The attack on the southern outskirts of the Hezbollah-dominated Lebanese capital followed rocket fire into northern Israel.
The Israeli military carried out airstrikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut on Friday for the first time since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect in November, shattering months of tense calm in the Lebanese capital and raising fears of further escalation.
The bombing came after rockets were fired from Lebanese territory into northern Israel earlier in the day, triggering air raid sirens in three communities near the border. The Israeli military subsequently ordered residents of the densely populated Hadath neighborhood in Dahiya, a district on the southern outskirts of Beirut, to evacuate the area around the building.
Less than two hours later, the airstrikes began.
The Israeli military said it had struck a facility storing Hezbollah drones, but stopped short of directly blaming the Lebanese militant group for the rocket attack earlier in the day. Hezbollah denied any involvement in the attack on Israel and said it remained committed to the cease-fire.
But it was the second such skirmish in less than a week, raising fears that a truce between Israel and Hezbollah could break down. At least three people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Lebanese military said it was investigating who fired the rockets. Experts say Hezbollah, struggling to recover from a devastating 14-month conflict with Israel, is unwilling to risk a resurgence of conflict.
But Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas also maintain a significant presence in Lebanon, operating largely from refugee camps that have existed for decades. During the Gaza war, these groups periodically launched rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel.
