Israel strikes Beirut for third time since ceasefire

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Israel's military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November.

Smoke was billowing from the targeted area in the Hadath neighbourhood, with rescuers tackling a fire on the ground after ambulances rushed to the scene. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel said it had attacked a Hezbollah site where precision missiles were stored, posing a "significant threat". It said it would "not allow Hezbollah to grow stronger and pose any threat to it – anywhere in Lebanon".

The attack was carried out by Israeli fighter jets and was preceded by three smaller drone strikes. Gunfire warning people to leave could be heard in the Lebanese capital after the Israeli military's Arabic spokesman Lt Col Avichay Adraee claimed, without providing any evidence, that a building in the neighbourhood was home to Hezbollah facilities.

He had ordered people to stay at least 300 metres from the building. An Israeli drone could be heard flying above Beirut.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahieh, the presidency said in a statement. He called on the US and France to help maintain the ceasefire.

"Israel's continuity in undermining stability will exacerbate tensions and pose a real threat to the region's security and stability," Mr Aoun said in a statement.

"The United States and France, as guarantors of the cessation of hostilities understanding, must assume their responsibilities and compel Israel to immediately cease its attacks," he said.

The top UN official in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said the strike had "generated panic and fear of renewed violence" among people desperate to return to normal. She called for "all sides" to avoid undermining the ceasefire.

Following Israel's warning, residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs fled the area on Sunday afternoon.

Beirut’s southern suburbs are a densely populated residential neighbourhood that were devastated by Israel’s war on Lebanon last year.

Sunday’s strike follows two earlier attacks on the capital’s southern suburbs, the first taking place on March 28, when Israel also issued a warning, and the second on April 1, when an unannounced strike killed four people, including a Hezbollah official.

Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January, but maintains five positions there. Hezbollah was to end its armed presence south of the Litani River along the border with Israel.

Lebanon in February formed its first functioning government since 2022 under Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, raising hopes of restoring calm. But Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said this month that the group “will not allow anyone to disarm” it and that no dialogue over a broader defence strategy in Lebanon will take place until Israel fully withdraws from the country.