Image Credentials:Â Image Title: Israel Strikes Hezbollah Missile Warehouse in Beirut, Kills Operative in Southern Lebanon đź“°Â Source:Â AI-Generated Image (Grok, xAI)Â Date:Â April 2025Â Attribution:Â Created by AI-generated imagery (Grok, xAI), and it does not depict a real-world scene.
By Open Chronicle Middle East Desk Staff
April 27, 2025
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM — The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck a Hezbollah missile warehouse in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, intensifying tensions with Lebanon after also killing a Hezbollah operative earlier in the day in a drone strike in southern Lebanon.
According to the IDF, the Beirut facility stored precision missiles and posed an “immediate and significant threat” to Israeli civilians. The military issued evacuation warnings to residents before carrying out the attack. No casualties have been reported from the strike, though local media described scenes of chaos as residents fled the targeted neighborhood.
In a rare joint statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz defended the operation, vowing that Israel “will not allow Hezbollah to grow stronger and pose any threat — anywhere in Lebanon.” They placed full responsibility for the missile storage on the Lebanese government, warning that Beirut’s southern suburbs would not be allowed to become a safe haven for terrorist activities.
The IDF stated that storing missiles within civilian areas violated previous agreements between Israel and Lebanon and threatened regional stability.
Lebanese Leadership Condemns Attack
Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli strike, calling it a “blatant violation” of Lebanese sovereignty. In a statement, Aoun appealed to the United States and France — guarantors of the 2024 ceasefire — to intervene and “compel Israel to halt its attacks immediately.”
President Aoun also accused Israel of deliberately trying to destabilize Lebanon and warned the move would escalate tensions across the region.
The attack marks only the third IDF strike in the Beirut area since the November 2024 ceasefire, which largely ended over a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. Previous strikes occurred on March 28 and April 1, including a targeted killing of a senior Hezbollah and Iranian Quds Force operative.
Targeted Killing in Southern Lebanon
Earlier Sunday, the IDF confirmed it had killed a Hezbollah operative in a drone strike in the southern Lebanese town of Halta. According to the Israeli military, the operative had been involved in efforts to rebuild and rearm Hezbollah’s networks following losses during previous fighting.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported one death from the drone strike, while local media said the man was killed at his chicken farm. The IDF later released footage of the targeted operation.
Background: A Fragile Ceasefire
The November 2024 ceasefire ended months of cross-border warfare that began in October 2023, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of Hamas’s invasion from Gaza. Although the ceasefire agreement allows for Israeli strikes against “immediate threats,” tensions have remained high with near-daily Israeli operations against Hezbollah and allied targets.
The IDF said Sunday’s Beirut strike followed multiple warning shots and evacuation alerts, with Arabic-language IDF spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee publishing maps and instructions urging civilians to flee the targeted area.
Analysts warn that while both Israel and Hezbollah have sought to avoid full-scale war, the accumulation of localized strikes risks triggering wider conflict in an already volatile region.
Follow our Middle East coverage for updates on the developing situation between Israel and Hezbollah.
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