The Israel Defense Forces announced a strike in Beirut on Tuesday, targeting a commander accused of orchestrating a recent attack on a children’s soccer field. In a post on X, the IDF stated that its forces “carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians.”
The post also mentioned that there are no current changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines but promised updates if any changes occur. “Hezbollah crossed the red line,” Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant wrote on X.
This strike was in response to a rocket attack that killed 12 children and teens in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend. Both Israel and the United States blamed Hezbollah for the attack, though the terror group denied responsibility.
A source informed Fox News that Gallant would speak with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin later Tuesday. “This was about sending a clear message. We don’t want to see a wider war,” a senior Israeli official told Fox News. The response was reportedly discussed within 24 hours after the rocket attack in the Golan Heights.
Details of the strike remain unclear, but it coincided with a loud blast and smoke rising above Beirut’s southern suburbs. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the strike hit near Hezbollah’s Shura Council in the Haret Hreik neighborhood. According to the Associated Press, the strike hit an apartment building near a hospital, collapsing half of the targeted building. The hospital sustained minor damage, and debris and broken glass littered the surrounding streets. Paramedics were seen carrying several injured people from the damaged buildings, but it was not immediately clear if there were any fatalities.
Lots of Smoke coming from the Site of the Explosion, possibly caused by an Israeli Airstrike, within the Suburbs of Dahieh in the Southern District of Beirut. pic.twitter.com/tFgQyGLnxb
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 30, 2024
The Times of Israel and other reports identified the targeted commander as Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Lebanese state media reported that the airstrike was carried out by a drone that launched three rockets.
During a State Department press briefing, deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said, “This clearly just happened, so I don’t have any comment to offer. I’m happy to check with the team if we’ve got anything more to offer at a later point.” He emphasized that “Israel has every right to defend itself, certainly from malign Iran-backed proxies like Hezbollah. And it certainly faces threats like no other country does, especially in that region of the world.”
The State Department noted there are currently no plans to evacuate Americans from Lebanon, despite the increasing likelihood of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The travel advisory for Lebanon remains at Level 3, advising Americans to reconsider travel due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and armed conflict.
The last time Israel targeted Beirut was in January, when an airstrike killed a top Hamas official, Saleh Arouri. That strike was the first time Israel had hit Beirut since the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
