Israel says it has killed a senior Hezbollah official after carrying out an attack in a southern suburb of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.
At least one person was killed and several others injured in the blast in Dahiyeh, a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group.
The Israeli military said Fuad Shukr was targeted by fighter jets for “intelligence-based elimination.”
Authorities said he was responsible for Saturday’s rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 people, most of them children. Hezbollah denied any involvement in the attack.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the strike he called “blatant Israeli aggression”.
He described it as a “criminal act” in a “series of aggressive operations killing civilians in clear and explicit violation of international law.”
In a brief statement posted on social media after the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Hezbollah crossed the red line”.
It is not yet clear whether Fouad Shukr was killed in the attack as security sources in Beirut said the intended target was not in the building. Hezbollah has yet to make a statement. An Israeli official confirmed to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that Israel had notified the US about the Beirut attack.
The US has previously said that Fuad Shukr is believed to be a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and has offered a $5 million reward for information about him, alleging he played a “central role” in the 1983 attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. soldiers. Haret Hreik, the area of Dahiyeh hit by the airstrikes, is densely populated and heavily fortified. Dahiyeh itself is surrounded by Hezbollah checkpoints.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, speaking after the Israeli attack, told reporters that US President Joe Biden believes a wider war between Israel and Hezbollah can be avoided. “We do not want to see an escalation, we do not want to see an all-out war,” she said.
Earlier in the day, two unnamed Israeli officials told Reuters that while Israel seeks to harm Hezbollah, it does not want to drag Lebanon into an all-out war.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) later said there would be no new guidance for Israelis on where and how to shelter, suggesting it did not anticipate an immediate or significant response from Hezbollah.
Both sides are aware of the costs of all-out war, which could prompt Iran to support its Lebanese proxy.
An Israeli response was widely anticipated after the deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, and Israel’s security cabinet had delegated to Netanyahu and Gallant the decision on how to respond.
At least 12 people, most of them children, were killed when a rocket hit a football pitch in Majdal Shams on Saturday.
Israel blamed Hezbollah, but the group denied any involvement.
It was the deadliest incident near the border between Israel and Lebanon since the conflict between the two warring factions escalated in October.
This escalation followed Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7.
Hezbollah, which backs Hamas, opened a second, limited front in northern Israel and the two sides have been exchanging attacks ever since.
In recent days, world leaders have called for restraint amid fears of an all-out war.
The UK Foreign Secretary on Tuesday urged UK citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately or risk “becoming trapped in a war zone”.
The Foreign Office said David Lammy had travelled to Qatar with Defence Secretary John Healey to “drive forward efforts to bring the conflict in Gaza to an end and to press for de-escalation in the region”.
He said escalation and destabilisation were “in no one’s interests”, adding: “It is absolutely vital that we engage closely with partners like Qatar, who play a key role in mediating the conflict in Gaza, so that we can bring this devastating war to an end.”
Source: BBC News
