IDF conducts strike in Beirut targeting commander behind attack on children’s soccer field

The Israel Defense Forces announced that they carried out a strike in Beirut on Tuesday targeting the commander accused of orchestrating the recent attack on a children’s soccer field. 

In a post on X, the IDF said that its forces “carried out a targeted strike in Beirut, on the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams and the killing of numerous additional Israeli civilians.” 

“At the moment, there are no changes in the Home Front Command defensive guidelines. If any changes will be made, an update will be released. Details to follow,” the post said.

“Hezbollah crossed the red line,” Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant wrote on X.

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It comes in response to the deaths of 12 children and teens in a rocket attack on the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights over the weekend. 

Israel and the United States said Hezbollah was responsible, but the terror group denied being behind the attack. 

A source familiar with the matter told Fox News that Gallant will speak with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin later Tuesday. 

“This was about sending a clear message. We don’t want to see a wider war,” a senior Israeli official told Fox News. “Now this is in the hands of Hezbollah. Within 24 hours after the rocket attack in the Golan Heights, this response was being discussed among other options.”

The details of the strike were not immediately clear but came around the same time a loud blast was heard and a plume of smoke was seen rising above the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, J Post reported. 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the strike hit near Hezbollah’s Shura Council in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut, according to Reuters. 

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The strike hit an apartment building next to a hospital, collapsing half of the targeted building, the Associated Press reported. The hospital sustained minor damages, while the surrounding streets were littered with debris and broken glass. Paramedics could be seen carrying several injured people out of the damaged buildings. It was not immediately clear if anyone had been killed.

According to the Times of Israel, several reports name the targeted commander as Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, who is a senior adviser to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Lebanese state media also reported that the airstrike in the southern Beirut suburb was carried out with a drone that launched three rockets, the AP reported. 

The State Department was holding its daily press briefing around the time news of the IDF strike broke. 

“This clearly just happened, so I don’t have any comment to offer. I’m happy to check with the team if we’ve got anything more to offer at a later point,” Vedant Patel, State Department deputy spokesman, said. “Israel has every right to defend itself, certainly from,, the things that we just talked about from, malign Iran backs proxies like Hezbollah. And it certainly faces threats like no other country does, especially in that region of the world. We, of course, want to make sure that, through our diplomacy conditions can be created in which civilians can return home. But I just don’t have any other updates on this beyond that.

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The State Department said it currently has no plan in place or development in the works to evacuate Americans stranded in Lebanon as the likelihood increases of war between Israel and Hezbollah. 

The travel advisory remains at a Level 3, recommending Americans reconsider travel to Lebanon “due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, unexploded landmines, and armed conflict.” 

The last time Israel targeted Beirut was in January, when an airstrike killed a top Hamas official, Saleh Arouri. That strike was the first time Israel had hit Beirut since the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.

This is a developing story. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Check back for updates.