BEIRUT (Reuters) – An Israeli strike hit a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on Thursday, the first strike to hit near Beirut in weeks amid a ceasefire that has failed to halt fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah in south Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it had conducted a precise strike in Beirut but did not offer additional details.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or Iran on the attack. A Lebanese security source said it was carried out with two precision missiles targeting a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The strike dealt another blow to a fraying ceasefire announced by Washington on April 16 that was meant to halt the war raging between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah since March 2.
Exchanges of fire between the two longtime foes have continued, but have been mostly concentrated in southern Lebanon. Apart from a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in early May that killed a Hezbollah commander, the capital and its suburbs had been spared new bombardment during the truce.
The two Israeli security sources said Thursday’s strike came following a “very intense dialogue” with the Trump administration in recent days.
Heavy Israeli strikes hit towns and villages in southern Lebanon overnight and into Thursday, after Israel declared a new swathe of the area “a combat zone”.
