Israel Strikes Beirut for First Time Since Lebanon Ceasefire — Hezbollah Reports 17 Targeted Strikes Against IDF

Israel struck Beirut on May 7, 2026 — Day 69 — in what Israeli and Lebanese officials confirmed was the first airstrike on the Lebanese capital since the Lebanon ceasefire took effect on April 17. The IDF did not immediately provide a detailed justification for targeting Beirut specifically; Israeli forces had been conducting daily strikes deeper into Lebanon throughout the ceasefire period. Hezbollah simultaneously reported 17 targeted strikes against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on May 7, in an unusually high wave of operations for what was officially described as a ceasefire. Israel intercepted a suspicious aerial target from Lebanon. The Lebanon-Israel ceasefire, set to expire on May 17, was already the subject of Washington peace talks; Secretary of State Rubio had called an Israel-Lebanon deal 'imminently achievable' on May 5. The Beirut strike raised new questions about whether Israeli operations were undermining the ceasefire framework ahead of its expiration.