Israeli armed forces carried out an airstrike late Wednesday night on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, for the first time in nearly a month, killing a senior member of the military wing of the Iran‑backed Shiite movement Hezbollah, according to sources cited by Agence France‑Presse and the German news agency dpa.
At the same time, at least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, as operations continue despite a ceasefire that was meant to have come into effect on 17 April.
A strike in Saixakia, between Sidon and Tyre, killed four people and injured 33 others, including six children.
Hezbollah commander killed
In southern Beirut, Malek Balout, head of operations of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, was killed, according to AFP and dpa sources.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the strike, stating that it aimed to “eliminate the commander” of the unit, without naming him, in a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz.
The strike was carried out in the Ghobeiry district, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, according to Lebanon’s official ANI news agency.
AFP journalists reported smoke rising from the area hit and residents fleeing carrying their belongings. According to the German news agency, at least 10 “powerful” bombs were used.
Many residents had already left the area after hostilities resumed on 2 March. Hezbollah critics accuse the group of dragging Lebanon into the regional war by launching attacks on Israel that day, in retaliation for the US‑Israeli strike on Iran.
According to a Lebanese security source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, an apartment where Radwan Force officials were meeting was hit.
According to German media sources in Netanyahu’s government, the United States was informed before the strike and approved the operation.
Since 8 April, when Israeli air raids across Lebanon killed more than 350 people, Beirut and its suburbs had not been targeted until Wednesday.
Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli forces and vehicles along the southern border in retaliation, as it put it, for Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
Israel says it retains the “right” to target Hezbollah to prevent “planned, imminent or ongoing” attacks, under the terms of the truce as published by the US State Department. Hezbollah disputes Israel’s position.
Israeli army chief Lt‑Gen Eyal Zamir said Israel would “seize every opportunity to further dismantle Hezbollah and continue weakening it,” during a visit to Israeli troops deployed in southern Lebanon.
Heavy toll on civilians and health infrastructure
Since 2 March, Israeli operations in Lebanon have killed around 2,700 people and displaced more than one million residents, according to official figures. During the same period, 17 Israeli soldiers and one civilian army employee have been killed on Lebanese territory.
The World Health Organization has verified 152 attacks on health facilities in Lebanon since hostilities resumed, resulting in 103 deaths and 241 injuries, according to Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“These attacks led to the closure of three hospitals and 41 primary health care centres and caused damage to another 16 hospitals,” he said in a post on X.
Three paramedics were injured while on duty in an early morning strike in #Lebanon’s Deir Kifa.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 6, 2026
Since the start of further escalation in Lebanon on 2 March, @WHO has verified 152 attacks on health care that resulted in 103 deaths and 241 injuries. These attacks have resulted in… pic.twitter.com/bcg2oim9Ua
Source: CNA
