IDF targets Beirut suburb in retaliation for attack that killed 12 in the Golan

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had carried out an airstrike in a suburb of southern Beirut, targeting a commander they say was in charge of an attack on Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 young people last week.

“The IDF targeted in Beirut the commander responsible for the murder of the children in Majdal Shams,” the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.

NBC News has not independently verified the IDF’s report.

Al Manar, a satellite television station run by Hezbollah, the group Israel blames for a strike on the town of Majdal Shams last week, soon after reported that Israel had “launched an aerial aggression that targeted the southern suburb of Beirut.”

“Local sources reported that the raid in the Haret Hreik area was carried out by a drone and 3 missiles were fired,” the report added.

Saturday’s strike on Majdal Shams killed at least 12, mostly children and teenagers belonging to the minority Druze community.

Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Israeli military said the attack on Majdal Shams, which is on the border with Lebanon, was the deadliest strike on civilians in Israeli territory since the Oct. 7 terror attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed back to Tel Aviv from the United States as outrage built in Israel.

“Israel is approaching the moment of an all-out war against Hezbollah,” the Israeli military said at the time. “The IDF is prepared and ready to protect Israel’s security.”