Lebanese media reported explosions in Beirut’s Dahieh district on Sunday afternoon, and shortly afterward Israel confirmed that the IDF had struck Hezbollah infrastructure. “In accordance with the directive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the IDF struck in response to Hezbollah fire toward Israeli territory,” the two said in a joint statement.
The explosions came after Hezbollah launched three UAVs that exploded inside Israeli territory, in what the IDF described as a “military area.” At least one of them exploded across from homes in the community of Shlomi in the western Galilee. Netanyahu and Katz added in their statement that “Israel will not tolerate fire toward its territory.”
Attack on Beirut’s Dahieh district
Reports in Lebanon said the Al-Ruwais area in Dahieh was targeted. According to the IDF, the target was a Hezbollah command center.
"The command center was used by Hezbollah terrorists to advance terrorist attacks against the citizens of the State of Israel and IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon. Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance," the IDF said in a statement.
Israel has previously threatened to respond with strikes in Beirut’s Dahieh district to any fire directed at Israeli communities, and hours after the UAV launches toward the western Galilee, the IDF issued an evacuation warning for 16 villages in the Nabatieh area, but not in Beirut.
In an official IDF statement Sunday morning, after alerts were activated at 8:07 a.m., the military said that “two impacts of suspicious aerial targets were identified in Israeli territory, near the border with Lebanon. There were no casualties, and the incident is under review.” Military officials said the targets exploded in a military area and not inside a community, with the closest civilian homes to the scene located in Shlomi.
Sirens were also activated in the western Galilee at midday, including in Even Menachem, Zar’it, Shomera and Shtula. Afterward, the IDF said that “an impact of a suspicious aerial target was identified in Israeli territory, near the border with Lebanon. There were no casualties, and the incident is under review.” Military officials said this impact also occurred in a military area and not within a community.
Meanwhile, CNN reported Sunday morning that a Qatari delegation, in coordination with the United States, departed for Tehran to help finalize a memorandum of understanding between the Americans and the Iranians, who are demanding that Israel halt its activity in Lebanon. Qatar’s Al-Araby channel reported that the visit was intended to resolve comments submitted by Iran. The CNN report, published before the strike in Dahieh, said plans to sign the memorandum digitally and remotely were intended to prevent last-minute complications.