Dhaka, March 29 -- Israel on Friday carried out its first major airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in months, retaliating for an earlier rocket launch from Lebanon in the most serious test of a shaky ceasefire deal agreed in November.

The strike targeted a building in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh that Israel said was a drone storage facility belonging to the Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militant group.

The ceasefire has looked increasingly flimsy in recent weeks. Israel delayed a promised troop withdrawal in January and said last week it had intercepted rockets fired on Mar 22, which led it to bombard targets in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in th...