BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike killed four people including a Hezbollah official in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday, a Lebanese security source said, further testing a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said the official — Hassan Bdeir — was a member of a Hezbollah unit.
Hezbollah confirmed that Bdeir had been killed along with his son, who was also a member of the group. The Lebanese security source said Bdeir was a mid-ranking commander whose responsibilities included the Palestinian file. The Lebanese health ministry said the strike killed four people — including a woman — and wounded seven others.
It marked Israel's second air strike in the Hezbollah-controlled suburb of Beirut in five days, adding to strains on the US-brokered ceasefire that ended last year's devastating conflict.
The attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs have resumed at a time of broader escalation in the region, with Israel having restarted Gaza strikes after a two-month truce and the United States hitting Ansar Allah of Yemen in a bid to get them to stop attacking Red Sea shipping.
Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Moussawi said the Israeli attack amounted to "a major and severe aggression that has escalated the situation to an entirely different level".
Speaking in a televised statement after visiting the building that was struck, he called on the Lebanese state to "activate the highest level of diplomacy to find solutions".
Hezbollah has denied any role in recent rocket attacks from Lebanon towards Israel, including one that prompted Israel to carry out an air strike on the southern suburbs last Friday.
Tuesday's strike in the early hours appeared to have damaged the upper three floors of a building, a Reuters reporter at the scene said, with the balconies of those floors blown out.
The glass on the floors below was intact, indicating a targeted strike. Ambulances were at the scene as families fled to other parts of Beirut.
Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that 1,042 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed large-scale strikes on March 18.
According to the ministry's statement, the figure includes 41 people killed in the past 24 hours. It also reported that the overall death toll had reached 50,399 since the war began on October 7, 2023. — Agencies
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