Israel strikes Beirut as Trump's in-law seeks to lead Lebanon file

BEIRUT — Heavy Israeli airstrikes hit several areas across Lebanon overnight and on Thursday, as the death toll from Israel’s ongoing attacks on the country since October 2023 crossed 3,000.

A little after midnight on Thursday, Israeli warplanes launched a series of strikes on Ouzai, an area about 150 meters (492 feet) away from the main tarmac of the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport.

A video of a strike taken by an airport worker quickly spread on social media. Some local reports claimed the attack caused some minor damages to a hall inside the airport, saying windows blew up due to the blast. No casualties were reported.

Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamiyeh said in a post on X Thursday morning that the airport is operating “normally,” without adding more details.

The airport strikes coincided with a wave of air raids in the Haret Hreik area of Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh.

The Israeli army said in a statement that its fighter jets targeted Hezbollah command centers and military infrastructures located in civilian areas in Beirut overnight.

UNIFIL casualties 

Later on Thursday, at least three people were killed when an Israeli drone strike hit a car at the entrance of the southern city of Sidon. Five UN peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) were injured in the attack that struck near their vehicle, the UN mission said in a statement, while three Lebanese soldiers were also wounded, according to the army.

Another drone strike targeted a vehicle in the Jamhour area as it was traveling on a key road linking Beirut to the Bekaa Valley in the east and to neighboring Syria. Local media said a woman driving the car was killed, while two other people in the area were injured. Unconfirmed reports claimed the victim was the wife of the newly appointed secretary general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in separate statements it fired a salvo of rockets at several military sites in northern Israel on Thursday.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since Oct. 8, 2023. The hostilities escalated last month after Israel widened its campaign against the group and launched a ground invasion in southern Lebanon. At least 3,050 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the past year in Lebanon, and over 13,658 others have been injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

In Israel, 72 people have been killed in Hezbollah attacks, including 30 soldiers, according to the prime minister’s office.

Thursday’s strikes came one day after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, with many pinning hopes that the former president would work toward an end of the war in Lebanon.

Trump's in-law

Massad Boulos, a prominent Lebanese-American businessman and father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, said in an interview with the local Al-Jadeed television channel on Wednesday that the new president-elect is committed to ending the war in Lebanon and will “fulfill the promises” he made to the Lebanese people.

In a post on the Truth Social media platform last week, Trump vowed to “stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon,” adding, “I look forward to working with the Lebanese community living in the United States of America to ensure the safety and security of the great people of Lebanon.”

Boulos also revealed to Al-Jadeed that he will assume the task of negotiating with the Lebanese side in order to secure a cease-fire in Lebanon.  

In the past months, the Biden administration has been scrambling to reach an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to end the hostilities. US special envoy to the Middle East Amos Hochstein is engaged in shuttle diplomacy between the two parties, traveling back and forth to Beirut and Tel Aviv. His last visit to Beirut on Oct. 21 yielded no results, as Lebanese officials appeared to reject a proposal that reportedly gives Israel the right to enforce a cease-fire.

Informed sources told Al-Jadeed on Wednesday that Hochstein will return to Beirut “within a week to complete the initiative he presented to parliament speaker Nabih Berri, which aims to reach a diplomatic solution between Lebanon and Israel.”

The same sources said no meetings have been scheduled so far, but Hochstein will “certainly” visit Beirut.