Iran Threatens Retaliation After Israeli Strike in Beirut's Dahiyeh

Iranian and Hezbollah-linked officials threatened retaliation after the Israeli Air Force struck a Hezbollah command site in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, while Israeli officials said it was not certain the attacks were over. Lebanese reports said the strike killed three people and wounded 15. Israel said two fighter jets dropped four munitions in a targeted hit on the Hezbollah headquarters, in response to rocket fire from the organization toward Israeli communities.

The confrontation came after Hezbollah launched three drones that exploded inside Israeli territory, one of them at least detonating near the homes of the northern border town of Shlomi in the Western Galilee. Although the IDF described the area as a “military area,” Israeli officials said the strike in Dahiyeh was “critical” and helps shape Israel’s security posture against Hezbollah in Lebanon. They said Israeli leaders had already declared that any cross-border fire from Lebanon would be answered with a strike in Dahiyeh.

Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the Israeli incursion into Dahiyeh showed that the United States lacks both the will and the ability to fulfill its commitments, adding that the “good cop, bad cop” approach is outdated. Ibrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, warned on X that “the way to an agreement is to punish the Zionist regime,” and said that if the “mad dog” is not restrained it could bite before the ink on any understanding dries. The “Hatem al-Anbiya” emergency headquarters in Iran said that “Zionist crimes will not go unanswered.”

Fox News cited an unnamed diplomat familiar with the talks as saying the Dahiyeh strikes are complicating efforts to draft a memorandum of understanding. The diplomat said Israel was making a clear attempt to sabotage the deal and drag the United States back into war. On the Israeli side, officials said the strike was carried out after pressure from senior figures in talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that Defense Minister Israel Katz was involved in the decision. Netanyahu and Katz later issued a joint statement saying the strike was ordered in response to Hezbollah fire and that “Israel will not tolerate fire into its territory.”