For the first time in some four months, the IDF attacked Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh neighborhood on Friday, targeting storage facilities housing drones used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s air unit (Unit 127).
The strikes came in response to two rockets fired at the Galilee city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday morning, in the third such breach of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon since it went into effect on Nov. 27.
Lebanese civilians were given three separate warnings about the impending Israeli action; Defense Minister Israel Katz issued one at 8 a.m., which was followed by an announcement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in Arabic at 1 p.m. asking residents to leave the area, and an hour later, the Israeli Air Force undertook “roof knocking” before delivering significantly larger munitions.
There were reports of secondary explosions following the airstrikes, a sign of munitions detonating.
“Hezbollah has placed its terrorist infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population. This is another example of the terrorist organization Hezbollah’s cynical use of Lebanese citizens as human shields,” the IDF said.
According to Reuters, thousands of residents were fleeing in panic by car and on foot, following the IDF’s evacuation warning.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged the army to identify and track down those responsible for the rocket fire on Israel, which precipitated Friday afternoon’s retaliatory strikes.
According to Agence France-Presse, Salam contacted the army chief and “asked him to act quickly to undertake the necessary investigations to uncover those behind the irresponsible rocket fire that threatens Lebanon’s stability and security,” urging “intensified efforts” to arrest the perpetrators.
