Israel bombards Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon as conflict with Hezbollah escalates

Israeli warplanes bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon after Hezbollah launched drones and rockets at northern Israel on Wednesday night in a sharp escalation of the 10-day conflict.Hezbollah let off successive volleys of rockets and drone swarms at Israel on Wednesday night, injuring two people, with most of the projectiles either being intercepted or falling into open areas.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said later that they had carried out some strikes with Hezbollah.In a statement carried by the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, the Guards said the “joint and integrated operation” involved a missile attack by Iran carried out in conjunction with missile and drone fire from Hezbollah.The operation focused on “more than 50 targets” on Israeli territory, the statement added, including Israeli military bases in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Beersheba.The attack by Hezbollah was the most intense launched by the pro-Iran group since it first fired rockets at Israel 10 days earlier, triggering a retaliatory military campaign by Israel. The rockets were launched in tandem with Iranian missiles, the first time the two coordinated their attacks against Israel since the Iran war started.Hezbollah’s operation, dubbed “Operation Chewed Wheat” – a reference to a Quranic verse about reducing one’s enemies to chewed wheat – was a sharp escalation by the group, believed to be battered by nearly two years of daily airstrikes by Israel.Lebanon was quickly becoming the most intense site of fighting in the region as the war in Iran, launched by Israel and the US two weeks prior, continued to consume the Middle East and beyond.Israeli warplanes began bombing Lebanon nearly immediately after Hezbollah’s strikes. The skies of Beirut were lit red and windows around the capital city shook as Israel unleashed its most powerful bombardment of the southern suburbs yet in this round of fighting. Videos showed collapsed buildings in southern Lebanon and streets choked with smoke illuminated by roaring flames.Israel also carried out a strike in the early hours of Thursday in the neighbourhood of Ramlet al-Baida in central Beirut, on the corniche where many displaced families had been sleeping rough for the last week. The strike hit the densely packed area, with videos showing at least two men lying dead on the seaside walkway. Lebanon’s health ministry said that at least seven people had been killed in the strike.Elsewhere, the health ministry said that at least 17 people were injured in the strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, though more casualties were expected from other strikes throughout the country.In southern Lebanon, Israel’s military spokesperson said that it was hitting Hezbollah’s missile launchers. They warned residents that it would “soon act with overwhelming force” against Hezbollah and that residents should distance themselves from affected areas immediately, echoing displacement orders issued for vast swathes of the country earlier last week.Israeli strikes have killed at least 634 people and injured 1,586 in less than 10 days of fighting. More than 816,700 families have registered as displaced with the Lebanese state, but more are expected to have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes and displacement orders.Wednesday night’s escalation took place as Israeli officials signalled a possible widening of its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel’s security cabinet met on Wednesday night to discuss Lebanon, where officials sought to stop the group’s ability to launch rockets into Israeli territory.On Wednesday, head of the Israeli military Lt Gen Eyal Zamir ordered reinforcements to its northern border with Lebanon, redeploying the Golani Brigade from Gaza to the north. The Golani Brigade is specialised in offensive ground operations, and analysts said the force’s redeployment could signal a larger ground invasion of Lebanon. Hezbollah is reportedly preparing itself for a full-scale Israeli invasion of south Lebanon.Hezbollah fighters have been fighting with Israeli troops in south Lebanon, particularly around strategic points in the eastern parts of the country such as hilltops around al-Khiam. Small units of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force have been acting autonomously to ambush Israeli troops, which have been conducting in-and-out raids in southern Lebanon.Hezbollah has reportedly spent the year-and-a-half since its November 2024 ceasefire with Israel rebuilding its capabilities and reconsolidating its organisation. Israel had killed most of the senior leadership of the group and killed or incapacitated thousands of its fighters during the 13-month war, though exact numbers are not known.As fighting continued in southern Lebanon, Israeli bombing has steadily escalated over the past 10 days. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Israel struck an apartment building in central Beirut, wounding four people. It was the second time in a week that Israel targeted deep in the capital city, leaving residents shaken and unsure where was safe.Lebanon’s government has called on Hezbollah to stop its firing into Israel, and has insisted that the state should hold the monopoly of violence in the country. But its understaffed, underequipped army has so far been unable to confront the powerful armed group directly. The government also fears provoking civil strife in Lebanon, which has a long, painful history of sectarian division and violence.The Lebanese government, with French assistance, has appealed to the international community for a ceasefire in Lebanon, calling for negotiations with Israel while vowing to curb Hezbollah’s activities in the country. Israel and the US however, are sceptical that the Lebanese government can disarm Hezbollah, with the former seemingly determined to take on the group itself.Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Wednesday cast doubt on the Lebanese government’s efforts to confront Hezbollah.“If Hezbollah is being dismantled, what are the evidence? What are the operations against the launch sites? Where are the seizures of their weapons? Where is your military?” said Danon.