Israel hits Beirut’s southern suburbs for first time since ceasefire with Hezbollah

Israel struck Beirut’s southern suburbs without warning on Sunday, days after a ceasefire agreement in Washington went into effect and despite a U.S. request not to attack Lebanon’s capital.

Lebanon’s state-run national news agency said two people were killed and 11 wounded in a preliminary count.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the southern suburb known as Dahiyeh, the first strike on the militant group’s stronghold since an April 16 ceasefire was brokered.

The ceasefire has not halted the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, with Israel saying it is working to dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure on its borders.

Hezbollah has rejected proposals linking a ceasefire to its disarmament, saying Israel must first halt its attacks and withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon.

In a joint statement with his defence minister, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike on Dahiyeh was ordered in response to Hezbollah firing toward Israeli territory.

The military said earlier it had intercepted two projectiles that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, after sirens sounded in the areas of Yiftah and Ramot Naftali. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the launches.

Israel’s military also issued an evacuation warning to the residents of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and its surrounding areas on Sunday ahead of possible strikes.

Iran has made a ceasefire in Lebanon between its close ally and Israel a condition for any peace deal with the United States.

Hezbollah entered the war on March 2, saying it was retaliating for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of a conflict that has since killed thousands in Lebanon and displaced more than a million people.

Israel continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon even before March 2, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that took effect in November 2024. It said its attacks are aimed at Hezbollah members and infrastructure.

Netanyahu wants to remove Hezbollah as a threat

The fighting in Lebanon threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas and related products like fertilizer. Its closure has jolted the world economy and spiked warnings of hunger in vulnerable regions.

Hezbollah has rejected the U.S.-brokered deal and urged Lebanon to end its direct talks with Israel.

A senior U.S. official said “we were not surprised” by the Israeli attack in Beirut. The official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, would not say if the U.S. had been given a heads-up on this specific strike, but stressed that Netanyahu has for some time said Israel would act to counter or retaliate against any Hezbollah attacks or attempted attacks on Israel.

Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, says he wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until he believes Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview taped Friday and aired Sunday with NBC’s Meet the Press, said: “I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life. I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical.”

Trump added that he is “not demanding” that Lebanon be part of the short-term deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war.

Lebanon’s army commander, Gen. Rodolphe Haikal, went to Pakistan on Saturday at the invitation of Pakistan’s army chief, who has been involved in mediating talks between the U.S. and Iran. The Lebanese army did not say whether the visit is related to those mediation efforts.

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. began attacking Iran. More than one million people in Lebanon have been displaced. The fighting has killed at least 31 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.