Israeli jets strike Beirut's southern suburbs for the third time since a
ceasefire began
[April 28, 2025]
By SALLY ABOU ALJOUD
BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli jets struck Beirut’s southern suburbs 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 following the strike, 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, which hit
what looked like a metal tent situated between two buildings with three
bombs, according to an Associated Press photographer on the ground and
footage circulating on social media. The photographer saw two burned and
destroyed trucks inside the hangar. There were no immediate reports of
casualties.
In the warning, the Israeli military said it was targeting Hezbollah
facilities in the Hadath area and urged residents to move at least 300
meters from the site before the strike. Two warning strikes followed.
Fighter jets were heard over parts of the Lebanese capital before the
strike near the Al-Jamous neighborhood, where gunfire was shot into the
air to warn residents and urge them to evacuate, as families fled in
panic.
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 Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern
suburbs, calling on the United States 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.
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis posted on X that the
latest Israeli strike “generated panic and fear of renewed violence
among those desperate for a return to normalcy.” She urged all sides to
halt any actions that could further undermine the ceasefire
understanding and the implementation of the U.N. resolution that ended
the war.
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Flames rise between two buildings after an Israeli airstrike on
Dahiyeh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27,
2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Sunday’s strike follows two earlier attacks on the capital’s
southern suburbs, the first taking place on March 28, when Israel
also issued a warning, and the second on April 1, when an
unannounced strike killed four people, including a Hezbollah
official.
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, Sheikh Naim Kassem, has
recently warned that if Israel’s attacks on Lebanon continued and if
Lebanon’s government doesn't act to stop them, the group would
eventually resort to other alternatives.
Kassem also said that Hezbollah’s fighters won't disarm as long as
Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon and the Israeli air force
regularly violates Lebanese airspace.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended the 14-month
Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from
all Lebanese territory by late January, while Hezbollah had to end
its armed presence south of the Litani River along the border with
Israel.
Earlier on Sunday, a drone strike killed a man in the southern
Lebanese village of Halta, according to the Health Ministry. In a
post on X that included footage of the strike, the Israeli military
said that it had targeted a Hezbollah member, “where he was working
to rebuild Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities in the area.”
Last week, the Lebanese government said 190 people have been killed
and 485 wounded in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since the
U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect. Israel says it is
targeting Hezbollah officials and infrastructure.
The Lebanese military has gradually deployed in the country’s
southern region, and Beirut has urged the international community to
pressure Israel to stop attacks and withdraw its forces still
present on five hilltops in Lebanese territory.
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Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.
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