The Israeli military attacked several locations in the southern suburbs of Beirut and said on Thursday, on the eve of the Eid holiday, Hezbollah provided underground facilities for drone production.
The strike marks the first time in more than a month in Israel’s attacks in the suburbs of the capital, the fourth since a ceasefire agreement by the U.S. agent, ending the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group in November.
Israel issued a warning ahead of its strike on X, announcing it would attack eight buildings at four locations.
Israel has been conducting nearly daily strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon since the ceasefire, which Lebanon says violates the agreement. Israeli officials said the strike was intended to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping after a war that eliminated most of its senior leadership and Arsenal.
The Israeli army said in a statement that Hezbollah “is working to produce thousands of drones under the guidance and financing of Iranian terrorist organizations.”
Hezbollah “has extensively used drones in attacks against the State of Israel and is working to expand its drone industry and production in preparation for the next war,” the Army statement said.
Hezbollah did not issue a statement immediately.
However, a Hezbollah official denied that there were drone production facilities in targeted locations.
“exist [ceasefire] Agree, there is a mechanism to investigate whether there is a complaint,” the official said. [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, in particular, wants to continue the war in the region. ”
Lebanese troops push to prevent strikes
Lebanese military officials said the army tried to convince Israel not to strike, but instead let Lebanese officials go in and search the mechanisms set out in the ceasefire agreement, but the Israeli army refused, so Lebanese soldiers moved out of the location. Israeli Army officials were unable to comment immediately.
Both Lebanese officials spoke on anonymous because they did not have the right to speak publicly.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the strike.
Aoun called them in a statement “a flagrant violation of international agreements, and the fundamental principles of international and humanitarian laws and resolutions on the eve of sacred religious occasions,” and said it showed that Israel “rejected the demand for rejecting stability, reconciliation and peace.”
He accused Israel of using Lebanon as a “mailbox” to send messages to the United States. He did not elaborate on it. Washington has been in talks with Iran, a long-time supporter of Hezbollah, to reach an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program and warned Israel not to strike Iran during this period.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz praised the Israeli Air Force's “perfect execution” of the strike in a statement and said Israel would “continue to implement the ceasefire rules without any compromise.” He said Israel held that “the Lebanese government was directly responsible for preventing violations of the ceasefire and all terrorist activities against the State of Israel.”
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began in October 2023, when Lebanese militant groups began launching rockets on the border in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza. Israel responded with air strikes and artillery bombardment, and the two quickly fell into a low-level conflict that lasted for nearly a year before escalating into a full-scale war by the end of 2024.
It killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, while the Lebanese government said in April that the Israeli strikes killed 190 more people and injured 485 people since the ceasefire.
At home and abroad, pressure on Hezbollah is growing to abandon its remaining arsenal, but officials from the group said it still occupies the border in southern Lebanon until Israel stops air strikes and withdraws from five o'clock.
