‘Israel’ strikes Beirut southern suburbs after Hezbollah launches

‘Israel's’ military struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, hitting two apartments in two buildings, after saying it had intercepted two projectiles launched by Hezbollah into ‘Israeli’ territory.

‘Israel’ and Hezbollah regularly exchange fire but the area on the south of the capital -- including districts seen as bastions of the Iran-backed group -- has been relatively spared, having been struck only twice since mid-April.

‘Israel’ later issued an evacuation warning for most of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and its surroundings, a more frequent site of strikes.

"In accordance with the directives of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Katz, the Israel Defence Forces have just struck a militant command centre in Beirut's Dahiyeh district, in response to Hezbollah's fire towards Israeli territory," Netanyahu's office said.

The strikes "targeted two apartments in two buildings" according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).

Earlier this week in Washington, Lebanese and ‘Israeli’ envoys touted a conditional truce that would have required Hezbollah to stop firing, withdraw from near the ‘Israeli’ border and would see Lebanon's army deploy to new "pilot zones" in the area, where it would exercise exclusive control.

But Hezbollah rejected the agreement, demanding a full ‘Israeli’ withdrawal from Lebanese territory, and ‘Israel’ warned it would strike Beirut's southern suburbs should Hezbollah attack northern ‘Israel’.

Sirens sounded in northern ‘Israel’ earlier on Sunday, with the military saying "two projectiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were intercepted".

It later said it "dismantled the launchers used by Hezbollah terrorists to carry out the attack".

There was no immediate comment from the Iran-backed group, which claimed separate attacks against ‘Israeli’ troops in Lebanon on Sunday.

Ceasefire

A ceasefire that was supposed to end the fighting between ‘Israel’ and Hezbollah took effect on April 17, but has never been fully respected.

Hezbollah and ‘Israel’ have frequently exchanged accusations of truce violations, with each side justifying its own attacks by citing alleged violations committed by the other side.

‘Israel’ has continued bombing its northern neighbour despite the truce, and Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported a series of ‘Israeli’ strikes across the south, some of them deadly.

Sunday's attacks come a day after at least five people were killed in ‘Israeli’ strikes according to Lebanese authorities, including Lebanese army personnel, one of them a general.