Beirut, Mar 28 (EFE).- Israel launched a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon and targeted the outskirts of Beirut for the first time in four months, following the launch of two rockets from Lebanese territory. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Israeli military detected the rocket fire toward northern Israel’s Upper Galilee, intercepting one of the projectiles.
In response, Israel carried out airstrikes throughout Friday, killing at least five people and injuring children, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.
For the first time since a ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, Israel also issued an evacuation order for the Beirut suburb of Dahieh, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
The Israeli military said it struck a building housing Hezbollah drones.
“Today’s operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah’s offensive drone storage facilities located in residential buildings, is a response to the attack against Israel and its citizens,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
First strikes on Beirut since ceasefire
No casualties were immediately reported in the attack on the Lebanese capital’s outskirts.
The area, heavily bombed during last year’s conflict, was thrown into panic after Israel’s warning to evacuate part of the Hadath neighborhood.
Missile impacts were heard across Beirut, leaving a large crater in the ground and reducing at least one building to rubble in a densely populated residential area, according to EFE correspondents.
Lebanon’s military condemned Israel’s escalating attacks. In a statement, it described the strikes as a “flagrant and repeated violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the safety of its citizens, a defiance of international law, and a clear breach of the ceasefire agreement.”
The Lebanese army said it had identified the launch site of the rockets fired into Israel, pinpointing it to Qaqaiyat al Jisr, north of the Litani River.
Under the 2006 United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the last full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah, no armed groups other than the Lebanese military are allowed to operate south of the Litani, near the Israel-Lebanon border.
Rising tensions amid uncertainty
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the second such incident in a week. Hezbollah has denied involvement in a similar strike last Saturday.
Lebanese Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue targeting “any location in Lebanon in response to any threat to Israel.” He said Friday’s strikes served as a “reminder” for those who “have yet to grasp the new reality.”
The renewed hostilities have sparked fears among both Lebanese civilians and politicians of a broader conflict.
The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, warned that any escalation could have terrible consequences.
“This is a critical moment for Lebanon and the region. Any exchange of fire is one too many.
A return to full-scale conflict would be devastating for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line and must be avoided at all costs,” she said. EFE
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