Israel Strikes Kill 4 in Beirut        04/01 06:10

   

   BEIRUT (AP) -- The Israeli military struck a building in Beirut's southern 
suburbs early Tuesday, killing at least four people, as the military said it 
had targeted a member of the Hezbollah militant group.

   The airstrike came without warning days after Israel launched an attack on 
the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday for the first time since a ceasefire 
ended fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group in 
November. The Israeli military then had warned residents in the crowded suburbs 
before the attack after two projectiles were launched from southern Lebanon, 
which Hezbollah denied firing.

   At least seven other people were wounded in Tuesday's airstrike, according 
to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

   The Israeli military said in a statement the latest strike targeted a 
Hezbollah member who had been helping the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza 
Strip in attacks against Israel. It said the airstrike was "under the direction 
of the Shin Bet," Israel's domestic intelligence agency.

   Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the airstrike.

   "We must prevent any violation of sovereignty from abroad, or from 
infiltrators within who provide an additional pretext for aggression," Aoun 
wrotie in a statement posted on X. The former military chief vowed after his 
election in January that all weapons would be at the hands of the Lebanese 
state, indirectly referring to Hezbollah's arms.

   Among those killed in the airstrike were Hezbollah official Hassan Bdeir and 
his son, Ali, according to a Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of 
anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly to the media. The 
official said that the two other people killed were their neighbors: two 
siblings, a young man and a woman.

   Senior Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar said the group does not want war.

   "But at the same time, if war is imposed on Hezbollah ... then Hezbollah is 
fully prepared to deter any assault," Ammar said in a statement to the press at 
the site of the airstrike.

   Photos and videos widely shared on local and social media showed the top 
three floors of an apartment building damaged following the strike. Piles of 
debris on cars below the building can be seen.

   Jets were heard in parts of the Lebanese capital before the strike near the 
Hay Madi neighborhood. During Israel's last war with Hezbollah, Israeli drones 
and jets regularly pounded the southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has wide 
influence and support. Israel sees the area as a militant stronghold and 
accuses the group of storing weapons there.

   "We were at home. It was Eid al-Fitr," said Hussein Nour El-Din, a resident 
in the neighborhood, referring to the Islamic holiday that marks the end of the 
holy month of Ramadan. "We didn't know where it happened, but once the smoke 
cleared we saw it was the building facing us."

   The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Sheikh Naim Kassem, warned Saturday 
that if Israel's attacks on Lebanon continued and if Lebanon's government does 
not act to stop them, the group would eventually resort to other alternatives.

   Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah 
war, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by 
late January, while Hezbollah had to end its armed presence south of the Litani 
River along the border with Israel.

   Israel has launched daily strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon since the 
U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect, saying it targets Hezbollah officials 
and infrastructure. The Lebanese military has gradually deployed in the 
country's southern region, and Beirut has urged the international community to 
pressure Israel to stop attacks and withdraw its forces still present on five 
hilltops in Lebanese territory.