IAF targets Hezbollah in Beirut suburbs in four waves of strikes over 24-hours

Israel Air Force fighter jets, guided by Military Intelligence, conducted four intensified waves of airstrikes on Friday in the Dahiyeh district of Beirut, a known Hezbollah stronghold, the IDF reported Friday evening.

Initially, on Friday morning, witnesses reported Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburb area of Beirut, with the IDF later confirming the reports, stating that IAF jets had launched two waves of strikes in the Dahiyeh district in Beirut.

According to Reuters witnesses, the Israeli strike hit a building near a central park on the edge of Beirut's suburbs.

The IDF reported the fourth wave of airstrikes nearly an hour before midnight on Friday.

The IDF emphasized that the strikes were part of a broader effort to dismantle the terrorist organization Hezbollah, targeting terrorist infrastructure embedded within civilian areas. Among the targets, the IAF attacked weapon depots, a command center, and other Hezbollah terror infrastructure.

Additionally, on Thursday night, IAF fighter jets, guided by the Intelligence Directorate, struck a Syrian regime transit routes along the Syria-Lebanon border that were being used to transfer weapons to the Lebanon-based terror organization Hezbollah.

Since Thursday evening, additional airstrikes directed by the IDF Northern Command targeted and destroyed a significant rocket cache and 15 launch platforms in southern Lebanon, the IDF further reported. These platforms were poised for imminent attacks on Israeli territory; among the destroyed launchers was the specific one used to fire rockets at the Tel Aviv area earlier this week.

Warning civilians in advance

The report of the first building being hit on Friday morning came approximately one hour after residents of Lebanon's southern suburbs were called to evacuate their homes by IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee in an X/Twitter post. 

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية: برج البراجنةالغبيري⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى الزمني القريب… pic.twitter.com/5MqqIm5CCc

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 15, 2024

Specifically, Adraee noted that residents in the areas of Burj El-Barajneh and Ghobeiry should leave their homes and stay at a distance of 500 meters before planned Israel strikes.

"You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF will be targeting in the near future," Adraee wrote. The post showed an illustration of a map with the mentioned locations marked in red.

Before the second wave of airstrikes, Adraee posted an additional message to X in the afternoon that again warned residents in suburban areas to leave. This time, he called for those in the areas of Haret Hreik and Hadath to evacuate.

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المبنى المحدد في الخريطة المرفقة والمباني المجاورة له في منطقة الغبيري⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع بقوة على المدى الزمني القريب ⭕️من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة… pic.twitter.com/FhAok4x9pT

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 15, 2024

In a final post, shortly before the third wave, Adraee warned the residents in the southern suburban area of the Ghobayri region to leave. The post emphasized that civilians in the area were "located near Hezbollah facilities," which will be targeted by the IDF "in the near future."