Israel conducted airstrikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut on Tuesday for the second time in less than a week, killing three people and prompting fears that a fragile cease-fire could be unraveling.
The Israeli military said the strike, in the Dahiya area just south of Beirut, had targeted a member of Hezbollah who had directed and assisted Hamas in planning a “significant and imminent” attack against Israel. It did not provide further details.
The airstrikes, which came without any evacuation warning, killed three and also wounded at least seven people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Lebanon’s prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said the attack was a “clear breach” of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah that was agreed to in November. The truce halted Lebanon’s deadliest war in decades, but a recent uptick in violence and tension has stoked concerns of a creeping escalation.
Despite the truce, Israel has repeatedly attacked purported Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, while the militant group has so far refrained from responding. Battered by the 14-month war with Israel, experts say Hezbollah has little impetus to risk sparking another conflict while it struggles to recover.
Hezbollah made no immediate comment on the overnight strike.
On Friday, the Israeli military also launched airstrikes in the Dahiya after telling residents in a densely populated neighborhood there to evacuate. It marked the first time since the cease-fire that the Lebanese capital had been targeted. The attack came hours after rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanese territory.
Hezbollah denied any involvement in that attack on Israel and said that it remained committed to the cease-fire. The Israeli military said it had targeted a site that stored Hezbollah’s drones, and had also attacked targets in southern Lebanon in response to the rocket fire, killing three people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones at Israeli positions in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, after that group led an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. After nearly a year of low-level fighting, the violence escalated into full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, killing nearly 4,000 people and leaving swaths of Lebanon in ruins.