Israel on Sunday struck Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, for the first time since June, saying it targeted Hezbollah’s chief of staff and warning the Iran-backed militant group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war.

Hezbollah said the strike, launched almost exactly a year after a ceasefire ended that Israel-Hezbollah war, threatened an escalation of attacks — just days before Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to visit Lebanon on his first foreign trip.

“We will continue to act forcefully to prevent any threat to the residents of the north and the state of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. Government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian did not say whether Israel informed the U.S. before the strike, saying only that “Israel makes decisions independently.”

The

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