At least three people were killed and seven were wounded as a result of an Israeli airstrike that hit a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, the Lebanese Health ministry said.
It was the second airstrike on areas in Beirut's southern suburbs since the the ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militia came into effect in November
Eyewitnesses said the airstrike targeted the top three floors of the building with two missiles, in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut, a known Hezbollah stronghold. It also caused damage to nearby buildings, they added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted a Hezbollah terrorist who had supported members of the allied Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in planning an imminent attack on Israeli civilians.
The man posed a direct threat and was "eliminated," the IDF said in a statement on X.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, strongly condemned the Israeli strike which hit in early hours of the morning.
He described the attack as a "serious warning" that signals premeditated intentions against Lebanon, particularly given its timing.
"We must intensify our engagement with Lebanon’s friends around the world to uphold our right to full sovereignty and prevent any violations - whether from external forces or infiltrators within Lebanon who provide justification for further aggression," he said.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit a Hezbollah facility in Dahieh used to store drones.
Shortly before that, the IDF said it had intercepted two projectiles aimed at northern Israel from the direction of Lebanon.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah militia had been firing rockets at Israel for more than a year since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023 in support of Hamas.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive.
People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut. Israel carried out its first air strikes in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, since November 19, after its defence minister threatened Beirut over renewed rocket fire, further straining a fragile truce that had largely halted more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. Marwan Naamani/dpa