Israel Again Strikes Hezbollah’s Beirut Stronghold

Israel carried out a fresh attack Sunday on Hezbollah’s southern Beirut bastion, a Lebanese security official told AFP, with the Israeli military announcing a “precise strike.”

The latest attack came days after a similar strike killed the group’s powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah, sending tensions soaring amid intensive Israeli strikes on the country’s east, south and south Beirut.

“Israel carried out an air strike on Beirut’s southern suburb,” said the Lebanese official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

AFP correspondents heard a loud explosion and saw smoke billowing from the area.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported a “violent raid carried out by Israeli warplanes", adding that ambulances had rushed to the area of Beirut’s southern suburbs.

A witness told AFP a rocket hit a building, which instantly collapsed.

In recent days, Israel has shifted the focus of its military operations from Gaza to Lebanon, after nearly a year of low-level cross-border fire with Hezbollah, killing hundreds in Lebanon and displacing scores more.

The group began exchanging cross-border fire with Israel in support of ally Hamas a day after the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.