Beirut — Lebanon has been rocked by a new wave of violence after Israeli warplanes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in what the IDF is calling a “revenge blitz” on Iran’s chief proxy, Hezbollah.

The strike hit a heavily fortified apartment block in Dahiyeh, the Hezbollah‑dominated stronghold south of the capital, just after midnight. Residents reported a single, deafening explosion, followed by secondary blasts as vehicles and nearby structures ignited. Video from the scene shows a yawning crater where the building’s façade once stood, mangled cars in the streets and dazed survivors stumbling through dust and shattered glass.

Israeli officials say the slain PIJ chief was “a central operational bridge” between Gaza militants, Hezbollah’s command and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, accusing him of coordinating rocket and drone attacks on Israeli cities and US bases. “If you serve as Tehran’s forward commander, there is nowhere we will not find you,” one senior official warned.

Hezbollah has confirmed the death and vowed that “the response will not be limited to Lebanon,” hinting at coordinated action with Iran‑aligned groups in Syria, Iraq and Gaza. Lebanon’s caretaker government, already overwhelmed by economic collapse, has condemned the strike as a violation of sovereignty that “turns Beirut into a bargaining chip in the Iran–Israel war.”

Analysts say the killing of PIJ’s top man in the heart of Hezbollah territory sends a chilling signal: Israel is now willing to fuse its campaigns against Gaza militants, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran into a single, borderless battlefield — and Beirut may once again become the city where those overlapping wars explode into the open.