IDF Strikes Hezbollah Target in Beirut Suburb After Drone Launches Into Israel

The IDF carried out a targeted strike Sunday afternoon on what it said was a Hezbollah terror infrastructure site in Beirut’s Dahieh district, in response to Hezbollah drone launches toward Israel earlier in the day. The military said the strike hit a Hezbollah command site in the area.

According to the IDF, three unmanned aerial vehicles crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon during the morning. Two exploded near Shlomi in the Western Galilee, and a third later detonated in a military area inside Israel. The IDF said all the aerial threats fell in military areas near the border, not inside civilian communities, and that there were no casualties. The circumstances are still under review.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “The IDF has now struck terror targets of the Hezbollah terror organization in Beirut’s Dahieh district, in response to Hezbollah fire toward Israeli territory. Israel will not tolerate fire at its territory.” Katz had already warned last week that any attack on northern communities would be answered with a strike in Dahieh, which he described as Hezbollah’s main stronghold in Lebanon.

The strike follows a pattern established last week, when an Israeli attack in Beirut was followed by an Iranian response of about 23 missiles toward Israel and two waves of Israeli Air Force strikes in Iran. Finance Minister and cabinet member Bezalel Smotrich urged a stronger response, saying the shelling of northern communities was “a test of the Dahieh equation.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also called for a harsh response, saying, “On every drone, a missile. On every violation, fire.”