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Dahiyeh strike and casualties
An Israeli air strike hit Dahieh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after Israel said Hezbollah fired towards northern Israel, adding pressure to attempts for a US-Iran deal to end the war.
“At least three people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanese authorities say, in the latest military escalation that observers warn could derail delicate peace negotiations between the United States and Iran”
Lebanon’s state media said at least three people were killed and 15 others injured in the strike, while Al Jazeera reported that Lebanon’s civil defence agency said at least seven others were wounded in the Dahiyeh area.
Israeli officials said the attack targeted what they described as a command centre used by Hezbollah after the group launched "aerial targets toward Israel," and the Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched three projectiles towards northern Israel.
The BBC said the attack came after the US said a deal with Iran would be signed on Sunday, and it quoted President Trump warning the strike "should not have happened particularly on a special day when we are so close to a Peace Deal with Iran".
Condemnations and competing narratives
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the strikes, writing on social media that "The strikes took place despite the ceasefire & at a time when the US & Iran are expected to reach an agreement".
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Israeli attacks showed the US "either lacks the will to fulfil its commitments or the ability to do so," while Brig Gen Mohammad Jafar Assadi warned the attacks "will not go unanswered".
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the military struck “Hezbollah targets” in Dahiyeh in response to firings by the Lebanese group towards Israeli territory, and NBC News said the IDF attacked Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh after Hezbollah fired into Israeli territory.
The New Arab reported that Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged more attacks on Dahiyeh, calling for action "with determination and force and bring down additional buildings in Dahiyeh today."
What is at stake next
The strike raised concerns that the escalation could derail delicate peace negotiations between the United States and Iran, with Al Jazeera saying experts linked the latest escalation to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran.
Israel issued forced displacement orders for 29 locations in southern Lebanon—25 in Nabatieh district and four in Sidon district—with people told to immediately flee north of the Zahrani River, according to Al Jazeera.
NBC News said Iran has long made the cessation of fighting in Lebanon a condition for any wider agreement with the United States, while the BBC said Iran insisted that any truce should also include the end of the war in Lebanon.
As Israel braced for possible retaliation, Haaretz reported that the IDF said on Sunday it was on "high alert" for possible missile fire after Iran vowed to retaliate against an Israeli strike in Beirut.
