Israel Strikes Beirut Before Pope's Arrival

Israel on Sunday struck Beirut for the first time since June, saying it targeted Hezbollah's chief of staff and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war. Hezbollah said the strike on Lebanon's capital, launched almost exactly a year after a ceasefire ended that Israel-Hezbollah war, threatened an escalation of attacks—days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his first foreign trip. "We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, per the AP.

• Israel's announcement: Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian did not say whether Israel informed the US before the strike, saying only that "Israel makes decisions independently." The strike in the city's southern suburbs killed at least one person and wounded 21 others, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. Israel did not issue an evacuation warning before the strike and did not name the person targeted. Bedrosian said the Hezbollah chief of staff "led the strengthening and arming of the terrorist organization."
• ?Hezbollah's response: Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah's political council, told journalists that a high-ranking militant may have been killed but did not give details. "The strike on the southern suburbs today opens the door to an escalation of assaults all over Lebanon," Qamati said at the site of the attack. "This is definitely a civilian area and void of any military presence, especially the neighborhood where we stand," Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Ammar told reporters near the site.

• The backdrop: Israeli airstrikes over southern Lebanon have intensified in recent weeks while Israel and the US have pressured Lebanon to disarm the powerful group. Israel asserts that Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government, which has approved its military's plan that would disarm Hezbollah, has denied those claims.
• Lebanon's response: President Joseph Aoun in a statement condemned Sunday's strike and accused Israel of refusing to implement its end of the ceasefire agreement. He called on the international community to "intervene with strength and seriousness to stop the attacks on Lebanon and its people."
• Leo's trip: While in Beirut, the pope plans to pray at the site of the 2020 port blast that killed over 200 people and compounded Lebanon's economic and political crisis, per the AP. He'll also visit Turkey on his trip.