Israel carried out a targeted airstrike on a Hezbollah command facility in Beirut’s Dahieh district on Sunday after the terror group launched aerial threats toward Israeli territory earlier in the day.

The IDF said the site was being used by Hezbollah operatives to coordinate and advance attacks against Israeli civilians and Israeli troops operating in southern Lebanon. According to the military, the strike killed the head of Hezbollah’s communications division.

Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisroel Katz said in a joint statement that “In response to continued Hezbollah attacks on Israel’s territory, including a terror drone strike this morning, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz authorized an IDF surgical strike on a Hezbollah terrorist target in the Dahieh quarter of Beirut. Israel will not tolerate firing at its territory.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, through its Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, condemned the strike and warned that “the crimes of the Zionist entity in Dahiyeh will not go unanswered.”

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who is leading Tehran’s negotiations with the United States, also criticized the attack. “The Zionists’ incursion into Dahieh has once again shown that America either lacks the will to fulfill its commitments or the ability to do so. By giving the green light to the regime, you cannot gain concessions. The game of bad cop and good cop is outdated.”

He further warned, “If you lack the will and ability to fulfill your commitments, speaking of continuing the path is not possible.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry pushed back against Ghalibaf’s remarks, accusing Iran of distorting the events. “The Iranian regime, as always, is lying. Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, is the one that attacked Israel again this morning, completely unprovoked.”

The ministry continued, “Hezbollah constantly fires at Israeli civilians. Even after the ceasefire, Hezbollah has not stopped targeting Israelis. It was Hezbollah that launched an unprovoked attack on Israel in March, acting under the orders of its Iranian masters. Israel will not tolerate firing at its territory.”

The exchange comes just hours before a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran that, according to President Trump, is expected to address the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, end ongoing hostilities, and launch talks regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

The Israeli strike followed the penetration of three drones launched from Lebanon into Israeli airspace during the morning. Two of the UAVs detonated near Shlomi in the western Galilee, while a third later exploded inside a military zone in Israel.

The IDF said the drones landed in military areas near the border and not inside civilian communities. No injuries were reported, and the military said it is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incidents.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for a forceful response, saying the attack represented a challenge to Israel’s deterrence policy regarding Beirut’s Dahieh neighborhood.

“The fire toward northern communities is a test of the Dahieh equation that the Prime Minister announced,” Smotrich said. “I call on him to implement it with determination and force and bring down more buildings in Dahieh today. We are in critical days that will shape the region for many years. We promised security to the residents of the north, and we must deliver.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir likewise demanded a stronger reaction and said he would raise the issue in discussions with Netanyahu.

“For every drone, a missile. For every violation, fire. For every UAV, Dahieh should shake. For every hair on the head of an IDF soldier, a thousand Hezbollah terrorists. Terror is not contained – it is defeated,” Ben Gvir said.

The latest escalation follows a Hezbollah attack last week that prompted an Israeli strike in Beirut. That exchange was followed by an Iranian missile barrage of roughly 23 missiles fired at Israel and two separate waves of Israeli Air Force strikes targeting sites in Iran.

After last week’s confrontation, Katz reiterated Israel’s policy regarding attacks from Lebanon, declaring that “every attack on northern communities will lead to a strike in Dahieh,” the Beirut stronghold widely viewed as Hezbollah’s central base of operations.

{Matzav.com}