The Israeli military has attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut, saying it has struck a Hezbollah operative in Dahiyeh.

The attack on Sunday is the latest violation of the ceasefire Israel signed one year ago to end hostilities in Lebanon that had erupted into a full-blown war.

In its brief statement on X, Israel’s military did not provide any other information on what it called “a precise strike”, nor has Hezbollah commented on the incident yet.

A correspondent from Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that an enemy air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs targeted an apartment building in Haret Hreik. Injuries were reported, and significant damage was inflicted on cars and surrounding buildings.

Two missiles were fired at the building on al-Arid Street. Ambulances arrived immediately at the scene and transported the injured to nearby hospitals.

A large plume of smoke could be seen in the busy neighbourhood, according to local media.

One video widely circulated on social media shows dozens of people crowded around the area of the strike, which appears to be just next to a building.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the orders for a strike in Beirut on Sunday that targeted Hezbollah’s “chief of staff”, his office said.

Haytham Ali Tabatabai is Hezbollah’s chief of staff. Israeli media say the military tried to kill him twice during last year’s war. This would represent a third attempt. Hezbollah has yet to confirm if he was injured or killed.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Souhaib Jawher, a nonresident fellow at the Alternative Policy Institute, said of the possible target: “I believe that Tabatabai was the one reorganising Hezbollah’s military leadership, and the targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut is an indication that the Lebanese state has no guarantees against the expansion of such attacks.”

He said it is “a means of exerting pressure, and there is no destructive decision that constitutes a ground invasion as long as the atmosphere is open to bombing and assassination”.

“Lebanon has offered everything, including clearing the area south of the Litani River of weapons and agreeing to direct negotiations. The president presented an initiative two days ago, but the current situation benefits Israel, ” Souhaib added on Sunday.

Repeated Israeli attacks

Israel has been carrying out near-daily strikes on southern Lebanon and has also attacked the capital Beirut several times, but the capital was not hit in the last several months.

At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon this week, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.

The drone strike hit a car on Tuesday in the car park of a mosque in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal city of Sidon, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.

Israel and the United States have been piling the pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.

The Lebanese military issued a plan the government approved in September that would disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year across the country.

Israel says Hezbollah is trying to rebuild its military capabilities in southern Lebanon, whereas the Lebanese government has denied those claims.