Israel strikes Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs days after US-backed ceasefire deal
The strikes come days after a ceasefire agreement in Washington. Iran had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across the Mideast. Iran鈥檚 powerful parliament speaker hints at retaliation.
Lebanese intelligence officers look at an unexploded missile at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburb, Lebanon, June 7, 2026.
Hassan Ammar/AP
Mreijeh, Lebanon
Israel struck Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs without warning on Sunday, days after a ceasefire agreement in Washington went into effect and despite a U.S. request not to attack Lebanon鈥檚 capital. Lebanon鈥檚 health ministry said two people were killed and 20 wounded in the strike on a residential building.
Iran had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across the Mideast, even as Pakistan tries to restart talks between Tehran and Washington. Iran wants a deal to include ending the war in Lebanon.
Iran鈥檚 powerful parliament speaker hinted at retaliation. 鈥淭he [U.S.] naval blockade imposed against the Iranian people, together with Washington鈥檚 green light today to the Zionist regime, makes U.S. and Israeli bases and assets in the region legitimate targets,鈥� Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on X.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu鈥檚 office said the strike was in retaliation for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group firing at northern Israel earlier Sunday, and that Israel targeted 鈥渃ommand centers.鈥�
There was no immediate White House comment. A senior U.S. official said 鈥渨e were not surprised鈥� by the attack in Beirut. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, would not say if the U.S. had been given a heads-up on the strike.
Netanyahu wants to remove Hezbollah as a threat
鈥淲e are striking them very hard, and we know that Hezbollah is on the run,鈥� Mr. Netanyahu told his Cabinet. Israel鈥檚 military said 鈥渟teps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians鈥� including aerial surveillance.
Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility for firing at Israel earlier in the day.
Israel on Monday announced it would strike the southern suburbs after Hezbollah claimed attacks in northern Israel, but urgent talks via Washington halted the attacks on the condition that Hezbollah stop targeting Israeli border towns. Lebanon and Israel later renewed a ceasefire agreement in talks that Beirut hopes will end the fighting.
The first such agreement took effect on April 17, days after a 10-minute Israeli bombardment of Beirut killed over 300 people. Israel struck Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs twice following that deal. Israeli strikes over southern Lebanon continue daily, and Israeli forces have seized around a fifth of Lebanon in a ground invasion.
Mr. Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel鈥檚 offensive until he believes Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.
Trump wants attack on Hezbollah to be 鈥榤ore surgical鈥�
Hezbollah has scathingly rejected the U.S.-brokered deal and urged Lebanon to end its direct talks with Israel. Instead, it backs Iran鈥檚 inclusion of a ceasefire in Lebanon as a condition in negotiations with the U.S.
The fighting threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas and related products like fertilizer. Its closure has jolted the world economy and spiked warnings of hunger in vulnerable regions.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview taped Friday and aired Sunday with NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press,鈥� said that 鈥淚鈥檇 like to see Lebanon have a better life. I鈥檇 like to see a more surgical attack on Hezbollah. I think it should be more surgical.鈥�
Mr. Trump added that he is 鈥渘ot demanding鈥� that Lebanon be part of the short-term deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. began attacking Iran. More than 1 million people in Lebanon have been displaced. The fighting has killed at least 31 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
Lebanon鈥檚 army commander, Gen. Rodolphe Haikal, went to Pakistan on Saturday at the invitation of Pakistan鈥檚 army chief, who has been involved in mediating talks between the U.S. and Iran. The Lebanese army did not say whether the visit is related to those mediation efforts.
This story was reported by the Associated Press. Mr. Chehayeb reported from Beirut, Mr. Magdy from Cairo, and Ms. Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Michelle L. Price in Bridgewater, New Jersey, contributed to this report.