People inspect a damaged building, after Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a militant from the Lebanese Iran-aligned Hezbollah group, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon November 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel carried out an airstrike on a southern Beirut suburb on Sunday targeting a senior official of militant group Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire between the two sides brokered by the United States a year ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike, the first on Beirut in months, targeted the Iran-aligned Lebanese group's chief of staff. An Israeli source briefed on the strike and a Lebanese source said Hezbollah's Ali Tabtabai was the target.

The United States imposed sanctions on Tabtabai in 2016, identifying him as a key Hezbollah leader and offering a reward of up to $5 million for information on him.

At least four people were killed in the strike that also injured two dozen, who were taken to nearby hospitals, medical sources said. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

It was not immediately clear if Tabtabai was killed.

STRIKE HITS MAIN ROAD IN HARET HREIK SUBURB

Following the strike, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the international community to intervene to halt Israeli attacks and prevent a further deterioration of the security situation.

Israel has carried out near-daily strikes on Lebanon since the ceasefire, targeting what it says are Hezbollah arms depots, efforts by the group to rebuild and individual fighters. But targeted strikes on senior officials like Tabtabai have been rare since the ceasefire came into effect in November 2024.

The strike hit a main road in the Haret Hreik suburb, where residents told Reuters they heard the roar of war planes before the blast.

People rushed out of their apartment buildings out of fear there would be further strikes, a Reuters reporter there said.

ISRAEL SAYS WON'T ALLOW HEZBOLLAH TO REBUILD

"Israel continues to insist on the full enforcement of the ceasefire agreements with Lebanon while taking steps to ensure our security," Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian told reporters after the strike.

"We will not allow Hezbollah, the terror organization, to recover and rebuild its strength and threaten Israel from anywhere inside of Lebanon."

Asked if Israel had notified the U.S. before carrying out the strike, Bedrosian said Israel acts independently.

Over the past two years, Israel has killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, much of the group's senior military leadership, and roughly 5,000 of its fighters. Israel has said the strikes were necessary to protect itself from Hezbollah attacks.

The militant group has over the past year accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire that the U.S. mediated.

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah is required to end its military presence in the southern border region near Israel, and Israel's military is supposed to withdraw from Lebanon.

Israel, whose soldiers are still occupying five southern posts in Lebanon, accuses Hezbollah of trying to regroup there. Hezbollah has said it is abiding by the ceasefire. It has not fired on Israel since the ceasefire started.

In November, Israel stepped up airstrikes in south Lebanon as it pressed a campaign of near-daily attacks which it says is designed to block a military revival by Hezbollah in the border area.

(Reporting by Laila Bassam, Maya Gebeily, Jaidaa Taha, Ahmed Tolba, Alexander Cornwell and Pesha Magid; Writing by Jaidaa Taha; Editing by Ros Russell and David Holmes)