An Israeli strike on south Beirut killed at least three people on Tuesday, Lebanon said after Israel announced its second strike on the country's capital in a fragile four-month truce.
The attack that came without warning at around 3:30 am (0030 GMT) during the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday. It came after Israel struck Beirut's southern suburbs, a bastion of Hezbollah support, on Friday after issuing an evacuation warning.
The Israeli military said "the strike targeted a Hezbollah terrorist who had recently directed Hamas operatives and assisted them in planning a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians," in a joint statement with the domestic Shin Bet security agency.
Lebanon's health ministry said the strike killed three people and wounded seven others.
An AFP photographer at the scene said the top two floors of a multi-storey building were destroyed and that debris covered the street. Panicked residents poured of their homes as rescue workers helped the wounded.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike and called on his country's international allies to support "our right to full sovereignty".
The Lebanese prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said the attack was a "clear breach" of a ceasefire deal that largely ended more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Without identifying the alleged Hezbollah operative, Israel's military said it "acted to eliminate him and removed the threat", just days after striking the southern suburbs in response to rocket fire from Lebanon which it blamed on the Lebanese militant group.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned the country's military would "strike everywhere in Lebanon against any threat" in response to the rocket fire.
Israel has continued to carry out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon in the months since the November 27 ceasefire, hitting what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.
Source: AFP
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
