Civil Defence crews, the Lebanese Armed Forces and Hezbollah try to move a crane down a small alley towards the site of an Israeli assassination strike in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh in Beirut, Lebanon on July 30.Oliver Marsden/The Globe and Mail
Israel carried out an air strike on the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Beirut on Tuesday in what appeared to be the beginning of Israel’s retribution for a weekend rocket strike that killed 12 children in the Golan Heights.
Rescue workers could be seen digging at the rubble of a partially destroyed low-rise apartment building in the densely crowded suburb of Harat Hreik. Lebanese media reported that the building had been hit by a trio of missiles fired from a drone.
The Israeli military claimed to have killed “the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians,” but al-Jazeera reported that Hezbollah sources had said the target – reported to be Fuad Shukr, a senior Hezbollah commander – survived the blast. The Lebanese Ministry of Health said one woman and two children died in the attack, while 74 others were wounded. Rescue workers were still searching for victims as night fell.
The 62-year-old Mr. Shukr is one of the founders of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia that has become the dominant political and military force in Lebanon, and which fought Israel to a standstill in a 2006 war. In a statement, the Israeli military called him Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s military adviser and “right-hand man,” and said Mr. Shukr had managed the group’s military campaign against Israel, including the strike on Majdal Shams.
Dozens of ambulances raced into the Bahman Hospital in Harat Hreik on Tuesday night as helmeted rescue workers rushed stretchers into the emergency room. Black-shirted Hezbollah guards, some of them carrying assault rifles, questioned journalists and prevented them from nearing the damaged building.
Lebanon has been nervously waiting for Israel’s retaliation since Saturday, when 12 children were killed by a rocket strike while playing soccer in the Druze Arab village of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel and its ally the U.S. say the attack was carried out by Hezbollah, using an Iranian-made rocket. Hezbollah, which usually claims responsibility for its attacks, has denied involvement.
Shortly after the attack, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted on social media that “Hezbollah crossed a red line.” Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised a “severe” response to the Majdal Shams tragedy.
“Israel is trying to provoke us into a war. We know that the attack on the occupied Golan was fabricated. They are trying to make us respond,” said Mohammed Jalloul, a 27-year-old from Harat Hreik who was watching the scene outside the Bahman Hospital on Tuesday night. “We as Lebanese do not want a war; however, if they continue to provoke us – especially by hitting civilian areas – then we are ready.”
Tuesday’s attack on Harat Hreik came after days of frantic U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at convincing Israel to limit its military action – and specifically to avoid targeting Beirut – for fears of provoking a wider conflict. Canada and other Western governments have been warning for months against travel to Lebanon, and this week told their citizens to leave the country while it was still possible.
A Civil Defence crew move their cherry picker up to the site of the 6th floor of a residential building and the site of an Israeli assassination strike in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday 30th July 2024.Oliver Marsden/The Globe and Mail
Questions now loom about whether Israel considers the attack on Harat Hreik a sufficient response – particularly if Mr. Shukr survived – or whether there will be a larger operation. It’s also unclear whether Hezbollah will feel compelled to escalate because Harat Hreik is a 10-minute drive from the centre of Beirut. Mr. Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, has in the past vowed to target Tel Aviv if Israel struck the Lebanese capital.
Lebanon’s L’Orient Le Jour newspaper reported that Hezbollah had already begun preparing a response. Social-media users in Israel reported that GPS services had been disabled throughout the country, in an possible attempt to disrupt the targeting of Hezbollah missiles.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib condemned the Israeli attack on the Beirut suburb, but added: “If Hezbollah’s response is to take place, we hope it will be proportional. But what matters even more to us is that this conflict comes to an end.”
Israel and Hezbollah have been involved in a deadly tit-for-tat exchange of fire since October, when Hezbollah began launching rockets and drones across the border in what it said was an act of solidarity with Hamas and the people of Gaza. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says more than 39,000 people have been killed over 10 months of fighting in Gaza, which Israel invaded following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, which left more than 1,100 Israelis dead, and saw more than 250 others taken hostage.
The fighting between Israel and Lebanon, while largely contained to the border area, has left at least 387 Hezbollah fighters dead, according to the group, and killed more than 100 Lebanese civilians. Israel says 21 soldiers and 25 civilians have been killed on its side, including a 30-year-old man who died Tuesday when a Hezbollah rocket struck a kibbutz close to the border.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail earlier on Tuesday, former Lebanese foreign minister Gebran Bassil said he believed Israel’s retribution for Majdal Shams would be calibrated to avoid an all-out war with Hezbollah, which is a much more powerful foe than Hamas. Hezbollah is also stronger than the official Lebanese army, which has largely stood aside as Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged blows.
“Israel cannot make any victory by force. They also have a country to care about. If we have an airport, they have an airport. Anything can be targeted. This is what I think is protecting Lebanon, nothing else,” Mr. Bassil said in an interview at his home outside Beirut, referring to worries that Israel might strike Lebanon’s only commercial airport.
But Mr. Bassil, a Christian politician whose Free Patriotic Movement has often allied itself with Hezbollah, said his party disagreed with Hezbollah’s decision to launch attacks on Israel in solidarity with Hamas. “It’s not up to them to, you know, link the war in Lebanon to the wars in Gaza and in the region – to link Lebanon to all the problems of the region and drag Lebanon into a war.”