On Sunday, the Israeli jets struck on Sunday from the southern suburbs of Beirut after having issued a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike in the region for a ceasefire took effect at the end of November.
In a statement that followed the strike, the Israeli army said it was aimed at a precision missile storage installation for the Hezbollah militant group. He added that storage of such equipment is a violation of the agreement concluded to end the War of Israel-Hezbollah.
A huge plume of smoke has swelled in the area after the strike, which struck what looked like a metal tent located between two buildings with three bombs, according to an associated photographer on the ground and images circulating on social networks. The photographer saw two trucks burned and destroyed inside the hangar. There was no immediate report of victims.
In the warning, the Israeli army said it was aimed at Hezbollah’s installations in the Hadath region and urged residents to move at least 300 meters from the site before the strike. Two warning strikes followed.
Hunting planes were heard on parts of the Lebanese capital before the strike near the Al-Jamous district, where shots were slaughtered in the air to warn residents and exhort to evacuate, while families fled in panic.
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During the last War of Israel-Hezbollah, Israeli drones and fighter planes regularly beat the southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a large influence and support. Israel considers the region, where it has murdered several of the main leaders of Hezbollah, including chief Hassan Nasrallah, as a militant bastion and accuses the group of storing weapons.
President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, calling the United States and France, as the cease-fire guarantees, to “assume their responsibilities” and put pressure on Israel to stop his attacks. He warned that the continuous actions of Israel “undermines stability” and are likely to expose the region to serious security threats.
The UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis posted on X that the last Israeli strike “has generated panic and fear of renewing violence among those who desperately have a return to normality”. It urged all parties to stop all the actions that could be able to understand more understanding of the ceasefire and the implementation of the United Nations resolution which ended the war.
Sunday’s strike follows two previous attacks against the southern suburbs of the capital, the first which takes place on March 28, while Israel also issued a warning, and the second on April 1, when an unexpected strike killed four people, including a Hezbollah official.
Lebanon Hezbollah group leader Sheikh Naim Kassem recently warned that if Israel’s attacks on Lebanon were continuing and if the Lebanon government would not act to arrest them, the group would end up using other alternatives.
Kassem also said that Hezbollah fighters will not disarm as long as Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and that the Israeli Air Force regularly violates Lebanese airspace.
Under the ceasefire in the United States which ended the 14-month-old War of Israel-Hebollah, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory at the end of January, while Hezbollah had to end its armed presence south of the Litani river along the border with Israel.
Earlier Sunday, a drone strike killed a man in the south of the Lebanese village in Halta, according to the Ministry of Health. In an article on X which included images of the strike, the Israeli army said that it had targeted a member of Hezbollah, “where he worked to rebuild Hezbollah’s terrorist capacities in the region.”
Last week, the Lebanese government said 190 people had been killed and 485 injured in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire of American mail entered into force. Israel says that he targets Hezbollah officials and infrastructure.
The Lebanese army has gradually deployed in the southern region of the country, and Beirut has urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to arrest attacks and to withdraw its forces still present on five hill summits on Lebanese territory.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press