First Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut since October 7

The Israeli army carried out a strike in the heart of Beirut on Monday, according to a Lebanese security source. It is the first since hostilities broke out between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago, killing three members of an armed group.

If in recent days, the Israeli army has repeatedly shelled the southern suburbs of Beirut, stronghold of the Islamist movement, this is the first time that it has targeted the heart of the capital since the start of the front opened by Hezbollah on October 8, the day after the unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas in Israel.

According to this Lebanese security source, “at least four people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting an apartment belonging to Jamaa Islamiya in Beirut intramuros.” This Lebanese Sunni Islamist group supports Hezbollah in its operations in northern Israel “in support” of Hamas.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a left-wing secular Palestinian organization described as terrorist by Israel and the European Union, announced the death of three of its members in the strike.

Videos relayed by local television channels show the partially razed floor of the targeted building.

This raid comes as the Israeli army maintains its military pressure against Hezbollah for the eighth consecutive day, via violent strikes against its strongholds across Lebanon, three days after killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Monday begins three days of national mourning following the “martyrdom of the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who joins the list of people killed by the perfidious Israeli aggression against Lebanon”, in the words of the Lebanese government.

Before dawn Monday, the Israeli army announced that it had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa region, including “dozens of launchers and buildings where weapons were stored.”

She also indicated that she “succeeded in intercepting a suspicious aerial target which entered Israeli territory from Lebanon” Monday morning.

Israeli raids left at least 105 dead on Sunday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Israel said it attacked “dozens of terrorist targets” of the Shiite movement in Lebanon on Sunday, including rocket launch sites and military installations. On Sunday evening, the Israeli military claimed to have carried out around 120 additional “large-scale” strikes in the country.

After a year of cross-border exchanges of fire with Hezbollah and allied formations, the Israeli army intensified its bombings from September 23 to allow the return to northern Israel of its inhabitants displaced by the exchanges of fire.

On another front, Israel carried out raids against Houthi rebel targets in Yemen, killing four people, the day after a shot claimed by these pro-Iranian insurgents towards Tel Aviv airport.

These strikes targeted ports and power plants in the Hodeida region (west), the main entry point for goods and humanitarian aid for areas under the control of Yemeni rebels, Al-Massirah television reported, belonging to the insurgents.

“No place is too far” for Israel, warned Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

This situation raises fears of a regional conflagration. All-out war in the Middle East “must be avoided,” US President Joe Biden urged, after calling Nasrallah’s death a “measure of justice.”

Saudi Arabia, a major player in the region and influential in Lebanon, for its part called on Monday for respect for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of this country, expressing its “great concern” in the face of the intensification of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, in the midst of an offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

During its operation called “New Order”, the Israeli army said it had killed with Hassan Nasrallah “more than 20 other terrorists of different ranks, present in the underground headquarters (of Hezbollah) located under civilian buildings and who directed the terrorist operations against Israel.

Israel said “most” of Hezbollah’s senior leaders had been killed in recent months during operations by its forces.

The death of Hassan Nasrallah, considered the most powerful man in Lebanon, constitutes a major victory for Israel against Iran and its allies.

Despite the incessant blows carried out by Israel, Hezbollah announced that it had fired rockets against northern Israel. About eight projectiles fell in wastelands near Tiberias, according to the army.

“We are afraid that there will be a total escalation,” said Matan Sofer, a resident of the Israeli town of Rosh Pina, about thirty kilometers from the Lebanese border.

“Nasrallah’s line” will continue and its sacred objective will be achieved with the liberation of Jerusalem,” said Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, which finances and arms Hezbollah. Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin, Hachem Safieddine, a prominent figure in the party, appears to be a potential successor.

The first senior Western diplomat to visit Lebanon since the intensification of Israeli strikes, the head of French diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot arrived in Beirut on Sunday evening.

He handed over emergency health aid to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad, who “thanked” him for this “donation of 11 and a half tons”.

His arrival coincides with the announcement of the death of a second Frenchman in circumstances not yet specified. An 87-year-old French woman died on September 23 after a “strong explosion” in a village in the south of the country.

According to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, nearly a million people may have been displaced by Israeli bombings, the largest population displacement in the country’s history according to him.

The World Food Program announced an emergency operation to provide food aid to one million people.