Israel says Hezbollah agent targeted in Beirut suburb strike

Omar Tamo and Alisa Odenheimer, Bloomberg News on Apr 1, 2025

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Israel conducted an airstrike on a Beirut suburb that targeted a Hezbollah operative, days after the military’s first assault on the Lebanese capital since a ceasefire started in November.

The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday the strike was aimed at Hassan Ali Mahmoud Bdeir, a member of Hezbollah, who it said had worked with “Hamas operatives and assisted them in planning a significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians.”

Both Hezbollah and Hamas are Iran-backed militant groups who have been in various stages of conflict with Israel over the past 18 months.

Four people were killed, local media reported, citing the Lebanese health ministry. There is no indication Israel gave a warning to civilians in Beirut ahead of the strike.

“The terrorist posed a real and immediate threat, what we call a ticking bomb,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a press briefing.

In late March, Israeli forces hit a Hezbollah drone-storage facility in the suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, shortly after it sent a warning to civilians to leave the area. That strike was the first in the region since the ceasefire was reached with Lebanon-based Hezbollah more than four months ago.

The Beirut-area strikes come as Israel’s multi-front conflict with Iran-backed militias intensifies after a period of relative calm earlier in the year. Israel is again conducting ground and air attacks on Hamas in Gaza, after a ceasefire there collapsed last month. The country is regularly hitting targets in Syria and being attacked by the Yemen-based Houthis.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are all designated terrorist organizations by the U.S. and many other countries.

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With assistance from Aradhana Aravindan.