By Sertac Aktan with AP, AFP
Iran's Supreme National Security Council warned on Sunday that a response was "imminent" following Israeli strikes on Lebanon. "The response of the fighters of Islam is imminent," it said in a statement. "Lebanon is our life and violation of the red lines of the Islamic Republic will not be tolerated." Iran's state broadcaster subsequently reported that flights at airports in the west of the country had been cancelled until further notice.
The Israeli military had carried out fresh strikes on Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, hitting the Ghobeiry neighbourhood, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising over the Lebanese capital following the attacks. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the strikes as "precise," saying they targeted a Hezbollah command centre used to coordinate what it called "terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers" operating in southern Lebanon.
"All targets belonged to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, in response to Hezbollah's firing toward Israeli territory," the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday. The IDF separately said in a social media post that steps had been taken prior to the strikes to "mitigate harm to civilians."
