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Israel struck Beirut on Wednesday for the first time since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last month, saying it targeted a commander of the group’s elite Radwan Force in the city’s southern suburbs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the strike in a joint statement. Netanyahu said the targeted commander led Radwan Force militants responsible for attacks on Israeli communities and soldiers.
The Israeli army confirmed the attack, which caused a loud explosion and extensive damage in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israeli media reported that the commander was killed, but there was no immediate confirmation from the Israeli military or Hezbollah.
An Israeli official told CNN that Israel believes the deputy commander of the Radwan Force was also hurt in the attack. An Israeli source said the strike was coordinated in advance with the U.S.
The attack was Israel’s first strike in Beirut since the start of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Since then, Israel had focused its strikes on southern Lebanon, which the Israeli military said was permitted under the agreement.
The Lebanon ceasefire has supported a broader U.S.-Iran truce, with a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon among Iran’s key demands. As Iran and the U.S. say they are moving closer to a deal to halt their conflict, the Beirut strike threatens the ceasefire that stopped Israeli attacks on the city.
Israeli troops have remained in areas south of the Litani River, while strikes have continued in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has responded by firing rockets and launching armed drones toward Israeli soldiers.
Israel earlier Wednesday called for residents to evacuate several villages north of the Litani River, a move that could signal an expansion of its zone of action.
The strike came as the Trump administration was trying to arrange a direct meeting between Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. Netanyahu said Wednesday he expected to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump later in the day.
Aoun said such a meeting would first require Israel to stop attacking Lebanon, adding that Lebanon “must first reach a security agreement and a halt to the Israeli attacks.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also said it was premature to discuss any high-level meeting between Lebanon and Israel. Salam said strengthening the ceasefire would be the basis for any new negotiations between Lebanese and Israeli government envoys in Washington.
Washington hosted two meetings last month between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States. Hezbollah strongly objects to the contacts.
Israel has carved out a self-declared security zone extending as deep as 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, into southern Lebanon, saying it aims to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah militants embedded in civilian areas.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that an Israeli airstrike killed four people, including two women and an elderly man, in Zelaya in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched explosive drones and rockets toward Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, injuring two Israeli soldiers. It also said the Israeli air force intercepted a hostile aircraft before it crossed into Israel and announced strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in Lebanon.
More than 2,700 people have been killed in the war in Lebanon since March 2, according to the Health Ministry.
Israel says Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel since March 2, while 17 Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon and two civilians in northern Israel.
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