Israel levelled a building in Hadath, south of Beirut, in the first attack on the area since the fragile November ceasefire took hold (AFP via Getty Images)
The Israeli army carried out an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb Friday, the first since a fragile November ceasefire took hold and amid Israel’s continued violations of that deal.
It came hours after airstrikes and shelling in south Lebanon killed several people, following a rocket attack on the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona, the second such incident in less than a week. It remains unclear who was behind the cross-border fire, but the Lebanese army said it managed to pinpoint from where the rockets were launched.
“Anyone located in the building marked in red as shown on the map, and the surrounding buildings… are near Hezbollah facilities… you must immediately evacuate these buildings,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee threatened in a post on X that included a map showing the building.
A state of panic reigned over the neighbourhood of Hadath as residents rushed to leave the densely populated residential area by car or on foot, as the Lebanese army cut off roads leading to the site, located next to two schools.
The Israeli army fired multiple warning strikes on the building before levelling it with two warheads.
No casualties were immediately reported.
The Lebanese education ministry ordered all schools in the city’s southern suburbs and parts of south Lebanon shut amid the escalation.
It is the first time Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as ‘Dahiyeh’, come under attack since last year’s war, which saw Israel pummel the area non-stop. It is also where many of Hezbollah’s leaders, including secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, were assassinated.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam headed an emergency security meeting following the developments, as he and President Joseph Aoun, who is in Paris, made calls through mediators to pressure Israel to stop its escalation and calm the situation.
Some Israeli media reports said US President Donald Trump asked Israel not to target Beirut or vital facilities such as the airport, port, or the state-run electricity company.
The Iran-backed group has not claimed any operations against Israel since the 27 November ceasefire, except one mortar attack in December.
It denied any involvement in the rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona, saying it was fully committed to the ceasefire deal.
Shelling of southern Lebanon
Earlier Friday, the Israeli army said in a statement that it had detected the launch of “two projectiles” from south Lebanon toward the northern Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona, in the Galilee Panhandle.
The statement said one of the rockets were intercepted while the second fell inside Lebanese territory without causing any casualties.
Several areas across south Lebanon were shelled following the attack, including Naqoura, Ayta al-Shaab, Houla and Khiyam. Some videos claimed that Israel used phosphorus bombs in Khiyam. The shelling was followed by airstrikes, as the Israeli army claimed it was “attacking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon”.
According to an initial death toll, at least six people were killed in an airstrike on the village of Kfar Tebnit.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz had earlier threatened to hit the Lebanese capital, repeating a similar warning he made last week after six rockets were fired on the border town of Metula.
“If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut either,” he said.
“The Lebanese government bears direct responsibility for any fire toward the Galilee”.
A source from Hezbollah said the rocket attack was another pretext for Israel to continue its aggression against Lebanon.
Hezbollah also denied last week’s rocket fire on Metula.
Israel is violating the deal
Friday’s escalation comes after a string of air raids on south Lebanon in recent days which have killed several people. Saturday 22 March had seen the worst violence since late November, following the rocket attack on Metula.
It remains unclear who was behind the firing of those missiles. Aoun and Salam had warned against attempts to drag the country into another conflict following the incident, calling for a swift investigation.
The Israeli army has continued to conduct airstrikes across southern Lebanon and the near the Syrian border despite the ceasefire, vowing to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities, which were severely weakened during the recent conflict with Israel.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, said last week that it had not observed any Hezbollah military activity on the border since November.
There has been speculation in Lebanon recently that Israel is seeking to restart its war as part of an attempt to force Lebanon into talks on normalising relations.
The US has pressured Beirut to engage in direct talks with Tel Aviv to solve a number of issues between the enemy states.
These issues include a full Israeli withdrawal of Lebanon’s south, releasing Lebanese prisoners in Israel, and fully demarcating the land border.
Lebanese officials are concerned that these talks could be a prelude to normalisation efforts which they have refused.
Macron voices solidarity
Aoun met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Friday, where the two discussed the situation in south Lebanon and efforts to pressure Israel in ending its occupation of Lebanese territories.
Speaking to French newspaper Le Figaro upon arriving in Paris, Aoun said Israel was violating the ceasefire deal and reiterated his country’s full commitment to implementing UN Resolution 1701 – the basis of the agreement.
Macron expressed “solidarity” with residents of the Beirut suburb “who witnessed today an Israeli air raid in a violation of the ceasefire deal”.
France, like the US, is a mediator between Lebanon and Israel. Macron’s special envoy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, was in Lebanon earlier this week.
UN Resolution 1701 stipulates that the Lebanese army deploys heavily across south Lebanon and work on dismantling all militant infrastructure. Hezbollah must withdraw from the area and hand its arms over to the Lebanese state.
Reports have said the region south of the Litani River – where UNIFIL operate alongside the Lebanese army – has been practically disarmed.
Israel is also obliged to pull its forces out of south Lebanon completely, but instead its troops continue to occupy five strategic border locations, saying their presence there was “indefinite”.
“The Israeli army must withdraw from the five locations in south Lebanon,” said Macron on Friday.
