Three killed, 17 injured as Israeli strikes Beirut after Hezbollah rocket attack

Israeli strike on Beirut kills 3, wounds 17; Hezbollah retaliates with rockets; escalating tensions in the region.

An Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday (September 20, 2024) killed at least three people and wounded more than a dozen others, Lebanese health officials said, the first Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital in months that came after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with rockets.

Israel announced the strike, but didn't immediately specify the target in Beirut's crowded southern suburbs, where Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group holds sway.

Lebanon's Health Ministry reported that at least three people were killed and 17 others wounded as local networks broadcast footage of wounded people being pulled from the ruins of a flattened building and ambulances rushing to the scene of the strike.

The strike in Dahiyeh, just kilometers from downtown Beirut, hit during rush hour, as people were leaving work and students headed home from school.

The escalation came as the region awaited the revenge promised by the militant group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, for this week’s mass bombing attack on pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members.

Israel's rare strike on the Beirut suburbs came after Hezbollah pounded Israel with 140 rockets, which the Israeli military said came in three waves targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.

Following the attacks, the Israeli military said that it had struck areas across southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, but didn’t provide details of damage.