Israel is attacking areas south of Beirut for the first time since the end of the war with Hezbollah
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Israel launched an airstrike on areas south of Beirut without warning on Sunday, days after a Washington ceasefire went into effect despite a US plea not to attack the Lebanese capital.
Lebanon’s national news agency said two people were killed and 11 injured in the initial count.
The Israeli military said it had raided Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the southern area known as Dahiyeh, the first strike on the group’s base since the end of the agreement on April 16.
The ceasefire did not stop fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as Israel says it is working to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure along its borders.
Hezbollah rejected proposals for a ceasefire and disarmament, saying Israel must first stop its attacks and withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon.
In a joint statement with his defense minister, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Dahiyeh strike was ordered in response to Hezbollah firing at Israeli territory.
The army said earlier that it had intercepted two explosives that landed in Israeli territory from Lebanon, after shots were fired in the areas of Yiftah and Ramot Naftali. Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for the launch.
The Israeli army also issued a warning to residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tire and its suburbs on Sunday to warn them before possible strikes.
Iran has made a deal in Lebanon between its close ally Israel a condition of any peace deal with the United States.
Hezbollah entered the war on March 2, claiming revenge for the killing of a top Iranian leader at the start of a conflict that killed thousands of people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million.
Israel continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon even before March 2, despite a US-sanctioned ceasefire that came into effect in November 2024. It said its attacks were targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure.
Netanyahu wants to eliminate Hezbollah as a threat
The war in Lebanon threatens efforts to end the war in Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, an important transit point for oil and gas and related products such as fertilizer. Its closure has rocked the global economy and prompted famine warnings in vulnerable areas.
Hezbollah has rejected the US-brokered deal and urged Lebanon to end its direct talks with Israel.
Iran’s negotiating team has announced it has suspended communications with the US over Israel’s attack on Lebanon. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a cease-fire in Lebanon is an important condition for any peace agreement to end Iran’s conflict with the US, adding that ‘one violation is a violation of the peace agreement for all sides.’
A top US official said he was “not surprised” by the Israeli attack on Beirut. This official, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of this matter, would not say whether the US was given the lead in this strike, but emphasized that Netanyahu has been saying for a while that Israel will take action to counter or retaliate against any Hezbollah attack or attempted attack on Israel.
Netanyahu, who is facing elections later this year, says he wants to continue attacking Israel until he believes Hezbollah is no longer a threat.
US President Donald Trump, in an interview recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday with NBC’s Meet the mediahe said: “I would like to see Lebanon live better. I would like to see more surgical attacks on Hezbollah. I think there should be more surgery.”
Trump added that he “doesn’t want” Lebanon to be part of an interim agreement to extend the ceasefire on Iran.
The commander of the army in Lebanon, Gen. Rodolphe Haikal, went to Pakistan on Saturday at the request of a military officer in Pakistan, who is involved in the settlement of negotiations between the US and Iran. The Lebanese army did not say the visit was related to those mediation efforts.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after Israel and the US began attacking Iran. More than a million people in Lebanon have been displaced. The fighting has killed 31 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
