Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. AP
The strike hit the Hadath neighborhood, a densely populated area with residential buildings and schools, the National News Agency said. It was the first attack near the Lebanese capital since an Israel–Hezbollah ceasefire, which took effect on 27 November and was repeatedly violated by Israel.
Before the strike, the Israeli military ordered residents to leave areas near alleged “Hezbollah facilities” immediately. A map included in the warning indicated the target was a building near two schools with hundreds of students inside, triggering panic, traffic gridlock, and fears of mass casualties. Israel said the strike was in response to rockets launched from Lebanon earlier in the day.
Hezbollah said it "confirms the party's respect for the ceasefire agreement and denies any involvement in the rockets launched today from the south of Lebanon".
After the strike, Hezbollah said it had cancelled an event planned for Friday in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Meanwhile, a source in the Lebanese presidency told Al Arabiya news channel that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had been in Paris meeting his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, when the strike happened. The source added that Aoun was following up on the latest security developments.
The November ceasefire came after more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war during which Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon.
Under the ceasefire agreement, Lebanon’s military was to deploy in the south alongside UN peacekeepers as Israeli forces withdrew over a 60-day period that was later extended to 18 February. Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River—about 30km (20 miles) from the border—and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel continues to occupy five locations in southern Lebanon despite the withdrawal deadline expiring on 18 February. The UN has called the incomplete pullout a violation of a Security Council resolution.
A committee involving the US, France, Lebanon, Israel, and UN peacekeepers tasked with monitoring ceasefire violations has failed to hold Israel accountable for its repeated breaches since the truce took effect.
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