Israeli airstrike hits Beirut, escalating tensions with Hezbollah

BEIRUT: Israel carried out a rare strike Tuesday on Beirut that killed at least one person and wounded others, raising the stakes in the escalating tensions with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said the strike targeted the militant commander allegedly behind the deaths of 12 children and teens in a weekend rocket attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, as well as the deaths of numerous Israeli civilians hit in other strikes.

Israel has blamed the rocket attack Saturday in the town of Majdal Shams on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has denied any role. “Hezbollah crossed a red line,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted on the platform X shortly after Tuesday’s strike.

The two sides have been exchanging near-daily strikes for the past 10 months against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, but had previously kept the conflict at a low level that would not escalate into full-on war.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that Tuesday’s strike, carried out with a drone that launched three rockets, killed one woman and wounded several other people, some of them seriously. The wounded were taken to nearby hospitals. Bahman Hospital near the site of the blast called on people to donate blood.