Middle East

Israel strikes Beirut suburb days after a US-brokered truce

According to BBC Middle East, the Israeli military carried out an air raid on a southern suburb of Beirut days after a US-brokered truce. Israel said the strikes were ordered 'in response to Hezbollah's firing at Israeli territory'.

Beirut coastline view under an overcast daytime sky
BBC Middle East1 h ago

BBC sources in Lebanon report that a building in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut was struck and that there were multiple casualties. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, teams arriving at the scene began rubble-clearance work; initial assessments indicate that five people lost their lives. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strike was carried out in response to a missile fired into northern Israel the previous day.

The US State Department noted that the truce announced last week is 'contingent on the parties' mutual commitments', while Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati ordered an urgent submission to the UN Security Council. A Hezbollah spokesperson described the strike as 'retaliation for a previously warned border crossing'. The European Union's foreign policy representative called on 'all parties to exercise restraint' to stop the escalation.

Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport briefly suspended flights, but overnight operations gradually returned to normal. Regional security tensions have begun to weigh on tourism bookings ahead of the holiday season, and Lebanese chambers of commerce are tracking the losses. There was limited movement in the Lebanese pound and Israeli shekel exchange rates. UNIFIL has reported intensified patrols along the border.

GeopoliticsMiddle EastBBC Middle East
This article is an AI-curated summary of the original story published by BBC Middle East. The illustration is a stock photo by Jo Kassis from Pexels and is not from the original story.

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