Israel on Tuesday confirmed that a key Hezbollah official was targeted in an overnight airstrike on a southern suburb of Lebanon's capital Beirut. According to the Lebanese health ministry, the strike killed at least three people and wounded seven more. 

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Who was Hassan Bdair? 

In a joint statement, the Israeli military, Shin Bet and Mossad said that the target of the overnight airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut was Hassan Bdair, a member of Hezbollah and the Iranian IRGC Quds Force. They said that Bdair was a member of Hezbollah’s Unit 3900 and the Quds Force. 

The joint statement included a rare public comment from the Mossad, Israel's spy agency. It said that Bdair was recently operating in coordination with Hamas and directing members of the Palestinian militant group to carry out a "significant and imminent terror attack against Israeli civilians". 

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The strike was carried out by fighter jets, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). IDF claimed that the strike was carried out because the attack Bdair was planning was considered to be imminent. 

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Earlier, a source close to Hezbollah told the news agency AFP that the strike "targeted Hassan Bdair, Hezbollah's deputy head for the Palestinian file" who was "at home with his family" at the time. 

"Overnight... the (Israeli air force) struck and eliminated the terrorist Hassan Ali Mahmud Bdair... in the Dahieh area" of Beirut, the military and the security services said in a joint statement. 

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Hezbollah lawmaker's appeal

In an appeal, Hezbollah lawmaker Ibrahim Musawi asked the Lebanese state to act after the strike, which was the second in days despite a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire. 

While standing near the strike site, Musawi told journalists that Lebanese authorities must "act with the highest level of effectiveness, make the international community bear its responsibility, and take the highest level of measures to guarantee the safety of the Lebanese". 

Musawi added that "what happened is a very big attack". 

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PM and president condemn strike 

Meanwhile, Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun condemned the strike, calling on international allies to support the country's right to full territorial sovereignty.

"Israel's persistence in its aggression requires more effort from us in addressing Lebanon's friends around the world and rallying them in support of our right to full sovereignty over our land," Aoun said in a statement released by the presidency. 

Aoun called the strike "a dangerous warning" of intentions against Lebanon. 

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Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that the strike was a "clear breach" of a ceasefire. In a statement issued by his office, Salam condemned the strike as "a clear breach of the arrangements of the cessation of hostilities" and a "flagrant violation of United Nations Resolution 1701", a Security Council decision that ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and served as the foundation of the November truce. 

(With inputs from agencies)