Israeli jets struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November. In a statement, the Israeli military said it targeted a precision-guided missile storage facility for the militant Hezbollah group. It added that storing such equipment is a violation of the agreement reached to end the Israel-Hezbollah war. A huge plume of smoke billowed over the area after the strike, the AP reports. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
During the last Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli drones and fighter jets regularly pounded the southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has wide influence and support. Israel views the area, where it has assassinated several of Hezbollah's top leaders—including chief Hassan Nasrallah—as a militant stronghold and accuses the group of storing weapons there. President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike on the suburbs, calling on the US and France, as guarantors of the ceasefire, to "assume their responsibilities" and pressure Israel to halt its attacks. He warned that Israel's continued actions "undermine stability" and risk exposing the region to serious security threats. The UN special coordinator for Lebanon also urged all sides to halt any actions that could further undermine the ceasefire understanding.
Also on Sunday:
- The Health Ministry in Gaza said hospitals there received the remains of 51 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes over the prior 24 hours—putting the Palestinian death toll in the 18-month-old war at 52,243, per the AP. After that update, Israeli strikes killed another 23 people. Israel says it has killed about 20,000 militants in its war with Hamas.
- A drone strike killed a man in the southern Lebanese village of Halta, according to the Health Ministry. The Israeli military posed video of the strike on X, saying it targeted a Hezbollah member "where he was working to rebuild Hezbollah's terrorist capabilities in the area."
(More
Israel-Hamas war stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
