Israel strikes Hezbollah base in Beirut for first time since ceasefire
Israel has conducted the first air strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah is based, since a ceasefire with the group came into force in November.
The Israeli military said it had hit a drone storage unit used by Hezbollah on Friday, after issuing an evacuation warning that sparked panic, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
The attack occurred hours after two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel. Israel said it had intercepted one rocket, while the other failed to cross the border.
Hezbollah said it was not involved. Israel said the attack was a ceasefire "violation", while the office of Lebanon's president Joseph Aoun also said Israel's attack was a "violation of the agreement".
The strike came after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for a building in the Hadath area in the Lebanese capital. Videos showed people leaving in panic. Schools were ordered to be evacuated.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on social media that the earlier rocket attack to which it was responding "constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and poses a direct threat to the civilians of the State of Israel".
"The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement," the IDF added.
The Lebanese Presidency posted on X that Aoun, who is in Paris for meetings, informed French President Emmanuel Macron as well as the Cypriot president and the Greek prime minister that "the Israeli attacks on the southern suburb and the threats are a continuation of Israel's violation of the agreement sponsored by France and the US".
"The international community must put an end to these attacks and force Israel to abide by the agreement, just as Lebanon is committed to it," the statement read.
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