BEIRUT: Israel struck south Beirut on Sunday for the third time since a fragile November 27 ceasefire, prompting Leb­anese President Joseph Aoun to call on its guarantors France and the United States to force a halt.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strike targeted a building used by Hezbollah to store “precision-guided missiles” and vowed to stop the Iran-backed group using Beirut’s southern suburbs as a “safe haven”.

A correspondent saw a plume of smoke rising over the building in the Hadath neighbourhood after the strike. Lebanese television channels broadcast images of a fire around the hangar-like building. The Israeli military had earlier issued a warning to civilians to evacuate the densely populated neighbourhood.

“An urgent warning for those in the southern suburbs of Beirut, especially in the Hadath neighbourhood: Anyone present in the building marked in red on the attached map as well as the surrounding buildings, is near Hezbollah facilities,” said military spokesman Avichay Adraee on X, adding: “You must evacuate”.

Netanyahu’s office said Israel “will not allow Hezbollah to grow stronger and create any threat against it — anywhere in Lebanon”.

Lebanon president urges US, France to compel Tel Aviv to halt attacks

In a later statement, the military said that “the storage of missiles in this infrastructure site constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.” But the Lebanese president condemned the strike as a new breach of the November 27 ceasefire and urged its guarantors to put a stop to Israel’s continual attacks.

Aoun called on “the United States and France, as guarantors of the ceasefire agreement, to assume their responsibilities and compel Israel to halt its attacks immediately”.

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, appealed to all sides to halt any actions that could further undermine the ceasefire.

“Today’s strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut generated panic and fear of renewed violence among those desperate for a return to normalcy,” she said in a post. “We urge all sides to halt actions.”

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2025