Israel strikes building in southern Beirut, killing at least 3 people

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military struck a building in Beirut's southern suburbs early Tuesday, killing at least three people, in an attack it said said it 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 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 the 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.

Hezbollah did not comment on the strike. There was no immediate word on casualties.

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 covered cars below the building.

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.