The Israeli military on Tuesday confirmed that it had killed Hassan Ali Badir, a Hezbollah and Iranian Quds Forces member, in a nighttime raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Israeli army accused Badir of participating in planning efforts with Hamas terrorists through a press release. The operation came a few days after an Israeli operation in the same neighborhood, which was well known as the Hezbollah base region, Dahiyeh. There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah to the operation.

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Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun openly denounced the strike as a “dangerous warning” reaffirming Israel’s “premeditated intentions” against Lebanon. He urged greater diplomatic efforts in rallying the international community’s support to Lebanon’s sovereignty. The Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also demonstrated against the attack, calling it against UN Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement. He assured Lebanese officials were closely tracking developments in close association with the defense and interior ministers.

Witnesses described the precision strike as having blown up the top three floors of a building, with lower floors remaining intact. Ambulances swarmed to the scene to remove casualties, and families fled the area in fear of additional attacks. Strikingly, there had been no evacuation warning prior.

The strike comes as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are escalating, with each side accusing the other of violating the US-brokered ceasefire. Though Israel delayed its pledged withdrawal of its troops, it insists it intercepted rockets fired by Lebanon in March, prompting retaliatory shelling. Hezbollah denied firing rockets.

The intensifying conflict, dating back to the war of Gaza in 2023, has imposed a persisting scale of violence in the region with increased anxieties of its extension to higher levels. US State Department supported Israel’s actions, blaming “terrorists” for fresh clashes.