Israeli air strikes hit three neighbourhoods in southern Beirut and intensified fighting in southern Lebanon as Hezbollah engaged Israeli forces, Lebanon’s state media and officials said. The raids and artillery strikes came as the country reported more than one million people displaced since the renewed fighting began more than two weeks ago.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said warplanes struck the Kafaat and Haret Hreik areas of Beirut and hit a residential building in Doha Aramoun. The health ministry said an Ethiopian woman was wounded. Israel confirmed carrying out the strikes, saying it was targeting Hezbollah.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Beirut said the Aramoun strike was not preceded by an evacuation order and appeared to be an attempted targeted assassination that destroyed a single floor of a residential block. A photo from the scene showed a man collecting belongings amid the damage in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 886 killed — including 67 women and 111 children — and 2,141 wounded since fighting resumed between Israel and the Iran-aligned Hezbollah.
Elsewhere, Israeli strikes hit a building in the village of Arab al-Jal and carried out raids on Bint Jbeil and Qaqaiyat al-Jisr in the south, NNA said. In Kfarchouba, state media reported Israeli forces abducted a Lebanese man during a raid.
The Israeli military has issued broad evacuation warnings for southern Lebanon, ordering residents to leave targeted areas and telling those south of the Zahrani River to flee ahead of what it described as a new operation against Hezbollah. Evacuation warnings have extended more than 40km (25 miles) north of Israel’s border to the Litani River. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said displaced people would not return to areas south of the Litani until northern Israeli residents’ safety is secured.
On Monday the Israeli army announced a “limited and targeted ground operation” against Hezbollah. Chief of staff Eyal Zamir said the army intends to deepen the operation until all objectives are met. Hezbollah said it was attacking Israeli forces on the border and in frontier towns, reporting “direct clashes” in Khiam opposite Israel’s Metula. Since March 2, Hezbollah has repeatedly said it was striking Israeli forces and vehicles in Khiam, the first area into which Israeli forces advanced in the conflict’s early days.
Al Jazeera reporting from Ramallah noted Hezbollah has launched roughly 100 rockets into Israel daily, at times alongside Iranian salvos, driving hundreds of thousands of Israelis into shelters. Israel’s stance on talks over southern Lebanon appeared mixed: Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said there was no intention to continue talks, while other sources expected talks to begin in coming days. Some Israeli military officials portrayed negotiations as a possible framework for a withdrawal from Lebanon.
Lebanese authorities said over one million people have registered as displaced since March 2, with more than 130,000 staying in about 600 collective shelters.