BEIRUT: Israel said it had carried out an air strike Sunday targeting Hezbollah’s chief of staff in Beirut, leaving a smoking hole in the side of an apartment building and debris scattered in the street, according to AFP journalists.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported at least one person killed in the strike, and 21 people wounded, calling it a “preliminary toll.”
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.
