BEIRUT — Israel has bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut for the third time since a ceasefire with the Lebanese group Hezbollah took effect at the end of November last year.
About an hour before the strike, Israel issued a warning stating that it was targeting Hezbollah facilities in the Hadath area and urged local residents to stay at least 300 metres away from the site.
Two warning strikes followed. There have not yet been any reports of casualties.
Before the strikes, fighter jets were heard over parts of the Lebanese capital near the Al-Jamous neighborhood. Shots were fired into the air to warn residents to leave the area as families fled in panic.
During the last Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli drones and fighter jets frequently hit the southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has strong support and influence. Israel sees the area — where it has killed several top Hezbollah leaders, including chief Hassan Nasrallah — as a militant base and says the group hides weapons there.
Sunday’s strike follows two earlier attacks on the southern suburbs of the capital: the first on 28 March, when Israel also gave a warning, and the second on 1 April, when a surprise strike killed four people, including a Hezbollah official.
Hezbollah has warned that it would eventually turn to other alternatives if Israel's attacks on Lebanon continue and if the Lebanese do nothing to help stop them.
The group’s leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, has said that Hezbollah fighters won't put down their arms as long as Israel violates Lebanon's airspace and maintains troops in southern Lebanon.
According to the ceasefire established in late November, which ended a 14-month conflict between the two parties, Israeli forces were supposed to have withdrawn from all Lebanese territory by the end of January, while Hezbollah had to remove its arms from the south of the Litani River along the border with Israel.
Also on Sunday, an Israeli drone strike killed a man in the village of Halta, in southern Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry.
Lebanon has urged the international community to pressure Israel to stop its near-daily attacks on southern and eastern parts of the country, which have left countless people dead, and has requested that Israel withdraw its forces from the five hilltops in Lebanese territory that they are still occupying.
The country's President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest strike, and called on the United States and France — guarantors of the ceasefire — to "assume their responsibilities" and put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks.
Meanwhile, Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure. — Euronews
