An Israeli airstrike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure as regional conflict intensifies with civilian casualties reported.
BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike struck the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, sending a large plume of smoke billowing across the city’s skyline.
Israel’s military confirmed it was “striking Hezbollah terror targets in Beirut” as part of its ongoing operations against the Iran-backed militant group.
The state-run National News Agency reported the raid on the densely populated area, which has been largely emptied of residents following repeated Israeli attacks and evacuation warnings.
Shortly before the strike, an AFP journalist in the southern suburbs observed only a few shops open, including a bakery, pharmacy, and barbershop, alongside a previously destroyed Al-Amana fuel station.
Israel’s army stated on Sunday that it had recently struck two Al-Amana petrol stations, which it claimed were “controlled by Hezbollah and served as significant financial infrastructure” supporting the group’s activities.
Fresh portraits mourning Iran’s former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in a US-Israeli attack on February 28 that triggered the broader Middle East conflict, were visible along main roads in the area.
The NNA also reported deadly Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s south and east on the same day.
This followed a series of strikes on Sunday that repeatedly hit the southern suburbs and targeted a site in Beirut’s Jnah neighbourhood near the country’s largest public medical facility.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that Sunday’s strike in Jnah killed five people, including a 15-year-old girl and two Sudanese nationals.
Another strike on the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, killed three people including two women, according to authorities.
Among the dead were Pierre Mouawad, a local official in the Christian Lebanese Forces party which strongly opposes Hezbollah, and his wife, with residents telling local media the strike hit the apartment above theirs.
Regarding the Ain Saadeh incident, Israel’s military said it had struck a “terrorist target” east of Beirut and was examining reports of civilian casualties.
Israel has launched strikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran.