Israel Claims Attack Hezbollah Missile Storage Warehouse In Southern Beirut

Illustration of Israeli fighter jets. (Wikimedia Commons/Amit Agronov/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military on Sunday claimed to have been a building in southern Beirut, Lebanon which was used to store Hezbollah's precision missiles.

The attack was a further test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed militant groups.

Large puffs of smoke billowing from the building, live footage of Reuters showed nearly an hour after Israeli soldiers issued evacuation orders to residents of the Hadath neighborhood.

Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz said in a statement Hezbollah's precision missile "has posed a significant threat to the State of Israel," as reported by Reuters on April 28.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah regarding this attack.

The attack added to tensions in the ceasefire brokered by the United States which ended Israel's deadly conflict with Hezbollah over the past year.

"Today's attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut caused panic and fear of new violence among those eager to return to normal," said UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert on social media X.

"We urge all parties to stop any action that could further undermine the understanding of the cessation of hostilities and the implementation of SCR 1701," he added, referring to UN Security Council resolutions ending a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the United States and France, as underwriters of the ceasefire agreement agreed in November, to force Israel to stop its attacks.

"Israel's continued crackdown on stability will exacerbate tensions and put the region at real risk, threaten its security and stability," he said in a statement.

Earlier this month, Israeli airstrikes killed four people, including a Hezbollah official, on the southern outskirts of Beirut, Israel's second attack on Hezbollah-controlled territory in the Lebanese capital in five days.

Attacks on southern Beirut have recurred amid escalating hostilities in the region, with Israel restarting attacks on Gaza following a two-month ceasefire, while the US is attacking Yemen's Houthis in a bid to stop attacks on shipments of goods in the Red Sea.

Israel is known to have dealt a crushing blow to Hezbollah in the war, killing thousands of its fighters, destroying most of its weapons and eliminating its top leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah.

On the other hand, Hezbollah has denied involvement in recent rocket attacks from Lebanon to Israel.