Israeli airstrike on Beirut suburb kills three, shakes fragile ceasefire

At least three people were killed and seven wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs early on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, further testing a shaky four-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said it attacked a Hezbollah militant "who had recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them".

The attack took place a few days after a previous strike by Israel on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh.

There was no immediate statement from Hezbollah on the identity of the target.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, calling it a "dangerous warning" that signals premeditated intentions against Lebanon. Aoun said Israel's growing "aggression" requires Lebanon to intensify diplomatic outreach and mobilise international allies in support of the country's full sovereignty.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the Israeli strike and said it was a flagrant breach of UN Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire arrangement. Nawaf said he has been closely monitoring the aftermath of the strike in coordination with the ministers of defence and interior.

The strike appeared to have damaged the upper three floors of a building in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Reuters reporter at the scene said, with the balconies of the floors blown out. The glass on the floors below was intact, indicating a targeted strike. Ambulances were at the scene to recover casualties.

There was no evacuation warning issued for the area ahead of the strike, and families fled in the aftermath to other parts of Beirut, according to witnesses.

Last November's ceasefire agreement halted the year-long conflict and mandated that southern Lebanon be free of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, that Lebanese troops deploy to the area and that Israeli ground troops withdraw from the zone. However,  each side accuses the other of not entirely living up to the terms.

The US-brokered truce has looked increasingly flimsy lately. Israel delayed a promised troop withdrawal in January and said it had intercepted rockets fired from Lebanon in March, which led it to bombard targets in Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.

Iran-aligned Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the rocket firings.

The US state department said on Tuesday Israel was defending itself from rocket attacks that came from Lebanon and Washington blamed "terrorists" for the resumption of hostilities.

"Hostilities have resumed because terrorists launched rockets into Israel from Lebanon," a state department spokesperson said in an e-mail, adding Washington supported Israel's response.

The Israeli-Lebanese conflict, in which thousands of people have been killed, was ignited by the Gaza war in 2023 when Hezbollah started firing rockets at Israeli military positions in support of its ally Hamas.

The Gaza war, in which Palestinian health authorities say more than 50,000 people have been killed, was triggered when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Reuters