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Israeli Airstrikes Target Beirut’s Southern Suburbs, 7 Killed in Tyre

Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Israeli Airstrikes Target Beirut’s Southern Suburbs, 7 Killed in Tyre

Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, on Friday shortly after Israel’s military warned residents to leave parts of the area.

The official National News Agency reported an air raid near the Lebanese University and another on the Burj al-Barajneh suburb.

The official news outlet later said the aerial attack had also hit the Al Jamous neighborhood, which it said was not included in the Israeli army’s warning.

Echoes of the attack rang out over Beirut, while thick black smoke blanketed the region, state media reported.

The airstrikes came hours after at least seven people were killed and 46 others were injured in several Israeli raids on Lebanon's southern port city of Tyre, the Health Ministry said Saturday.

The Israeli army did not issue an evacuation warning before the strikes. They hit several locations in Tyre and caused extensive damage, according to Lebanon’s state media.

Following the attacks, the Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah “intelligence and command and control complexes” that operated in Tyre.

Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, even as the Gaza war continues.

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Israeli Military Says Commandos Raided Missile Plant in Syria in September

People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Says Commandos Raided Missile Plant in Syria in September

People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
People inspect a damaged area in the aftermath of what Syrian state media reported was an Israeli strike in Masyaf, Hama province, Syria September 9, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel's military said on Thursday its special forces had raided an underground missile production site in Syria in September that it said was primed to produce hundreds of precision missiles for use against Israel by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The complex near Masyaf, close to the Mediterranean coast, was "the flagship of Iranian manufacturing efforts in our region", Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told a briefing with reporters.

"This facility was designed to manufacture hundreds of strategic missiles per year from start to finish, for Hezbollah to use in their aerial attacks on Israel."

He said the plant, dug into a mountainside, had been under observation by Israel since construction began in 2017 and was on the point of being able to manufacture precision-guided missiles, some with a range of up to 300 km (190 miles).

"This ability was becoming active, so we're talking about an immediate threat," he said.

Details of the Sept. 8 raid have been reported in Israeli media but Shoshani said this was the first confirmation by the military, which rarely comments on special forces operations.

At the time, Syrian state media said at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the west of the country.

Shoshani said the nighttime raid was "one of the more complex operations the IDF has done in recent years". Accompanied by airstrikes, it involved dozens of aircraft and around 100 helicopter-borne troops, he said.

"At the end of the raid, the troops dismantled the facility, including the machines and the manufacturing equipment, themselves," he said.

The military released footage showing Israeli troops boarding and dismounting from helicopters and moving through what appears to be a concrete-lined tunnel and industrial site, where they examine documents.

Other footage showed senior commanders at a control center, apparently as the operation proceeds.

Israeli officials have accused the former Syrian government of president Bahar al-Assad of helping the Lebanese-based Hezbollah movement receive arms from Iran and say they are determined to stop the flow of weapons into Lebanon.

As Assad's government crumbled towards the end of last year, Israel launched a series of strikes against Syrian military infrastructure and weapons manufacturing sites to prevent them falling into the hands of enemies.