Israel Strikes Hezbollah Command Center in Beirut’s Southern Suburbs After Intercepting Rocket Fire
Israel’s military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, targeting two apartments in separate buildings after saying it intercepted rockets launched by Hezbollah into Israeli territory. The operation targeted what the Israel Defense Forces described as a command center for the Iran-backed militant group.
The strikes mark a significant escalation in a conflict that had largely spared the capital’s southern districts since mid-April. Before Sunday, the area—widely viewed as a Hezbollah bastion—had been hit only twice over the past two months.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed in a statement that the army “just struck a militant command centre in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah’s fire towards Israeli territory.” The military separately said the “precise strike” was carried out after Hezbollah launched projectiles at civilian targets in Israel, adding that “steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.”
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the strikes hit two apartments in two buildings. An AFP photographer at the scene observed damage to two apartments in one building and saw traffic congestion as residents attempted to flee the suburb while the Lebanese army deployed to the area.
The strikes come amid a fragile diplomatic window. Earlier this week in Washington, Lebanese and Israeli envoys discussed a conditional truce that would have required Hezbollah to cease fire and withdraw from the Israeli border. Hezbollah rejected the proposal, demanding instead a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. In response, Israel had warned it would resume strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs if northern Israel came under attack.
Air raid sirens sounded on the Israeli side of the border earlier Sunday, and the military said “two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were intercepted.” Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the interception but claimed separate attacks on Israeli troops inside Lebanon that same day.
The broader conflict, which began when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2 in support of its patron Iran, has drawn Tehran deep into the crisis. Iran has insisted that any deal to end the wider Middle East war—paused by a separate April ceasefire—must also halt the fighting in Lebanon. Iran’s chief negotiator and parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accused the United States of giving Israel the “green light” for Sunday’s strike and warned, “Our armed forces, as always, are free to act.” Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, echoed the threat, vowing “a decisive and painful response.”
The link between the Gaza and Lebanon fronts has complicated Washington’s negotiating position. In an interview aired Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump called for a more restrained Israeli approach. “I’d like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I’d like to see Lebanon have a better life.”
Across southern Lebanon, the Israeli military also issued an evacuation warning for most of Tyre and its surroundings on Sunday. The coastal city, already sheltering thousands of displaced people, has been heavily bombed since the fighting began. Civil defense teams evacuated approximately 500 families from schools turned into shelters and moved them to Tyre’s Christian quarter, which was not included in the warning, according to an AFP correspondent.
Near Sidon, three members of the same family and a rescue worker were buried Sunday after being killed in an Israeli airstrike. Lebanon’s health ministry reports that at least 131 rescuers have been killed by Israel in this war. “We do not carry rockets, our only weapon is the bread we deliver to people. They went and gave the family bread, but as they were leaving, a drone struck them,” rescuer Qassem Foani told AFP.
Israel’s extensive campaign of airstrikes and a ground invasion has killed more than 3,600 people, according to Lebanese health authorities. The region now faces a dangerous new phase as diplomatic efforts stall and the cycle of retaliation intensifies.
— Reporting by AFP, with additional analysis.