Following the Israeli airstrike on the Beirut suburb, three casualties have been reported

At least three people were killed and seven wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday morning, the Lebanese health ministry said, amid another test of a shaky four-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, Reuters reports, writes UNN.

Details

The Israeli military said it attacked a Hezbollah operative "who recently managed and assisted Hamas militants."

Israel strikes southern suburb of Beirut: what is known01.04.25, 04:26 • 9424 views

The attack came days after a previous Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahi.

Hezbollah did not immediately comment on the identity of the target.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, calling it a "dangerous warning" signaling deliberate intentions against Lebanon.

Aoun said that Israel's growing "aggression" requires Lebanon to step up diplomatic contacts and mobilize international allies to support the country's full sovereignty.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the Israeli strike and said it was a blatant violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement. Nawaf said he was closely monitoring the consequences of the strike with the ministers of defense and interior.

According to a Reuters reporter at the scene, the strike likely damaged the top three floors of a building in Beirut's southern suburbs, with balconies on those floors shattered. The glass on the lower floors remained intact, indicating a targeted strike. Ambulances were at the scene to take away the injured.

There was no evacuation announcement in the area before the strike, and families were fleeing to other parts of Beirut, according to eyewitnesses.

Addition

The ceasefire agreement last November halted the conflict and required southern Lebanon to be free of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, Lebanese troops to be deployed in the area, and Israeli ground forces to be withdrawn from the zone. But each side accuses the other of failing to fully comply with these terms.

The US-brokered truce has looked increasingly shaky lately, the publication indicates. Israel postponed a promised troop withdrawal in January and said it intercepted rockets fired from Lebanon in March, leading to the bombing of targets in Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.

The Iranian-affiliated Hezbollah denies any involvement in the rocket attacks.

On Tuesday, the US State Department said Israel was defending itself against rocket attacks that were launched from Lebanon and that Washington blames "terrorists" for the resumption of hostilities.

"Military action has resumed because terrorists launched rockets at Israel from Lebanon," a State Department spokesman said in an email, adding that Washington supports Israel's response.

The Israeli-Lebanese conflict, which has killed thousands of people, was triggered by the 2023 Gaza war, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israeli military positions in support of its ally Hamas, the publication said.

The Gaza war, in which more than 50,000 people have died, according to Palestinian health authorities, began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.