Israel destroys building in Beirut amid escalating Hezbollah conflict
LONDON -- Around 4 a.m. Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces posted an image of several blocks in Beirut's Bashoura neighborhood, saying in an accompanying "urgent warning" that people inside a building outlined in red should leave immediately.
"To everyone present in the building marked in red on the attached map and the adjacent buildings: You are located near a facility affiliated with the terrorist Hezbollah organization, which the Israel Defense Forces will act against," Avichay Adraee, an IDF spokesperson, said in the Arabic-language post on social media.
About an hour later an Israeli airstrike targeted the building, reducing it to rubble.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was inside the building at the time of its destruction. The Lebanese Ministry of Health on Wednesday said at least 10 people had been killed in overnight Israeli strikes on the capital, but did not detail where those killings had taken place. Another 27 people were injured, the ministry said.
The Israeli strikes came amid an escalation of Israel’s efforts to stamp out Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy based in Lebanon and designated by Israel and the United States as a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah on March 2 began firing missiles south into Israel, an act that it said was in support of Iran. Those launches, which effectively marked the end of a fragile ceasefire that began in November 2024, came two days after the United States and Israel launched joint airstrikes on Tehran.
The Israeli Air Force has since retaliated by carrying out strikes on the Lebanese capital and elsewhere in Lebanon, striking targets that Israel describes as Hezbollah-related.
Health officials in Lebanon said at least 912 people have been killed in strikes, along with more than 2,000 people who have been injured. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by the conflict, officials said.
Among the Israeli targets have been buildings and sites throughout Lebanon associated with the Al-Qard al-Hasan Association, an organisation said to finance Hezbollah’s operations. Israel, as it posted a grainy video showing an eagle-eyed view the Bashoura-building strike, said it had overnight targeted that group. It did not explicitly link the al-Hasan group to the destroyed building.
Hezbollah has also continued targeting Israel, firing between 50 and 60 rockets overnight into the country's north, according to the IDF. Most were intercepted, but several made direct hits, damaging property and setting fires, Israel said. Emergency medical services reported no fatalities, but several light injuries.
Israel's air force has also over the last two weeks targeted sites across Southern Lebanon.
Israel also said on Monday it had begun a "limited and targeted" ground operation across its northern border, where it says it’s seeking to destroy Hezbollah "strongholds." The IDF added on Tuesday that it was seeking to create an "additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel."
Telling Lebanese residents they will not be allowed to return to southern Lebanon, Defense Minister Israel Katz has signaled Israel may carve out a buffer zone inside Lebanese territory.
"In recent days, IDF troops from the 36th Division have begun limited and targeted ground operations aimed at enhancing the forward defense area," the IDF said in a statement. "The troops are continuing efforts to establish the forward defensive posture in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel."
Israel on Wednesday issued a broad warning for anyone in southern Lebanon, saying residents south of the Litani River -- which is seen in part as a geographic boundary between northern and southern Lebanon -- should move north as quickly as they could.
The IDF was expecting to target "crossings" on that river, meaning bridges, in the coming hours, Israel said, adding that it was being "compelled" to carry out those strikes because of Hezbollah's activities "with the support of the civilian population."
"For your safety and the safety of your families, immediately move to areas north of the Litani River," the IDF said on social media on Wednesday. "Remaining south of the Litani River may endanger your lives and the lives of your families. Please note: any movement southward may endanger your lives."
"Accordingly, and to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and combat means, the Defense Army intends to attack crossings on the Litani River starting from midday hours today," Adraee, the IDF spokesperson, said on social media.
It was unclear how civilians remaining in the south would be able evacuate to the north if river crossings were destroyed.
