BEIRUT (AFP) – An Israeli strike yesterday killed three people, Lebanon said, as a source close to Hezbollah said one of the group’s officials was targeted in the second such strike on south Beirut during a fragile four-month ceasefire.
The attack came without warning at around 3.30am (0030 GMT) during the Aidilfitri holiday.
It struck after Israel also raided Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday after issuing an evacuation warning.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said the latest strike killed three people and wounded seven others.
The top two floors of a multi-storey building were destroyed and debris covered the street, an AFP journalist reported from the scene.
Panicked residents poured out of their homes as rescue workers helped the wounded.
The Israeli military said “the strike targeted a Hezbollah terrorist who had recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them in planning a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians”, in a joint statement with the domestic Shin Bet security agency.
A source close to Hezbollah, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the media, told AFP the strike “targeted Hezbollah’s deputy head for the Palestinian file Hassan Bdair” who was “at home with his family”.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike and called on his country’s allies to support “our right to full sovereignty”.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the attack was a “clear breach” of a ceasefire deal that largely ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Without identifying the alleged Hezbollah operative, Israel’s military said it “acted to eliminate him and removed the threat”, just days after striking Beirut’s southern suburbs in response to rocket fire from Lebanon which it blamed on the Lebanese militant group.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Musawi said Lebanese authorities must “make the international community bear its responsibility and take the highest level of measures to guarantee the safety of the Lebanese”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned the country’s military would “strike everywhere in Lebanon against any threat” in response to the rocket fire.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon in the months since the November 27 ceasefire, hitting what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.
