TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israel military launched a strike on suburban Beirut Friday, saying it was targeting a drone storage facility used by Hezbollah, after early morning rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel.
The Israeli military said it warned residents to evacuate prior to the strike.
Plumes of smoke rose from Beirut's southern suburbs. Between the evacuation order and the strike, Umm Abbas, 60, told NPR by phone from Hadat, the area where Israel's military told people to evacuate: "There's panic. There are two schools nearby filled with kids. People are screaming left and right, people are crying."
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, had denied the rocket fire toward Israel early Friday, as well as a previous rocket attack last week, saying it was committed to a ceasefire reached with Israel in November 2024. No other group has claimed responsibility for either rocket attack.
But following each rocket attack, Israel has struck sites in Lebanon it said belonged to Hezbollah. Lebanese officials have reported a number of casualties from those attacks.
The fighting comes as Israel has renewed its military offensive in the Gaza Strip that started after the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Alex Leff reported from Tel Aviv, Lauren Frayer and Jawad Rizkallah from Damascus. Yanal Jabarin contributed reporting from Jerusalem.
Copyright 2025 NPR
