Israel launches air strike on Beirut, capital of Lebanon

Israel held a strike in the south Beiruttargeting an elderly person Hezbollah commander they claimed was “responsible for the murder of children”.

Images from the Lebanese capital show the wreckage of several destroyed cars, as well as skyscrapers destroyed by the explosion. Plumes of thick black smoke obscure the camera’s view as residents can be heard screaming.

It is the first time that Israeli military attacked Beirut since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Hezbollah has been firing at Israel continuously since that day, causing concern that Israel may end – or even anticipate – fighting a war on two fronts.

The Israeli military claimed that the attack was the widely expected reaction to a rocket attack on the occupied territories. Golan Heights last Saturday that killed a dozen children and young people.

The alleged target of the attack was Fuad Shukr, also known as al-Hajj Mohsin, who is a senior adviser on military affairs to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. It is unclear whether the strike was successful. The Israeli military refused to confirm that Shukr was the target when approached by The Independent. Hezbollah has also been contacted for comment.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia said it was not responsible for the Golan Heights attack against the Druze community.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had no illusions about Hezbollah’s role in the attack. During a visit to the site of the attack in the remote town of Majdal Shams, a mostly Druze village in a region annexed from Syria by Israel in 1981, he promised to issue a “tough” response.

US officials have also said they believe Hezbollah was responsible, although the Joe Biden administration has urged Israel not to escalate tensions too drastically in its response to the attack.

Diplomats have called on Israel to avoid attacking the Lebanese capital, Beirut, its southern suburbs that form Hezbollah’s heartland, or essential infrastructure. They hoped that by keeping Israel’s response limited, Hezbollah’s forced retaliation could be avoided.

But a statement from the Israeli military confirmed that it defied that advice and attacked south of Beirut.

A statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, said: “The [Israeli military] carried out a targeted attack in Beirut against the commander responsible for the murder of the children at Majdal Shams and the deaths of numerous additional Israeli civilians.”

A minute after the statement was published, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a close adviser to Netanyahu, wrote on X: “Hezbollah has crossed the red line.”

The military added that there were “no changes” to its “defensive guidelines,” a reference to recent developments on Israel’s northern border, preparing to go on the offensive if necessary.

In April, the military said it had completed another step in preparing for a possible war along its northern front. In a statement titled “readiness for the transition from defense to attack”, they stated that the completed phase focused on logistics “for a broad mobilization of [Israeli] troops”.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah rejected calls from international envoys to avoid responding to the anticipated Israeli attack.

Hezbollah informed mediators that it would still respond to any Israeli attack, an official said in written comments sent to reporters.

The official did not say which countries the mediators represented.

“The international envoys are indirectly raising with us the idea that we should not respond to the expected aggression under the pretext of the need to avoid escalation and slide into a comprehensive war,” said the Hezbollah official.

Hezbollah “informed them of our explicit rejection of this request” and would respond, the official said.

The group took Israel’s threats seriously and was prepared, but did not expect a ground invasion, the official said.

Hezbollah also said mediators briefed them on diplomatic efforts to urge Israel to spare civilians and civilian facilities in any operation. “That’s good, but we don’t trust our enemy,” added the official.