Israeli airstrike kills three in Beirut, escalating tensions with Hezbollah

Early on Tuesday, Israeli troops bombed a building in Beirut's southern suburb, killing a minimum of three individuals. Israel said the attack occurred when one of Hezbollah's military group members was hit. The bombing follows Israel's bombardment of Beirut for the first time last Friday, the first since an Israeli force-Hezbollah ceasefire in November.

Israel claimed the airstrike was meant to target a Hezbollah member

Israel launched the attack after two rockets were fired towards Israel from southern Lebanon on Friday, but Hezbollah denied this. Seven others were injured in the airstrike, said the Lebanese Health Ministry. Israel claimed the airstrike was meant to target a Hezbollah member who was assisting the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip and conducting attacks against Israel.

There has not been any release by Hezbollah following this attack

Israel's objective The Israeli defense forces stated in a release that the airstrike was conducted under the guidance of Shin Bet (Israel's internal intelligence agency), and was intended to assassinate one of its members connected with Hezbollah, who was attacking Israel in association with Hamas. There has not been any release by Hezbollah following this attack, and nothing is known officially about this event.

Witness account of the attack

Hussein Noor al-Din, who was at home when the attack happened, described the attack as happening on the same day as the Islamic festival of Eid al-Fitr. "We were home. We were celebrating Eid. We did not know where the attack occurred, but when the smoke cleared we realized it was on the building in front of us," he added, stating that a number of photos and videos posted on social media indicated serious damage to the top three levels of the building and much debris on cars underneath.

Hezbollah's response and warning

Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, cautioned on Saturday that if the Israeli attack is not ended and the Lebanese government does not do anything to bring it to an end, Hezbollah might resort to alternative measures. Strains between Israel and Lebanon have grown since the Israeli strike. Following the 14-month-long Israel-Hezbollah war, a ceasefire brokered by America was agreed upon under which Israel was to disengage from all of Lebanon's border and Hezbollah would cease its militant presence in southern parts of the Litani River. However, Israel still conducts attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon against Hezbollah's institutions and infrastructure.

Lebanese government's response

The government of Lebanon has called on the international community to intervene and pressure Israel to withdraw Israeli forces from the five mountain regions where it has stationed on the Lebanese border.