Israeli attack on Lebanon kills at least one, escalating regional tensions
People gather near a site hit by what security sources said was a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 30, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS
The Israeli military said it carried out a targeted strike in Beirut on Tuesday against the Hezbollah commander it said was responsible for a strike in the Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers at the weekend.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that two floors of a building in Haret Hreik, a suburb to the south of Beirut and a known stronghold of Hezbollah, have collapsed, and that one person was killed and others wounded.
A loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the southern suburbs - a stronghold of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah - at around 7:40 p.m. (1640 GMT).
"The IDF carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians," the Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement.
It said it had issued no new instructions for civil defence in Israel following the strike. A senior Lebanese security source said the commander's fate remained unclear.
Lebanon's state-run national news agency said an Israeli strike had targeted the area around Hezbollah's Shura Council in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of the capital.
Beirut has been on edge for days ahead of an anticipated Israeli attack in retaliation for a strike on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed a dozen youngsters.
Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for the attack. Hezbollah has denied responsibility.
On Saturday, a rocket attack on a football ground in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 people, including children. Israeli authorities blamed Hezbollah and vowed to retaliate against the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Hezbollah denied responsibility for the strike, which was the deadliest in Israel or Israeli-controlled territory since the Gaza conflict began. The attack escalated tensions, raising fears of a full-blown conflict between the heavily armed adversaries.
The rocket struck a football pitch in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, territory captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.
Israel reacted with the severe actions on attack at the Golan Hieghts.
Later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that there was “every indication” that Lebanese group Hezbollah was behind a rocket strike in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights that killed 12 young people.