BEIRUT: Israel struck a headquarters belonging to the Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya, an ally of Hamas and Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Tuesday, state media reported.
“The Israeli enemy carried out an air raid a short while ago, targeting a headquarters of the Jamaa Islamiya” in the coastal city, state media said.
Sidon was largely spared of major Israeli attacks during the last war between Israel and Hezbollah, which a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end.
The strike almost entirely destroyed a seven-story building, according to an AFP photographer, and ambulances rushed to the scene.
It caused a powerful blast in a densely populated area, as seen on local media.
The Israeli military then issued an evacuation warning for another building in Sidon, saying it will hit “Hezbollah military infrastructure... in light of its prohibited attempts to rebuild its activities in the area.”
The Jamaa Islamiya had previously been the target of Israeli strikes in Lebanon after claiming responsibility for rocket launches toward Israel during the war between Israel and Hezbollah that began in October 2023.
Last month, it accused Israel of seizing one of its officials from a town near the border.
The Israeli military said that it “apprehended a senior terrorist” in the group who was then “transferred for further questioning in Israeli territory.”