Photo: People gather near a site hit by what security sources said was a strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on July 30, 2024.
Ahmad Al-Kerdi/Reuters
Israel says it has launched a strike in Beirut, Lebanon, targeting a Hezbollah commander that it blamed for a deadly attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
At least one person has died and several others have been injured in the strike, according to Lebanese state news agency NNA. The injured, including some with serious wounds, have been taken to nearby hospitals.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said “Hezbollah crossed the red line” in a social media post minutes after the Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike on Tuesday.
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a separate post on his official X account that “every dog shall have his day.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had “carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians.”
It did not provide details about how the strike was carried out.
Lebanon’s NNA said the attack was conducted by a drone that fired three missiles.
The IDF statement came shortly after Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV agency reported a loud explosion being heard in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
The area is a populous part of Beirut and a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group.
Video from Reuters showed the aftermath of the strike in southern Beirut. Emergency responders and bystanders can be seen walking in streets covered in rubble, bricks and other debris. Multiple vehicles parked on one street appear to have been damaged by falling debris from surrounding buildings.
In a video obtained by CNN, huge plumes of smoke can be seen billowing from the area of the strike.
Israel vowed earlier this week that Hezbollah would “pay the price” for a rocket attack on a soccer field that killed 12 children and injured 44 people in the town of Majdal Shams near the Syrian and Lebanese borders.
The attack Saturday sparked fears that an all-out war could envelop the region.
Israel informed the United States before carrying out the strike, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source said the heads up was conveyed through security channels, but did not say when it was given.
The name of the commander targeted was Fuad Shukr, who is also known as Haj Muhsin Shukr
The Hezbollah official had a $5 million bounty “on his head,” according to the United States Rewards for Justice.
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