The official Lebanese agency ANI reported four Israeli raids on Sunday evening against the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold that has been shelled for several days. The Israeli army claimed to have targeted the movement’s weapons warehouses there.
‘Enemy warplanes carried out two strikes on the southern suburbs, the first targeting the Sainte-Thérèse district and the second the Bourj al-Barajneh district,’ the agency said. Two other Israeli strikes were carried out in the suburbs, including one against the town of Hadath, described as ‘violent’ by ANI.
The strike targeting Sainte-Thérèse flattened a building, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP. An AFP correspondent felt the windows shaking. Another heard loud explosions and smelled a powerful smell of sulfur that was spreading throughout Beirut.
In a statement released overnight from Sunday to Monday, the Israeli army said its aircraft had struck “terrorist targets at Hezbollah intelligence headquarters” and “weapons storage facilities” of the armed movement in the Beirut region. “Secondary explosions were identified after the strikes, indicating the presence of weapons,” the army added.
Twelve dead
An AFP video shows four strikes, two causing huge secondary explosions and projecting large sprays of flames, as well as thick clouds of black smoke.
The previous night, the southern suburbs were hit by more than 30 strikes, according to ANI, pushing many people from neighboring neighborhoods to flee. The southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital have been regularly shelled by Israel since the start of its open war against pro-Iranian Hezbollah on September 23, particularly at night.
Hezbollah initiated hostilities on the border with Israel from the start of the Israeli offensive against its ally, Palestinian Hamas, in Gaza in October 2023.
Many residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs have fled to other Lebanese areas since Israel intensified its bombing campaign on September 23.
Twelve people were killed on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health, in Israeli strikes targeting Kayfoun and Qmatiye, two villages in the mountains overlooking Beirut and its suburbs, and which host displaced people.
Since October 2023, more than 2,000 people have been killed in the country, including more than 1,100 since September 23, according to authorities. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced.
/ATS
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