An Israeli airstrike on Friday targeted the Beirut southern suburb of al-Jamous, destroying two buildings, following an Israeli evacuation warning, the first such raid since a November ceasefire largely halted hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
TV footage showed heavy black smoke billowing from the area, which is densely populated and home to residential buildings and schools.

The Israeli army on Friday told residents in a south Beirut suburb to leave the area around "Hezbollah facilities" immediately, the first such warning since a November ceasefire took hold in Lebanon.
"Anyone located in the building marked in red as shown on the map, and the surrounding buildings... are near Hezbollah facilities... you must immediately evacuate these buildings," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that included a map showing the building in the Beirut southern suburb of Saint Therese.

Israel carried out air strikes in southern Lebanon Friday, rattling an already fragile truce that largely ended more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.
It was the second time rockets had been fired from Lebanon since the November ceasefire, and the second time the Iran-backed Hezbollah denied involvement.

The head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, noted Thursday that Hezbollah “has firmly committed to the ceasefire” agreement with Israel, “although it knew that the enemy will not abide by it, and despite the Israeli violations that have persisted since the first days.”

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced Thursday that he did not support the appointment of Karim Souaid as central bank chief for “a host of reasons,” including “keenness on protecting depositors’ rights and preserving the state’s assets.”

President Joseph Aoun has announced that Hezbollah’s arms will not be removed by force and that normalization with Israel is not currently on the table.

Asset manager Karim Souaid was named as Lebanon's new central bank governor on Thursday, receiving 17 out of 24 votes in Cabinet, after Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's opposition to his appointment prevented consensus over the move.
According to Al-Jadeed TV, Souaid received the votes of the ministers of the Lebanese Forces, Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Kataeb Party, in addition to the ministers who are close to President Joseph Aoun.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stressed Wednesday that “international and Arab diplomatic pressure on Israel to halt its attacks has not been exhausted,” noting that “no one wants normalization with Israel in Lebanon, which is rejected by all Lebanese.”

Cabinet is inclined to name Karim Soaid as central bank governor in its session on Thursday, media reports said.

The French President's Special Envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian held talks Wednesday with President Joseph Aoun in Baabda.
