Israel on Sunday said it carried out an air strike in Beirut targeting Hezbollah’s chief of staff, blasting a hole through the side of a residential building in the city’s southern suburbs and leaving five people dead and 28 wounded.Lebanon’s health ministry initially reported one person killed and 21 injured, calling it a “preliminary toll.” Later, in an updated statement, the ministry said the final toll from the strike on the apartment building in Beirut stood at five dead and 28 wounded.
The attack struck the third and fourth floors of a nine-storey building in Haret Hreik, a densely populated Hezbollah stronghold, causing “injuries and significant damage,” Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.NNA said three missiles were fired, damaging nearby vehicles and neighbouring structures. Rescue teams and ambulances rushed to the scene as responders inspected the damaged apartments.
Israel says it hit Hezbollah’s chief of staff
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he authorised the operation, describing the target as a top operative overseeing Hezbollah’s “buildup and rearmament.”“A short while ago, in the heart of Beirut, the IDF (Israeli military) attacked the Hezbollah chief of staff, who had been leading the terrorist organisation’s buildup and rearmament,” his office said in a statement.“Israel is determined to act to achieve its objectives everywhere and at all times,” it added.
Hezbollah says strike ‘crosses a new red line’
Hezbollah confirmed that a senior commander was the target of the strike, but did not reveal the person’s identity.Hezbollah official Mahmud Qomati, speaking at the site of the attack, stated that, “The targeting was clearly aimed at a key… figure in the resistance, and the results are unknown.”He added that the strike “crosses a new red line.”Israel has conducted near-daily strikes in Lebanon since the November 2024 ceasefire, mostly in the south and east. Sunday’s attack was the first strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs since June 5, when Israel said it hit a Hezbollah drone facility.
