Israel struck Beirut for the first time in months Sunday, targeting Hezbollah’s chief of staff in an attack that killed at least one person and wounded 21 others.
The airstrike hit Lebanon’s capital nearly one year after a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, The Associated Press reported. Israel did not issue an evacuation warning before launching the strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Israel did not name the person targeted but said the Hezbollah chief of staff “led the strengthening and arming of the terrorist organization.” Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told journalists that a high-ranking militant may have been killed but provided no details. (RELATED: Associated Press Runs Sympathetic Story Checking On Hezbollah Terrorists Injured In ‘Grim Beeper’ Operation)
BREAKING: Israel says it targeted Hezbollah militant in its first attack in Beirut in months. https://t.co/zjeChjMnSW
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 23, 2025
“The strike on the southern suburbs today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon,” Qamati said at the attack site.
The strike comes days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his first foreign trip.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike and accused Israel of refusing to implement its end of the ceasefire agreement. He called on the international community to “intervene with strength and seriousness to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people.”
Israeli airstrikes over southern Lebanon have increased in recent weeks. Israel said Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government has denied those claims.
The Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas. That conflict killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and 127 in Israel.
