Overview
- The attack hit the Haret Hreik neighborhood in southern Beirut, with residents reporting fighter jets before an explosion that tore through the upper floors of a residential building.
- Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least five people killed and 28 wounded in the densely populated area.
- Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the operation to halt Hezbollah’s rearmament, and U.S. officials said Washington was not notified in advance.
- Hezbollah condemned what it called a treacherous attack in its Beirut stronghold, and the strike raised new questions about the durability of the year-old ceasefire.
- Tabtabai was a veteran of Hezbollah’s Radwan forces with deployments in Syria and Yemen, and the U.S. designated him a terrorist in 2016 with a reward of up to $5 million.