The strike marked the first attack within the city limits of Beirut since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah resumed last week. It came amid continued airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as southern and eastern Lebanon, areas where Israel says militant infrastructure linked to Iran-backed groups is concentrated.

Israel’s military said the operation targeted senior commanders from the Quds Force, the overseas arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The military did not publicly identify those killed.

“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

An Israeli military source said the strike targeted five senior Quds Force members involved in intelligence and financial operations connected to Iranian activity in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said four people were killed in the drone strike in the capital. The ministry said the cumulative death toll from Israeli strikes across Lebanon since the escalation began has reached 394 people.

The health ministry said those killed include at least 83 children and 42 women. Lebanese authorities do not differentiate in official tallies between civilians and fighters.

The attack in Beirut represents a significant expansion of Israel’s operations, which had previously focused largely on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon and areas near the Syrian border.

Israel’s military said it has killed approximately 200 Hezbollah militants since the start of the conflict, according to military spokesman Nadav Shoshani, who provided the figure during an online briefing. Hezbollah has not released an official count of its fighters killed.

The Israeli army also reported its first battlefield losses since the war began, announcing on Sunday that two Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon.Military officials did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

The latest escalation follows Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel earlier in the week, which drew large-scale Israeli airstrikes across Lebanese territory.

Lebanon became directly involved in the broader confrontation between Iran and a U.S.-Israel alliance after Hezbollah, which is backed by Tehran, launched attacks toward Israel on Monday.

Israel responded with extensive bombardment targeting southern and eastern Lebanon and areas near Beirut.

Earlier in the conflict, Israel also carried out a rare airborne raid deep inside Lebanese territory that Lebanese authorities said killed 41 people.

The expansion of Israeli operations into Beirut highlights the widening geographic scope of the conflict as regional tensions linked to Iran continue to intensify

The attack marked the first Israeli strike to hit the heart of Beirut since hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group resumed last week, widening the regional confrontation linked to the broader U.S.-Israel war with Iran.Israel’s military said the strike targeted key commanders belonging to the Lebanon Corps of Iran’s elite Quds Force, a unit within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), although it did not identify the individuals it believed were present at the site.“The commanders of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps operated to advance terror attacks against the state of Israel and its civilians, while operating simultaneously for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

Strike hits central Beirut building.The strike struck an apartment within the Ramada hotel complex located in central Beirut, an area that had not been targeted since fighting resumed between Israel and Hezbollah.The building was housing displaced civilians who had fled fighting in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, areas that have experienced repeated Israeli air strikes during the past week.Following the attack, witnesses said people were seen leaving the hotel amid concerns that additional strikes could follow.There was no immediate confirmation from Lebanese authorities regarding the identities of those killed or whether the victims included the Iranian commanders Israel said it had targeted.

Israel said the operation was aimed at disrupting activities by Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon. The Quds Force oversees Iran’s foreign military operations and maintains close ties with allied groups across the region, including Hezbollah.The Israeli military has intensified strikes against Iranian-linked targets as the regional conflict expands.Last week, Israel said it had killed Daoud Ali Zadeh, the commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon, during a strike in Tehran. Israel said he had been involved in coordinating military activities linked to Iranian operations in the region.Lebanon drawn deeper into conflictLebanon has increasingly been pulled into the escalating confrontation between Israel and Iran.The latest phase of hostilities intensified on Monday when Hezbollah fired rockets and drones into Israel, according to Israeli officials. Hezbollah is backed by Iran and has been one of Tehran’s key regional allies.Israel responded with a wave of strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as locations near Beirut.The fighting has raised concerns about a broader regional escalation as the U.S.-Israel campaign against Iranian targets continues and allied armed groups across the Middle East become increasingly involved.The strike in central Beirut underscores the expanding geographic scope of the conflict and the growing risk that urban centres beyond traditional front lines could become targets as the confrontation deepens.