Israel Says Air Force Hit Hezbollah Sites in Beirut’s Dahieh District

Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Dahieh district were hit on Sunday afternoon after Israel said the air force struck in response to drone launches into Israeli territory. Lebanese media reported explosions in Dahieh, and shortly afterward Israel confirmed the attack on Hezbollah infrastructure.

In a joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strike was carried out "in accordance with the directive" of the two and was a response to Hezbollah fire at Israel. They added, "Israel will not tolerate fire at its territory." Lebanese reports said the area attacked was Al-Rabiyah in Dahieh.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched three explosive drones that detonated inside Israel, which the IDF described as a military area. At least one exploded near homes in the western Galilee community of Shlomi. Earlier, after the drone launches, the army issued evacuation warnings for 16 villages in the Nabatieh area, but not for Beirut.

The IDF said in a morning statement, after alerts at 8:07 a.m., that two suspected aerial targets had fallen near the border with Lebanon, with no injuries and an investigation underway. Military officials said both incidents landed in military areas, not in communities, and that the nearest civilian homes were in Shlomi. Later in the day, sirens again sounded in the western Galilee, including in Even Menachem, Zarit, Shomera and Shtula, and the army repeated that another suspected aerial object had fallen in a military area without causing casualties.

Separately, CNN reported that a Qatari delegation, coordinated with the United States, flew to Tehran on Sunday to help finalize a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, which seeks Israeli cessation of activity in Lebanon. Al Arabi said the trip was meant to address Iran’s remarks, and CNN said the agreement was intended to be signed digitally and remotely to avoid last-minute problems.