Israeli strikes on Beirut after evacuation warning

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Two Israeli air strikes targeted south Beirut on Sunday after the Israeli army warned civilians to evacuate the stronghold of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, state media said.

The reported strikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement of trying to assassinate him by attacking his residence.

“Enemy (Israeli) airplanes carried out two strikes this morning on Beirut’s southern suburbs, one of them hitting a residential building in Haret Hreik” near a mosque and a hospital, the National News Agency reported.

The Israeli military had earlier issued an “urgent warning” for civilians living near buildings it said were affiliated with Hezbollah in the neighborhood to immediately evacuate.

“You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF (Israeli army) will work against in the near future,” the military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Telegram.

Netanyahu’s office on Saturday said a drone was launched towards his residence in the central town of Caesarea but he and his wife were not home and there were no injuries.

“The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate mwe and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price,” he said in comments directed at Tehran and “its proxies,” which include Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a group Israel has been at war with since late September.

Iran said Hezbollah, which it arms and finances, was behind the attack on Netanyahu’s residence.

“This action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in response to a question about its role in the attack, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

Hezbollah has not claimed the attack.

Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran, its regional arch-foe, for a 1 October missile barrage. Iran has warned it will hit back.