October 1, 2026
BEIRUT (AP) — Israel’s air force carried out an airstrike on a southern suburb of the capital, Beirut, Thursday afternoon, the Israeli military said, further straining a fragile ceasefire a day ahead of crucial negotiations in Washington.
The strike hit an apartment building, but it was not immediately clear who might have been targeted. Videos from the suburb of Choueifat, close to Beirut's international airport, showed white smoke billowing from a residential neighborhood.
Tensions have been escalating in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops battling Hezbollah terrorists have crossed the Litani River over the past few days and issued a warning for residents to leave much of the area.
Israel, in recent days, has widened its attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, some of the deadliest days since a Washington-brokered ceasefire agreement went into effect on April 17.
This was the first attack close to the Lebanese capital since May 6, when an Israeli strike killed a military official with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Forces in another southern Beirut suburb.
Overnight, the Israeli military pounded the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon's fourth-largest city, in its ongoing military escalation against the Hezbollah terror group ahead of the Washington talks.
The Lebanese Health Ministry and the state-run National News Agency claim five women and children, and a Lebanese soldier were among those killed, and dozens of others were wounded.
An Israeli soldier, meanwhile, was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel, the Israeli military said.
The intensification comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion in the Israeli military's attacks, apparently sparked by Hezbollah's use of fiber-optic exploding drones that have struck Israeli troops in Lebanon and reached some of Israel's northern border towns. The Israeli military said it has launched hundreds of attacks targeting Hezbollah military assets.
Lebanese and Israeli military officials are set to hold their first security talks on Friday in the U.S. capital. The talks have extended a nominal ceasefire that went into effect on April 17, although the attacks have since intensified, while largely sparing Beirut.
Hezbollah has dismissed the talks and instead endorsed its key ally Iran, which has made ending the war in Lebanon a condition for its own talks with Washington, brokered by Pakistan.
Before the attacks on Thursday, Israeli military Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued warnings to residents of eight buildings in Tyre, along the Mediterranean, and in surrounding neighborhoods. Many people have fled the area.
The Israeli military said Thursday that a soldier in northern Israel was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack and two reservists were wounded.
Hezbollah has claimed dozens of drone and rocket attacks that it says targeted Israeli troops in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The terror group said Thursday it has launched several attacks on Israeli troops and tanks that have crossed the Litani River into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh near Nabatiyeh, as close-range fighting continues.
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