IDF strikes Hezbollah missile warehouse in Beirut, kills operative in south Lebanon
Military issues evacuation alert, fires warning shots before hitting storage site — no casualties reported; Lebanon condemns strike, appeals to the US and France for protection
The Israeli military struck what it said was a Hezbollah precision missiles warehouse in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, after killing one of the Iran-backed terror group’s operatives in a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier in the day.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Beirut-area strike, which came after after the military warned residents to evacuate.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that missiles stored in the Lebanese capital “posed a significant threat to Israel.”
“Israel will not allow Hezbollah to grow stronger and pose any threat to it – anywhere in Lebanon,” the two men said.
They stressed that Israel will not allow Beirut’s southern suburbs — historically a Hezbollah stronghold — to serve as a sanctuary for the terror group.
Shortly thereafter, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement: “The storage of missiles in this infrastructure site constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, and poses a threat to the State of Israel and its civilians.”
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike in Beirut, in a statement issued on his behalf.
He called on “the United States and France, as guarantors of the ceasefire agreement, to assume their responsibilities and compel Israel to halt its attacks immediately.”
He also alleged that Israel was attempting to destabilize his country and warned that it would intensify tensions in the region.
It was only the third time that the IDF has carried out an attack in the Beirut area since a ceasefire in Lebanon went into effect in November 2024.
The previous attacks took place on March 28, when Israel also issued a warning after two rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, and on April 1, when an unannounced strike killed four people, including Hassan Bdair, a member of Hezbollah’s Unit 3900 and of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In a post to X earlier Sunday, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, published a map showing the location of the building, and called on civilians to evacuate at least 300 meters (984 feet) from it for their safety.
“To everyone present in the building marked in red as shown on the map and the buildings adjacent to it: You are present near facilities belonging to Hezbollah,” he said.
According to Lebanese media, several small warning strikes were carried out in the area before fighter jets dropped heavier munitions to destroy the structure.
IDF drone kills Hezbollah operative in southern Lebanon
Earlier Sunday, the IDF killed a Hezbollah operative in a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Halta, the military said.
The operative was involved in Hezbollah’s attempts to regroup and rearm, according to the IDF.
The military published footage of the strike.
Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed that an Israeli drone strike had killed one person. Local media said the man was killed while working on his chicken farm.
The November 2024 ceasefire largely ended more than a year of fighting, including some two months of open war, between Hezbollah and Israel.
The fighting started when the Iran-backed terror group opened fire on October 8, 2023, shooting rockets and drones at the Jewish state in support of Hamas, which had attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip in a shock invasion the previous day.
The ceasefire allows Israel to strike immediate threats, however, and near-daily strikes against Hezbollah operatives and their allies have continued.
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