More strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, as Hezbollah targets Israel's defence ministry for first time

Southern areas of Beirut were hit for a third consecutive day on Thursday after Hezbollah claimed a massive attack on the Israeli defence ministry and clashes in southern Lebanon resulted in over a dozen casualties for invading Israeli forces.

The Israeli military issued threats for several neighbourhoods in the once densely-populated southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, shortly before conducting strikes. There have been no reported casualties.

One strike targeted an area close to the airport. A video shared online showed the moment a plane was preparing to take off when a building was was hit.

Most people have left the area, known as Dahiyeh, but some residents have chosen to stay put, particularly in Ghobeiry and Chiyah, two municipalities at the southern border of Beirut, which have seen an increase in attacks in recent days, resulting in large-scale destruction of residential buildings and civilian structures.

Other municipalities such as Haret Hreik, Burj al-Barajneh, Laylaki and Mreijeh, and Hadath have also been battered by a weeks-long Israeli bombardment, while airstrikes in eastern Lebanon's city of Baalbek and across southern Lebanon killed more people on Thursday.

Israel and Hezbollah's cross-border hostilities, which began in October 2023, spiralled into a full-blown war in September.

While Dahiyeh has witnessed relative calm in recent weeks, there has been a sharp escalation in Israeli violence again this week amid reports of US negotiators and Israel inching closer to finalising a ceasefire draft deal for Lebanon.

An impossible Israeli demand

Lebanese analysts remain sceptical about the prospects for peace, saying it would be impossible for Beirut to accept Israeli demands as they would seriously encroach on Lebanon's national sovereignty.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot criticised on Wednesday Israel's insistence on having the right to attack Lebanon whenever it deems necessary. Israel has said it wants to maintain its freedom to raid Lebanon at will if the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers do not stop Hezbollah from rearming.

"Today we hear in Israel voices calling for it to keep a capacity to strike at any moment or even enter Lebanon, as is the case with its neighbour Syria," said Barrot, who held talks with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and new Defence Minister Israel Katz last week.

"That is not compatible with the sovereignty of a strong country," Barrot said, referring to broader efforts to help strengthen Lebanon's governance.

Several diplomats said it would be impossible to get Hezbollah or Lebanon to agree to this demand.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the remarks, but DM Katz said earlier that his government would not accept any arrangement that does now meet Israel's war aims "above all, Israel's right to enforce and act on its own against any terrorist activity".

Lebanese officials have reiterated they were ready to enforce UN Resolution 1701 without any amendments.

Hezbollah strikes Israel's defence ministry

Both Israel and Hezbollah have refused to back down. The Iran-backed Shia militant group, which started what it calls a "support front" for Gaza last year and had long refused to lay down its arms before a ceasefire with the Palestinians was reached, has hit back against Israeli claims that it is weakened and incapable of fighting.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah targeted the Israeli defence ministry using a squadron of drones and ballistic missiles, in the first  attack of its kind by the group with advanced precision-guided drones directed at the HaKirya base in the heart of Tel Aviv and "hitting its targets accurately", according to the Lebanese group.

The base in HaKirya, or The Kirya, houses the defence ministry’s headquarters, the general staff, the war command centre, and the air force's control and surveillance authority. The extent of damage or casualty numbers was unclear.

Hezbollah has vowed to strike deeper into Israeli territory, as the Israeli military intensifies its attacks on Lebanon, this week massacring dozens of civilians often taking shelter in residential buildings.

Israel has focused its air raids in regions considered Hezbollah bastions - south of Beirut, southern Lebanon, and the eastern Baalbek-Hermel districts – but other villages have also been hit in recent days.

Hezbollah holds ground

Quoting a US intelligence official, Israeli newspaper Maariv said Hezbollah's capabilities have been "greatly damaged", but its ground forces on the border with Israel "remain largely intact".

At least nine Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday when Hezbollah detonated a building in which they were hiding in southern Lebanon, at the frontline of the war, injuring several more.

Separately, Israel confirmed the death of six of its soldiers in battle in southern Lebanon, where its ground invasion has been expanded.

Israeli forces began their invasion at the start of last month, claiming they intended to dismantle Hezbollah's infrastructure along the border and push fighters back many kilometres away from the frontier.

Israel Hayom on Wednesday said Israel wants a buffer zone in the border region, while dozens of Lebanese villages there have been wiped out.

(Reuters contributed to this report)