Israel strikes Beirut's Dahieh district for the first time since US-brokered truce, killing two

The strike

Israel launched air strikes on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh on Sunday, targeting what it described as a Hezbollah command centre. Lebanon's state news agency reported that two people were killed and at least 17 others injured when two apartment buildings were hit. Social media videos showed crowds rushing to the scene to assist the wounded, with the lower floors of one residential building torn open and concrete and twisted metal scattered across the street.

Israel struck terrorist headquarters in the Dahieh district of Beirut, in response to Hezbollah's firing at Israeli territory.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted two projectiles crossing into Israeli territory from Lebanon earlier on Sunday. Hezbollah has not commented on the launches or the Israeli retaliation. An Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman posted on X that "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure" was being targeted and suggested further strikes were coming, writing "To be continued."

A fragile truce unravels

The attack is the first on Beirut since a ceasefire was renewed on Thursday under US mediation. A previous truce, in force since 17 April, had been violated repeatedly by both sides. Under the terms of the latest agreement, Israel was to refrain from new attacks if Hezbollah also held its fire. The deal also stipulates the end of Hezbollah's armed presence in southern Lebanon through the creation of pilot zones.

Despite the ceasefire, hostilities have persisted in southern Lebanon. On Saturday, the Israeli Air Force announced it had struck more than 150 sites it attributed to Hezbollah. Israeli ground forces currently control roughly 20% of Lebanese territory, where violent clashes with Hezbollah militants continue.

American pressure and Iranian threats

Israel had limited its attacks on Beirut under US pressure, as Washington pursues a wider peace deal with Iran. Tehran insists on a complete ceasefire in Lebanon as a condition for any agreement. A week before the 3 June truce, Israel had threatened a broad offensive on Dahieh, prompting mass flight from the suburb and a frantic round of American diplomacy. President Trump later announced on Truth Social that there would be "no troops going to Beirut" after a call with Netanyahu.

I am not demanding that Lebanon be part of any peace deal with Iran.

Trump made the remark in an NBC interview on Sunday, separating the two diplomatic tracks even as the Dahieh attack threatened to destabilise both. Israel notified the Trump administration before the strike, according to a US official and two other sources cited by Axios. The Israelis argued that Hezbollah's continued attacks on northern Israel violate the ceasefire, giving Israel the right to hit Beirut, and made clear they will continue striking the capital each time Hezbollah launches attacks.

Risk of wider war

A senior Iranian lawmaker publicly threatened retaliation. Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, wrote on X that Iran "will give a decisive and painful response to the Zionist regime's attack on Dahieh" and told followers to "watch the skies" over Israel tonight. Last week, Iran had warned it would launch a missile attack against Israel if Beirut were struck.

Lebanon was drawn into the war on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran's supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south. The fighting threatens efforts to end the war with Iran definitively and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil, gas, and fertiliser shipments. Its closure has shaken the global economy and raised famine alerts in vulnerable regions, while higher energy prices have created political problems for the Trump administration ahead of November's midterm elections.

The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.