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Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late Sunday after Israel said it was preparing attacks on locations linked to the militant group Hezbollah’s financial operations and ordered people to leave those areas of the Lebanese capital immediately.
Shortly after the Israeli warning, several explosions were heard and a large fire was seen in the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was no immediate information on the cause of the explosions, or details on whether there were any casualties.
Panicked crowds clogged the streets and caused traffic jams in some parts of Beirut as they tried to reach neighborhoods considered safer, witnesses said.
“Residents of Lebanon, the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] will start attacking the infrastructure of the Hezbollah Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association – stop immediately,” the Israeli army spokesperson said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Al-Qard Al-Hassan – which the US says is used by Iran-backed Hezbollah to manage its finances – has more than 30 branches across Lebanon, including 15 in densely populated parts of central Beirut and its suburbs.
There was no immediate statement from the organization, Hezbollah or the Lebanese government.
When asked by journalists whether the departments could be considered military targets, a senior Israeli intelligence official said: “The purpose of this attack is to attack the ability of Hezbollah’s economic function, both during the war, but also afterwards to to rebuild and rearm… the next day.”
Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted a year ago when the group began launching rockets in support of Hamas after the Palestinian militant group led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
According to Israeli figures, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages during these attacks. Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 42,500 people and left most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people homeless, Palestinian officials say.
In early October, Israel launched a ground attack in Lebanon in an attempt to stabilize the border area for its citizens who had fled rocket attacks in northern Israel.
Escalating attacks in Lebanon and Gaza
Israel has intensified its military campaigns both in Gaza and Lebanon, days after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar raised hopes of an opening for ceasefire negotiations to end more than a year of conflict.
With the US elections approaching, officials, diplomats and other sources in the region say Israel is trying to protect its borders and prevent its enemies from regrouping through military operations.
Israel is also preparing to retaliate for an Iranian missile barrage earlier this month, although Washington has pressed it not to hit Iranian energy facilities or nuclear sites.
After warning people in 24 areas of Lebanon to flee, Israeli forces launched new airstrikes on Hezbollah-linked financial sites on Sunday, a day after airstrikes in Gaza killed dozens of people.
Earlier on Sunday, Israel said it had hit Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut. Fighter jets have killed three Hezbollah commanders, the Israeli army said.
Hezbollah made no immediate comment on these attacks, but said it had fired rockets at Israeli forces in Lebanon and at a base in northern Israel.
A 41-year-old Israeli colonel was killed and another officer was injured Sunday during fighting in northern Gaza, the Israeli army said. Israel’s Channel 12 and public broadcaster Kan reported that an explosive device had exploded under a tank.
In Gaza, Palestinian officials said rescuers were still recovering people from the rubble after an Israeli attack on the northern city of Beit Lahiya that left 87 people dead or missing on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry – one of the highest death tolls in months since a single attack.
The attack came two weeks after a major assault around Jabalia, just south of Beit Lahiya, where Israel says its forces have been trying to wipe out remaining Hamas fighters.
Israel said the attack hit a Hamas target and questioned the previous death toll of 73 released by the Hamas media office.
According to Israeli figures, Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages during the attack on Israel on October 7 last year that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel’s military response in Gaza has killed more than 42,500 people and left most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people homeless, Palestinian officials say.
Over the past year, Lebanese officials estimate that more than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1.2 million have fled. Fifty-nine people were killed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights in the same period, Israeli authorities say.
CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton speaks with Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, on Israel’s possible responses to Iran’s ballistic missile attack and the threat of a broader regional war.
