Israel carries out strike on Beirut suburbs, first near Lebanese capital in weeks

BEIRUT – An Israeli strike hit a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on May 28, 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.

Two Israeli security sources said the target was Ali al-Husseini, whom they described as head of the missile division within the Imam Hussein Division, a militia that Israeli officials say is aligned with Hezbollah and Iran.

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 long-time 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.

Israel put off Beirut strikes due to US, officials say

Israeli officials say the military had held off from striking in Beirut for three weeks due to requests from the administration of US President Donald Trump. Still, Israeli surveillance drones are heard flying over Beirut on a daily basis.

The two Israeli security sources said the May 28 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 May 28, after Israel declared a new swathe of the area “a combat zone”.

The Israeli military said residents should leave any towns south of the Zahrani River, which runs about 40km north of Israel’s border with Lebanon.

The first such sweeping warning since an April ceasefire came as Israel’s military launched broad raids on the country’s south and east, and as Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with Israeli forces beyond an Israeli-declared “yellow line” in the south.

It also came as many Lebanese tried to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Israel’s evacuation orders over the last three months span about 2,000 sq km of Lebanon – about a fifth of the entire country.

An Israeli strike on the morning of May 28 killed six people, including two children and their parents, near the southern town of Adloun, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Another strike, on the port city of Sidon, killed five people including two women. Sidon lies outside of the area designated as a combat zone by the Israeli military, and the strike was carried out without warning.

Ms Taghrida Ramadan, a woman living in Sidon, told Reuters she had been sleeping at home when she was jolted awake by the strike, which hit a building across from hers.

“We looked around and found the rubble on us – stones from the strike, because it was nearby and directly facing us,” Ms Ramadan said. While her house was damaged, her relatives were not seriously injured.

Another Israeli strike later on May 28 killed two Syrian nationals, including a child, in the city of Tyre, which falls within the zone that Israel said must be emptied.

Israel this week vowed to intensify operations in Lebanon and said it was expanding ground operations there.

Talks are expected on May 29 between Lebanese and Israeli military delegations at the Pentagon, ahead of a new round of direct negotiations expected next week that are aimed at ending the hostilities.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry on May 27 raised the overall death toll since the war erupted on March 2 to 3,269, an increase of 56 from a day earlier following heavy Israeli strikes. REUTERS