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon.”
The rocket attack on Israel was the second in a week. On March 22, Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon in response to rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel.
Lebanon’s President, Jospeh Aoun, said that an investigation into last week’s attack did not point to any Hezbollah involvement, calling Friday’s airstrike “unjustified.”
French Condemnation
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, condemned what he called Israeli “unacceptable strikes on Beirut,” saying that there had been no activity justifying Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to Reuters.
“The framework agreed upon by Lebanon and Israel was not respected today by Israel, unilaterally, and without us having either information or proof of the triggering event,” he said.
Macron said that he would call the US President, Donald Trump, and Netanyahu to discuss a “return to a full and complete observance of the ceasefire,” adding that the Israeli army “must withdraw as quickly as possible from the five positions it continues to occupy in Lebanese territory.”
US Support
The US expressed support for Israel in its strikes on Lebanon, calling the Lebanese government to take action against the armed groups in the country, according to the Associated Press (AP).
On Friday, the US State Department spokeswoman, Tammy Bruce, said: “Israel is defending its people and interests by responding to rocket attacks from terrorists in Lebanon. We expect the Lebanese Armed Forces to disarm these terrorists to prevent further hostilities.”
Hezbollah-Israel Ceasefire
On November 27, 2024, a ceasefire came into force between Hezbollah and Israel to end the 14-month fighting between both sides, which escalated against the backdrop of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Under the ceasefire agreement, brokered by the US and France, both sides have an initial 60-day halt in fighting, during which Hezbollah ends its armed presence in southern Lebanon while Israel gradually withdraws its troops to the other side of the border.
The deadline of the Israeli withdrawal was then extended to February 18 by agreement between Lebanon and Israel. However, Israel has stayed in five locations in Lebanon and has launched dozens of airstrikes and drone attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon, according to AP.
Lebanon has urged the UN to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country, calling its presence a violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement.
