White House says 'not aware' of any heads-up before Israeli strike on Beirut

WASHINGTON

The White House said Friday that it is "not aware" of any advance notification provided by Israel before it carried out a strike on Beirut earlier in the day amid soaring tensions with Lebanese Hezbollah.

"I am certainly not aware of any pre-notification of those strikes. And that, of course, as you know, is not atypical," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Lebanese authorities said at least eight people were killed, and 59 others injured when Israel struck a building in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.

Following the airstrike, a senior Israeli official told Israeli Army Radio that the target was Ibrahim Aqil, a top military commander of Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Lebanese group, which operates as both a political party and a paramilitary in Lebanon, has yet to comment.

Kirby ruled out any US involvement in either the strike in Beirut, or the detonations of thousands of communication devices across Lebanon that killed 37 people and injured over 3,250 others. At least two children were among those killed by the explosions.

No party claimed responsibility, but both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah blamed Israel.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed in rocket and drone attacks on northern Israel on Thursday.

Kirby maintained that there is still time to prevent further escalation, saying the US is "involved in intense diplomacy to that end."

"We don't want to see a second front in this war opened up at the border with Lebanon, and everything we're doing is going to be involved in trying to prevent that outcome. As I also said earlier, there is no reason for an expanded military conflict in Lebanon to be inevitable," he said in response to a question from Anadolu.

"There's still time and space for diplomacy to work, and we're going to continue to give it a shot, and that's where we are," he added.​​​​​​​