The IAF killed Hassan Ali Badir, a Hezbollah and Iran Quds Force terrorist, in an overnight strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, the military, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said on Tuesday.
The report came hours after the Lebanese Health Ministry said at least three people were killed and seven wounded in the airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, further testing a shaky four-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
A Hezbollah source told AFP that the target of the attack was Badir, who was also deputy head of Hamas’s Palestinian affairs department.
The IDF had said the Hezbollah terrorist “recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them.” Its statement after the strike said Badir “was struck immediately in order to eliminate the threat posed by a terror attack intended to harm Israeli civilians,” and that the strike was carried out under the direction of the Shin Bet.
The attack took place a few days after a previous strike by Israel on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold known as Dahiyeh.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the latest Israeli airstrike, calling it a “dangerous warning” that signals premeditated intentions against Lebanon.
Aoun said Israel’s growing “aggression” requires Lebanon to intensify diplomatic outreach and mobilize international allies in support of the country’s full sovereignty.
Strike damaged building in Lebanese capital's suburbs
The strike appeared to have damaged the upper three floors of a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Reuters reporter at the scene said, with the balconies of those floors blown out. The glass on the floors below was intact, indicating a target strike. Ambulances were at the scene to recover casualties.
There was no evacuation warning issued for the area ahead of the strike, and families fled in the aftermath to other parts of Beirut, according to witnesses.
The ceasefire agreement halted the year-long conflict and mandated that southern Lebanon be free of Hezbollah fighters and weapons, that Lebanese troops deploy to the area, and that Israeli ground troops withdraw from the zone. But each side accuses the other of not entirely living up to those terms.
However, the US-brokered truce has looked increasingly flimsy lately. Israel delayed a promised troop withdrawal in January and said that it had intercepted rockets fired from Lebanon in March, which led it to bombard targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon.
The Iran-aligned Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the rocket firings.
The US State Department said on Tuesday that Israel was defending itself from rocket attacks that came from Lebanon and that Washington blamed “terrorists” for the resumption of hostilities.
“Hostilities have resumed because terrorists launched rockets into Israel from Lebanon,” a State Department spokesperson said, adding that Washington supported Israel’s response.