Israeli forces carried out two aerial attacks that targeted residential buildings in the Southern Suburb (Dahiyeh) in the Lebanese capital Beirut within the span of one week.
The first offensive was launched on Friday, March 28, marking the first attack on the Lebanese capital since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force in November, 2024. The second was launched on Tuesday, April 1.
Regarding its first attack, Israel said that it targeted a drone warehouse belonging to Hezbollah with an airstrike on Friday. Israeli forces are also claiming that the assault was in retaliation for rockets allegedly fired from Lebanon towards the illegal settlement of Kiryat Shmona in the northern territories under Israeli occupation earlier during the day.
Hezbollah denied its responsibility for the incident stressing that it was “in the context of fabricating dubious pretexts”, based on which Israel wanted to continue its aggression against Lebanon. The Lebanese resistance group also affirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement.
However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened on Friday that “the fate of Kiryat Shmona is the same as the fate of Beirut.” Katz further warned that without peace in Israel’s northern border communities, “there will be no peace in Beirut either.”
Although no casualties were reported in the first aggression, four people were killed in the second with several others injured. Among those killed was Hezbollah commander Hassan Ali Bdeir (known as Hajj Rabih) and his son Ali, whom the group officially mourned saying that they were “martyred on the path to occupied al-Quds.”
“Patience has limits,” warns Hezbollah
Hezbollah officials condemned the Israeli aggression on Dahiyeh on Tuesday in separate statements, and warned that the resistance group has “fully recovered” following Israel’s brutal 66-day war on Lebanon.
Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, a member of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, described Tuesday’s strike as “a serious aggression and a shift to a new phase.”
Al-Moussawi held the US fully responsible for the aggression and urged the Lebanese state to “act at the highest level and hold the international community accountable.”
The Lebanese lawmaker refuted claims by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) targeted Hezbollah headquarters in Dahiyeh, affirming that they hit residential apartments inhabited by civilians. “The world witnessed the falsity of the enemy’s claims live on air!” Al-Moussawi emphasized.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Member of Parliament Ali Ammar warned that “Hezbollah exercises the utmost level of patience, but patience has limits.” Ammar also pointed out that through such attacks Israel “offends the reputation of the international community.”
Lebanese President denounces the aggression as Israel seeks to unilaterally collapse the deal
For his part, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced Israel’s aggression on Dahiyeh as a “serious warning of the premeditated intentions against Lebanon.”
Aoun stressed that the aggression entails exerting more effort to address Lebanon’s friends in the world, and to rally them in support of the country’s right to “full sovereignty” over its land.
For many Israel appears to be pushing for a unilateral collapse of the ceasefire deal as it is expanding its war in other parts of the West Asia region, including the Gaza strip, Syria and the West Bank.
