Israel made good on its threat Friday to strike Beirut after rockets were fired towards its territory, rattling an already fragile truce in Lebanon that had largely ended more than a year of hostilities with Hizbollah.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the Beirut strike “a dangerous escalation” and French President Emmanuel Macron said it violated the truce.
It was the second time rockets had been launched at Israel from Lebanon since the November ceasefire — the first was last Saturday — and the second time Iran-backed Hizbollah denied involvement.
After the rocket attack, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut either.”
Israel has continued to carry out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hizbollah military targets that violated the agreement.
But Friday’s was the first in the capital’s southern suburbs since the ceasefire. It came after the military urged residents close to a building there to leave, warning they were “near Hizbollah facilities” and “must immediately evacuate”.
It said the attack targeted a “site used to store UAVs by Hizbollah’s Aerial Unit (127) in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold” in southern Beirut, which Israel bombed heavily during its war with the group last year.
On a visit to Paris, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, at a press conference with Macron, said an investigation will need to be conducted but all indications are “Hezbollah is not responsible” for the latest rocket fire.
An AFP photographer at the scene said the Israeli strike completely destroyed the targeted building. Black smoke rose into the sky and fire burned among the rubble.
Israel’s warning sparked panic in the densely populated area, AFP correspondents said. Heavy traffic clogged roads as many residents tried to flee.
“We’re very afraid the war will return,” said Mohammed, 55, a taxi driver rushing to pick up his daughter from school and leave the area.
Israel’s military said early Friday two “projectiles” were fired towards Israel, with one intercepted and the other falling inside Lebanon.
It later announced it was “striking Hizbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon”.
Hizbollah said it “confirms the party’s respect for the ceasefire agreement and denies any involvement in the rockets launched today from the south of Lebanon”.
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