Israel attacks Beirut in response to Golan Heights bombing

Tel Aviv, Israel. The Israeli military said Tuesday it had struck the Lebanese capital of Beirut, targeting the militant leader believed to have been behind the deaths of 12 children and teenagers in a rocket attack in the Golan Heights. Israel blamed the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has denied any involvement in the attack.

A Hezbollah official and the group’s television station said an Israeli airstrike hit a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut on Tuesday night, causing damage.

However, a source close to the situation said that commander Fuad Shukr, who heads the Islamist movement’s operations against Israel in southern Lebanon, survived the bombing in the Beirut suburbs. Shukr, “who uses the nom de guerre Mohsen Shukr, survived the Israeli attack,” said the source, who requested anonymity.

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Israel said it had carried out a “targeted” strike against the Hezbollah leader. However, one civilian was killed and at least 17 people, including six minors, were wounded as a result of the strikes, Lebanese television channel Al Jadeed reported.

“The number of people injured in the bombing of Haret Hreik (a district on the southern outskirts of Beirut) has risen to 17, including six children,” they confirmed.

Civil Defence personnel were involved in rescue operations following the raid in the southern suburbs, and the injured were taken to local hospitals.

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Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib condemned the Israeli aggression and said he would file a complaint with the United Nations. In a note on his X account, the Council of Ministers announced the holding of a session tomorrow to discuss the urgent events.

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine declared that the Israeli act of aggression is a flagrant war crime, as it targeted peaceful civilians who are under the sovereignty of Lebanon and the protection of its legitimate government.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged attacks almost daily for the past 10 months amid the ongoing war in Gaza, but have so far kept the conflict low-level so as to prevent it from escalating into a full-blown war.