Israel says targeted Hezbollah chief of staff in Haret Hreik strike

Israel said it had carried out an air strike Sunday targeting Hezbollah's chief of staff in Beirut's southern suburbs, leaving a smoking hole in the side of an apartment building and debris scattered in the street.

Lebanon's health ministry reported at least one person killed in the strike, and 21 people wounded, calling it a "preliminary toll". Lebanese medical sources told Al-Jazeera that five people were killed and 20 others wounded in the strike.

The strike took place in Beirut's southern suburbs, a densely populated area where Hezbollah holds sway, and caused "injuries and significant damage", according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had given the orders for the attack -- the latest against a target in Lebanon despite a year-long ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

"A short while ago, in the heart of Beirut, the IDF (Israeli military) attacked the Hezbollah chief of staff, who had been leading the terrorist organization's buildup and rearmament," the premier's office said in a statement.

"Israel is determined to act to achieve its objectives everywhere and at all times," it added.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said the strike hit the third and fourth floors of a nine-story building, with ambulances gathered around it and rescuers inspecting the apartments.

NNA reported three missiles were fired at the building in the Haret Hreik area, damaging vehicles and other nearby structures.

Israel has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon since the November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is striking members of the group in the country's south and east.

Sunday's strike, however, was the first on Beirut's southern suburbs since June 5, when Israel said it hit a Hezbollah drone factory.

It follows an earlier strike on the southern town of Aita al-Shaab, which the Lebanese health ministry said killed one person.

Hezbollah was weakened by its fight with Israel, which it started in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza in October 2023 with cross-border exchanges of fire that later escalated into two months of full-blown war.

Since then, Lebanon has come under increasing Israeli and American pressure to disarm Hezbollah, a move that group has rejected.

Netanyahu had insisted earlier on Sunday that Israel would do "everything necessary" to stop Hezbollah from regrouping in Lebanon.