Israel Launches First Airstrikes on Beirut Since Renewed Ceasefire

Israel airstrikes hit Beirut's suburbs on Sunday, the first such attack on the Lebanese capital since a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was renewed last week. In a post on X, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the attack in the Dahieh district of Beirut, saying it was in retaliation for an earlier Hezbollah strike on Israel. Hezbollah, an Islamic resistance group separate from the official Lebanese Armed Forces, confirmed it attacked a group of Israeli state fighters with drones overnight, according to the National News Agency of Lebanon. Middle East Institute senior fellow Brian Katulis noted that multiple ceasefires had been breached since November 2024. The latest ceasefire went into effect on April 17 and was renewed on Thursday. "These ceasefires between Israel and Hezbollah essentially have been quite tenuous, and they've been broken almost on a daily basis over the last few weeks," he said. "Today's strikes seem like the latest tit for tat escalation," Katulis said. He added that the attacks on Beirut's suburbs did less damage than previous Israeli attacks throughout Lebanon. Netanyahu was quoted in another post on X as saying that Israel's military is "completing the elimination of the terrorist villages adjacent to our border." "We are striking them very hard, and we know that Hezbollah is on the run. We will not allow firing at our territory or our communities, and we will act accordingly," he said. In a June 3 interview on The New York Post's "Pod Force One" podcast, President Trump confirmed a fiery telephone call on June 1 with the Israeli prime minister, in which Trump asked Netanyahu if he was, "f****ing crazy" for continuing the conflict in Lebanon. Trump said he'd been "perturbed" by Israel's persistent attacks in Lebanon. "If there wasn't me, there would be no Israel," he said. The call, Katulis said, showed that Trump – who has repeatedly expressed support for Israel's moves in Gaza and Iran – has strong opinions about Israel's force in Lebanon. "Trump really dug himself in a hole here. And on some level, he understands it," Katulis, a U.S. foreign policy expert, said.