Summary:
Israel conducted intense airstrikes on Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, marking the most severe bombardment since a late-2024 ceasefire. The attacks caused significant destruction, casualties, and displacement, with Hezbollah citing retaliation for Israeli violations and the killing of Iran's supreme leader. The escalation reflects a widening regional conflict, involving Iran and the United States.
Main Topics Covered:
1. Israeli military strikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.
2. Escalation of regional conflict involving Iran and the U.S.
3. Civilian impact, including casualties, displacement, and disruption.
4. Hezbollah's retaliatory actions and justification for involvement.
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Israel Pounds Southern Beirut, a Hezbollah Stronghold
The strikes were the most intense bombardment since a cease-fire deal in late 2024.
Israeli airstrikes pounded the southern outskirts of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, late on Thursday and into the early hours of Friday morning, collapsing buildings and sending residents fleeing.
The Israeli military said late Thursday that it was striking Hezbollah infrastructure in the Dahiya, a densely populated commercial and residential area in the Beirut area that is a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group.
A series of violent strikes then rocked the city, the most intense barrage since a cease-fire in late 2024 paused fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran. As explosions shook the city, collapsing at least three buildings, residents fled the city.
Downtown, in the capital, people with nowhere to go huddled around small fires and prepared to pass the night on the street, though sleep seemed impossible.
The intensified Israeli strikes in Lebanon exemplify the widening of the fighting in the Middle East, with the United States and Israel beginning an assault against Iran on Saturday and an Iranian retaliation aimed at American allies in the region being felt widely ever since.
Hezbollah joined the fray in recent days, opening up another front in the war. The militants launched projectiles into northern Israel overnight on Sunday for the first time in more than a year and the Israeli military quickly retaliated, declaring that Hezbollah had violated the truce.
Hezbollah said it was responding to Israel’s violations throughout the truce, as well as the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, who died in a strike on his compound in Tehran on Saturday.
The Israeli military had been attacking Hezbollah’s infrastructure and capabilities amid the cease-fire, arguing that the Lebanese military was failing to promptly disarm the powerful militant group as the truce deal required.
Late Thursday, Lebanon’s health ministry reported that 123 people had been killed and 683 wounded in the recent Israeli attacks.
Earlier in the day, the streets of Beirut erupted in chaos after the Israeli military warned people to leave the southern suburbs, prompting fears that it would soon begin a large-scale bombing campaign there. The Israeli military had attacked in the Beirut area on Wednesday night as well.
Residents in the capital spent Thursday suspended in dread and anticipation. Some darted to supermarkets to stock up on food. Others stayed at home with their families, praying that the night might pass quietly.
When the bombing began around 11 p.m., the first explosions rolled across the city like thunder, rattling windows and sending people rushing to their balconies.
As some in Lebanon sat glued to television screens night, cameras showed flights operated by Middle East Airlines arriving in Beirut despite the bombardment. The images of planes touching down at the capital’s airport, Lebanon’s only international gateway and its main link to the outside world, gave some reassurance to viewers at home. During the last conflict, which ended in November 2024, the national carrier became a quiet symbol of resilience as it flew while strikes echoed across the capital.
The renewed fighting has already displaced tens of thousands of people in Lebanon. The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday that more than 84,000 people have moved to collective shelters, citing the Lebanese authorities. And on Thursday more were fleeing their homes.
Thousands of Syrians — who had fled civil war in their country for Lebanon before the ouster of the Assad regime late in 2024 — have headed back home seeking refuge. Syrian officials said that at least 40,000 had returned to the country from Lebanon in recent days.
Hezbollah on Thursday issued nine statements detailing operations against Israeli movements along the border and attacks on Israeli army positions and bases in northern Israel.
In recent days, the Israeli military has issued broad evacuation warnings across southern Lebanon, raising concerns that it may be about to launch a ground invasion. The Israeli military has also pushed into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah and is massing armored vehicles along the border.
The military insists that soldiers who have already advanced several miles into Lebanon are only providing a forward line of defense for civilian communities along the frontier. The soldiers, they say, are setting up ambushes that take advantage of the region’s hills and valleys to ensure that Hezbollah fighters cannot approach the international border without being spotted and stopped, but the purely defensive posture could change and a potentially much larger ground incursion could follow, some Israeli officials have suggested.
President Emmanuel Macron of France on Thursday said he had spoken with Lebanon’s “highest authorities” and received a commitment that it would seize positions held by the militant group. France will strengthen its cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces and provide armored vehicles and operational and logistical support, Mr. Macron said.
“Hezbollah must immediately cease its fire toward Israel,” he said. “Israel must refrain from any ground intervention or large-scale operation on Lebanese territory.”
David M. Halbfinger, Natan Odenheimer and Raja Abdulrahim contributed reporting.
Euan Ward is a Times reporter covering Lebanon and Syria. He is based in Beirut.
Ephrat Livni is a Times reporter covering breaking news around the world. She is based in Washington.
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