Israel conducted limited air strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday, days after a high-profile phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump led to the cancellation of a larger planned operation. The precise target of the strike remains unclear, but social media images showed damage to an apartment building in Dahiyeh, a known stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah.

The Israeli military stated that it was targeting "Hizbollah infrastructure" but did not provide evidence to support this claim. The strike follows Hizbollah’s recent rejection of a ceasefire agreement negotiated between Israel and the Lebanese government. This ceasefire proposal called for the group to halt its activities in southern Lebanon and begin disarmament, but it did not clearly outline any Israeli concessions or specify when Israeli forces would withdraw from areas of Lebanon they currently occupy.

Earlier last week, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said operations in southern Lebanon would continue and that Lebanese residents would not be allowed to return to their homes in those areas. Katz also asserted that Israel had “freedom of action,” supported by the United States, to carry out strikes in Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli communities and territory. It remains uncertain whether Washington explicitly authorized the latest air strike, which comes amid tense negotiations between the U.S. and Iran aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict affecting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran, Hizbollah’s principal backer, has insisted that Israel must withdraw from Lebanon and halt assaults on Hizbollah and Beirut for the regional hostilities to subside. In an interview, President Trump acknowledged disagreements with Netanyahu, which surfaced in a widely reported, expletive-laden phone conversation on Monday. Following that call, Netanyahu canceled a major offensive planned for south Beirut, leading to criticism from both his right-wing supporters and political opponents accusing him of yielding to U.S. pressure. Trump expressed a preference for "more surgical" strikes against Hizbollah.

Since Hizbollah’s refusal to accept the ceasefire last Wednesday, Israeli strikes have continued in southern Lebanon, where Israel already controls hundreds of square kilometers and has displaced approximately one million Lebanese residents, many of whose homes have been destroyed. Israeli forces have advanced beyond the so-called “yellow line” security zone that Israel aims to maintain in southern Lebanon.

The current hostilities between Israel and Hizbollah escalated after the group launched rockets across the border, following the initiation of U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran on February 28. According to Lebanon’s health ministry, nearly 3,600 people have died in Lebanon since the conflict began, including numerous women, children, and healthcare workers. On the Israeli side, Hizbollah attacks have resulted in the deaths of around 30 soldiers and three civilians.