Israeli raids on Lebanon are the heaviest in weeks, hitting both the capital Beirut and the south of the country. Iran has threatened retaliation.
The Israeli army has expanded its military offensive in Lebanon on the very first day of the ceasefire with Iran. Hundreds of raids struck several neighborhoods of Beirut and other areas in the south of the country, and the death toll is difficult to quantify as entire city blocks have been flattened.
Israel said it targeted sites linked to the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, but videos circulating online show that children are also among those buried under the rubble. Immediately after the ceasefire with Iran was reached, Israeli authorities had made it clear that they do not consider Lebanon part of the agreement. Since February 28, when Israel resumed bombing Lebanon, the death toll has already exceeded 1,500 people, with more than one million displaced.
With the start of Israeli-American bombings on Iran on February 28 and the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Israeli army also launched a military offensive in Lebanon. Under the justification of targeting Hezbollah — a political-military organization allied with Iran that had launched rockets into Israeli territory — Tel Aviv carried out attacks both in the south of the country and in the capital Beirut, even striking the city center and definitively breaking the ceasefire signed in autumn 2024.
In just over a month of bombings, Israel has killed more than 1,500 people and caused over one million displaced. Meanwhile, it continued its military offensive against Iran alongside the United States, also suffering damage and recording 31 deaths due to Iranian missiles and drones that managed to bypass the Iron Dome defense system. During the night between April 7 and 8, Israel became part of the ceasefire agreement reached by the United States and Iran, mediated by Pakistan and China. This agreement provides for a two-week halt to bombings and the gradual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed to shipping, causing a heavy domino effect on oil prices and, consequently, on global economies.
Now Iran, the United States and Israel are engaged in negotiations aimed at definitively ending the war. This situation, however, does not involve Lebanon, which Israeli authorities have stated they do not consider part of the ceasefire agreement — and which they have struck with extremely heavy raids in recent hours.
The Israeli army said that on April 8 it carried out the heaviest offensive against Lebanese territory in recent weeks, launching more than one hundred attacks within just ten minutes. The leadership of Tel Aviv’s armed forces also added that the goal is to continue to “strike decisively” the country.
The bombings particularly hit the capital Beirut, both the Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs and the city center near the sea. Images circulating online show entire buildings flattened, black smoke rising from multiple locations, children trapped under the rubble, and ambulances stuck in heavy traffic caused by people fleeing. An Al Jazeera correspondent in the capital said the attacks recall the Israeli invasion of Beirut in 1982, with at least nine neighborhoods struck simultaneously.
In the south of the country, the Israeli army mainly carried out ground attacks after troops had invaded parts of the territory in recent weeks. Since the early hours of the morning, Hezbollah has not responded to the Israeli attacks, but this has not halted the offensive by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), which analysts believe could intensify raids on Lebanon by taking advantage of the pause in the war with Iran. The Lebanese Ministry of Health issued a statement urging the population to clear the roads to allow ambulances to reach bombing sites, while hospitals have appealed for blood donations. Meanwhile, an Iranian military official stated that the ceasefire agreed overnight with the United States and Israel should have applied to the entire region, and that Israel will pay a heavy price for its latest offensive on Lebanese territory.
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