BEIRUT — At least 15 people were killed and 24 others injured in Israeli airstrikes across several parts of Lebanon overnight and into Wednesday morning, according to Lebanon’s Public Health Ministry.
The strikes targeted locations in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley in the east, and areas of Beirut, as tensions between Israel and armed groups in Lebanon continued to escalate.
Lebanon’s Emergency Operations Center said multiple areas in the south were hit during the air raids. In the municipality of al-Sharqiya, three young men were killed after an Israeli warplane struck a residential house shortly after midnight.
In Qana, located in the Tyre district, five people were killed and five others injured in successive airstrikes. Another strike in the al-Hosh area of Tyre killed one person and injured eight others.
In the nearby municipality of Hannaouiyah, three people, including a paramedic, were killed in consecutive airstrikes, according to health authorities.
Additional Israeli air raids were reported in southern towns including Jibchit, where a prayer hall was struck, as well as near a public school in Arabsalim and in Zawtar al-Sharqiya.
Strikes reported in Bekaa and Beirut
In eastern Lebanon, an airstrike on the village of Zilaya in the Bekaa Valley killed one person and injured two others, the ministry said.
Israeli warplanes also carried out strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight. Early Wednesday, Israel issued warnings urging residents in parts of the area to evacuate ahead of further strikes.
Later in the morning, an airstrike targeted an apartment building in the Aisha Bakkar district in central Beirut, causing additional casualties.
Israeli sources said the strike targeted a location allegedly linked to al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, also known as the Islamic Group. However, the organization denied the claim, stating that reports suggesting its offices or members were targeted were inaccurate.
Rising tensions along the border
Separately, Hezbollah said its fighters engaged Israeli forces near the southern border town of Aitaroun overnight.
In statements released by the group, Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers and military vehicles near the al-Marj military site, opposite the Lebanese border village of Markaba, as well as positions near the Manara site and south of Khiam.
The latest escalation follows renewed hostilities after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel on March 2, marking the first such attack since a ceasefire declared on November 27, 2024.
Following the rocket launches, the Lebanese government announced a ban on Hezbollah’s security and military activities.
Israel subsequently launched what it described as an offensive military campaign against Hezbollah, carrying out extensive airstrikes in Lebanon and limited ground incursions along the border.
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