Israel carried out airstrikes south of Beirut targeting a senior Hezbollah commander who a military spokesman said was responsible for a rocket attack that killed 12 children over the weekend.
The reported target, Fouad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, is the group’s operations chief and has a $5m (£3.9m) bounty on his head in the US for his involvement in the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in the Lebanese capital.
The attack came just after sunset on Tuesday at an apartment complex in the suburb of Haret Hreik, a known Hezbollah stronghold, and explosions were heard across the city.
Lebanon’s state news agency The National reported that one woman was killed and several others were injured. It was not immediately clear whether Shukr was at the scene or among the victims.
Beirut was preparing for an Israeli response to a rocket attack three days ago on a children’s soccer match in the occupied Golan Heights that Israel and the United States have blamed Hezbollah for, which Hezbollah denies.
The United States has led global diplomatic efforts to deter Israeli attacks on Beirut and Lebanese infrastructure to prevent escalation into a full-blown regional conflict.
In a post on X after the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “Hezbollah has crossed a red line.”
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said shortly afterward that the US did not believe war between Hezbollah and Israel was inevitable, repeating earlier comments by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
In Beirut, people were less sure. As smoke rose into the sky above partially collapsed apartment buildings, anxious locals hastily fled their neighborhoods, fearing further Israeli attacks.
“This area is no longer safe. I think it will become more dangerous. It would be better if we went to the mountains,” said a tearful Mira Slim, a 20-year-old university student who lives near the site of the airstrike.
People also queued at gas stations across the city to fill up their cars, wary of further escalation of tensions.
Israel assassinated Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in an airstrike in Beirut in January, the last time Israeli forces targeted the city was during a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdalla Bou Habib condemned the attack on Beirut and said he would file a complaint with the United Nations. “We hope that Hezbollah’s response will be consistent and that Israel will not react adversely,” Bou Habib told Lebanese media outlet LBC.
Russia immediately condemned the attack as a violation of international law, while Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer, called it a “sinful and cowardly aggression.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a “tough” response to the attack on the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, which a military statement described as a direct response.
“The Israel Defense Forces carried out a targeted strike in Beirut against the commander responsible for the murder of the Majdal Shams children and numerous Israeli civilians,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
But by choosing its targets, Israel may have been aiming to send a broader message to Hezbollah that it could reach the group’s leadership in its strongholds.
Shukr is a member of the group’s highest military body, the Jihad Council, and is said to be in his early 60s and to be from Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.
He has been involved in Hezbollah’s military operations ranging from Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, its involvement in the Syrian civil war in the 2010s and its tit-for-tat attacks with Israel over the past 10 months.
“This is a significant attack and it creates a real dilemma for Hezbollah and the real question now is what they’re going to do,” said Michael Hanna, U.S. program director for Crisis Group.
“And not surprisingly, despite widespread opposition on both sides to all-out war, we find ourselves in a cycle of escalation that ultimately sends us down a path that spins out of control.”
Earlier, countries including the UK, Germany, France and the US had urged their citizens to leave Lebanon or avoid traveling there. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Tuesday morning that the situation was “moving rapidly” and that British nationals were advised “to leave Lebanon and not travel to the country.”
Many airlines have cancelled flights to Beirut, with Greek airline Aegean Airlines and Germany’s Condor being the latest to announce suspensions, followed by Royal Jordanian, Air France and Lufthansa.
Additional reporting by Andrew Ross and Michael Safi in Washington, D.C.
