Beirut, April 1: The Israeli military struck a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs early Tuesday, killing at least four people, as the military said it had targeted a member of the Hezbollah militant group.
The airstrike came without warning days after Israel launched an attack on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday for the first time since a ceasefire ended fighting between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militant group in November.
The Israeli military then had warned residents in the crowded suburbs before the attack after two projectiles were launched from southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah denied firing.
At least seven other people were wounded in Tuesday’s airstrike, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Israeli military said in a statement the latest strike targeted a Hezbollah member who had been helping the Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip in planning an attack “against Israeli civilians.” It said the airstrike was “under the direction of the Shin Bet,” Israel’s domestic intelligence agency.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the airstrike.
“We must prevent any violation of sovereignty from abroad, or from infiltrators within who provide an additional pretext for aggression,” Aoun wrote in a statement posted on X.
The former military chief vowed after his election in January that all weapons would be at the hands of the Lebanese state, indirectly referring to Hezbollah’s arms.
Among those killed in the airstrike were Hezbollah official Hassan Bdeir and his son, Ali, according to a Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of not being authorised to speak publicly to the media. The official said that the two other people killed were their neighbours: two siblings, a young man and a woman. (AP)
Teen Palestinian detainee from West Bank dies in Israeli prison
Jerusalem, April 1: A teenager from the West Bank who was held in an Israeli prison for six months without being charged died after collapsing in unclear circumstances, becoming the first Palestinian under 18 to die in Israeli detention, officials said.
Walid Ahmad, 17, was a healthy high schooler before his arrest in September for allegedly throwing stones at soldiers, his family said. Rights groups have documented widespread abuse in Israeli detention facilities holding thousands of Palestinians who were rounded up after Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack.
Prison authorities deny any systematic abuse and say they investigate accusations of wrongdoing by prison staff. (AP)