Israel says it targeted Hezbollah commander in Beirut suburb; 1 dead, dozens wounded
BEIRUT – Israel claimed responsibility for an airstrike on a densely packed neighborhood on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Tuesday, in an attack it said was aimed at a “commander” responsible for the killing of 12 children over the weekend in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The strike, an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah at a tense moment, occurred around 7:45 p.m. Lebanon’s public health ministry said that Tuesday’s strike in a southern suburb of Beirut killed one woman and injured 68 people, some of them seriously. Residential streets were thick with smoke and debris, and a multistory building could be seen partially destroyed, with several floors collapsed. Lebanon’s state news agency said the strike hit in the “vicinity” of a building used by Hezbollah and a hospital, which a resident said was damaged.
Lebanon has been bracing for war since Saturday, when a projectile hit a soccer field full of children in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. Israel immediately blamed Hezbollah, and vowed that it would pay a “heavy price.” Hezbollah denied it was behind the strike. On Tuesday, as the two traded fire, Israel said that a civilian was killed after suffering shrapnel wounds in one of Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.
Even as tensions escalated, diplomats continued to race Tuesday to fend off the war. The United States will defend Israel if it is attacked by Hezbollah from Lebanon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday, though he voiced hope that the simmering conflict can be defused diplomatically.
“I don’t believe that a fight is inevitable,” Austin told reporters after meetings in Manila with senior Philippine officials alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken to detail new security commitments for the Southeast Asian nation. “We would like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion.”
But “if Israel is attacked, yes, we will we help Israel defend itself. We’ve been clear about that from the very beginning,” Austin said.
Israel’s security cabinet authorized a military response to the weekend attack, but the specific nature of that counterstrike remained unclear, even as civilians on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border – and the region at large – braced for it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel “will not, and cannot, ignore this,” before vowing to retaliate: “Our response will come, and it will be severe.”
In southern Israel, the fallout continued after far-right demonstrators rallied outside and broke into the Sde Teiman military base Monday to protest the detention of nine reservists in connection to allegations of “serious abuse of a detainee” from Gaza.
Palestinians and rights groups say Gazans held in the military detention center have been subjected to systematic abuse and torture, including alleged cases of rape and sexual assault. Under Israeli law, Palestinians from Gaza can be held for lengthy periods without charge or access to a lawyer.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday condemned the events at the base, saying in a statement that they “constitute a severe blow to the country’s security and the authority of the government, which is maintained through the IDF,” or Israel Defense Forces.
Netanyahu on Monday also condemned the break-in and called for calm, putting the prime minister at odds with his far-right base and politicians whose support he needs to remain in power. The melee laid bare a deepening clash between the military and Israel’s far right, which opposes reaching a cease-fire before Hamas is entirely eliminated – a war aim that Israel’s generals have warned is unrealistic.
In his statement, Gallant called on Netanyahu to investigate whether Itamar Ben Gvir – Israel’s far-right national security minister, who oversees the prison system – “prevented or delayed police action in response to the violent events that members of his party were involved in.”
Videos posted on social media Monday showed a crowd rattling the base’s metal gates and then running inside behind Zvi Sukkot, a member of the country’s parliament. In a social media post, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the chief military prosecutor to “get your hands off the reservists,” a sentiment echoed online by Ben Gvir.
“The backing and active participation of elected officials in riots at IDF bases, along with harsh statements against senior IDF officers, is a very serious and dangerous phenomenon that harms security, social cohesion, and Israel’s image in the eyes of the world,” Gallant said Tuesday. “This dangerous phenomenon must be dealt with decisively and immediately.”