By Pesach Benson • June 2, 2026
Jerusalem, 2 June, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday threatened strikes on Beirut in response to overnight rocket fire, even after U.S. President Donald Trump announced an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire the previous night.
Speaking at a defense export conference in Israel, Katz said Israel would respond directly against Beirut’s Dahiyeh district if attacks on Israeli communities continued. “If Israeli communities continue to be attacked, we will turn and attack the Shiite neighborhood of Dahiyeh in Beirut,” he said.
Katz added that, in his view, Washington had already aligned with this approach. “The United States has adopted the principle and informed the Lebanese government and all relevant parties about it.”
On Monday night, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that Israel and Hezbollah had reached a temporary understanding. He wrote that “Netanyahu agreed not to launch a major attack on Beirut, Hezbollah agreed to stop firing on Israel and its soldiers,” adding, “Let’s see how long this will last.”
Responding to Trump’s announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he told the President, “if Hezbollah does not stop firing at our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut. This position of ours remain unchanged.”
Despite the reported understandings, sirens sounded in northern Israeli communities in four separate incidents overnight and Tuesday morning, while IDF strikes were reported in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah continued to fire on Tuesday morning, triggering sirens in Kiryat Shmona and nearby border communities after a suspected drone crossed from southern Lebanon over an area where Israeli troops were operating. The military later said the incident ended without casualties. Overnight, the IDF said it intercepted two rockets fired toward Safed, while a drone struck a military position in the Western Galilee. No injuries were reported.
On Tuesday, the IDF also renewed its evacuation warning for the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh ahead of expected airstrikes on Hezbollah targets.
Dahiyeh is a Shi’ite neighborhood where numerous Hezbollah command centers, financial sites, weapons workshops and other assets are or were located, including the underground bunker where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was assassinated in 2024.
