An Israeli airstrike has targeted Beirut’s southern Dahieh district for the first time since a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire took hold, raising fears that the truce with Hezbollah is unravelling.
The raid, which ignited huge blazes and gutted buildings, struck around 20:00 local time as members of the group’s elite Radwan Force reportedly gathered.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed he personally approved the operation to eliminate a commander blamed for assaults on Israeli troops and communities. “No terrorist is immune,” he said. “Israel’s long arm will reach every enemy and murderer.”
Hezbollah has offered no immediate comment, a departure from its usual rapid responses through outlets like Al-Manar.
Dahieh, a densely packed Hezbollah bastion home to around 600,000 before the war, lies largely abandoned. Displaced residents cite persistent dread of further strikes, according to BBC reports from the scene. This marks the deepest Israeli push into the capital since U.S. President Donald Trump’s 16 April announcement of a deal between Israel and Lebanon’s government. The militants, excluded from talks, had conditionally backed it.
Despite the agreement, tit-for-tat violence continues. Israel accuses Hezbollah of rocket and drone attacks on northern towns, while the group condemns border incursions. The Israeli military holds a frontier strip in southern Lebanon to carve out a Hezbollah-free buffer, devastating entire villages in tactics reminiscent of Gaza. Human Rights Watch has flagged potential war crimes.
Lebanon’s health ministry reports more than 2,700 deaths since early March, including over 120 last week alone among civilians and fighters alike. Israel counts 16 soldiers, one civilian in the south, and two in the north among its losses. The conflict has inflicted £4 billion in damage, per World Bank estimates, crippling Lebanon’s battered economy.
U.S.-mediated talks stutter at lower levels, with President Joseph Aoun rejecting a Netanyahu summit. Analysts warn Hezbollah’s ominous quiet could herald retaliation, portending prolonged strife.