Israel strikes Beirut for first time since ceasefire with Hezbollah

BEIRUT — Israel on Friday launched an attack on the Lebanese capital of Beirut, for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November.

Associated Press reporters in Beirut heard a loud boom and witnessed smoke rising from the area in Beirut’s southern suburbs that Israel’s military had vowed to strike.

It marked Israel’s first strike on Beirut since the ceasefire took hold between it and the Hezbollah militant group, though Israel has attacked targets in southern Lebanon almost daily since then.

Israel’s army said it had hit a Hezbollah drone storage facility in Dahiyeh, which it called a militant stronghold. The strike came after Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields, warned residents to evacuate the area.

The area struck is a residential and commercial area and is close to at least two schools.

Israeli officials said the attack was retaliation for rockets it said had been fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. They promised strikes on Beirut would continue unless Lebanon’s government worked to ensure such attacks ceased.

“We will not allow firing at our communities, not even a trickle,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “We will attack everywhere in Lebanon, against any threat to the State of Israel.”

Hezbollah denied firing the rockets, and accused Israel of seeking a pretext to continue attacking Lebanon.

Lebanon’s government ordered all schools and universities in Beirut’s southern suburb of Hadath to close for the day. Residents were seen fleeing the area in cars and on foot ahead of the strike.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by its Hamas allies ignited the war in Gaza.

The Israel-Hezbollah conflict exploded into all-out war in September when Israel carried out waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting has killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.

Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January. The deadline was extended to Feb. 18, but Israel has remained in five border locations while carrying out dozens of strikes on what it said were Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon. Last week, Israeli airstrikes on several locations in Lebanon killed six people.

Speaking in Paris, Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said the Beirut area strike was a continuation “of Israel’s violations of the agreement” sponsored by France and the U.S.

During a joint news conference with Aoun, French President Emmanuel Macron called the attack “unacceptable,” and promised to address it with Netanyahu and President Trump.

Mroue writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press reporter Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.