Israel's military confirmed an air strike on the Choueifat suburb of southern Beirut on Thursday, marking the first attack on the Lebanese capital in weeks. Videos from the area showed white smoke rising above residential buildings near Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. The target of the strike was not immediately clear.
The attack comes as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates across southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire agreed in April that has never been fully observed. While Beirut had largely been spared from recent hostilities, Thursday's strike signals a significant widening of the conflict.
Ground Operations Expand Beyond the Litani
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion of military operations in Lebanon, and troops have crossed the Litani River in recent days. The river has long served as a de facto boundary, with areas to the south under Israeli military occupation. On Wednesday, the Israeli military declared all territory south of the Zahrani River—roughly 40 kilometres from the border—a “combat zone” and ordered residents to evacuate ahead of further strikes.
Hezbollah has responded with dozens of drone and rocket attacks targeting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The group claimed on Thursday it had struck Israeli troops and tanks that had crossed into the town of Zawtar al-Sharqieh near Nabatiyeh, where close-range fighting continues.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli strikes pounded several locations in southern Lebanon. Lebanon's health ministry reported at least 11 people killed, including two children, and 21 wounded. In Tyre, the Israeli military issued warnings for eight buildings before striking the coastal city. Many residents had already fled. Further north in Sidon, a drone hit an apartment building housing displaced families, killing five people and wounding 21, among them five children.
In the coastal town of Adloun, a drone struck a car carrying a family fleeing the area, killing six people, including two children and their parents, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Another drone strike near Tyre killed two people on a motorcycle without prior warning, the state-run National News Agency reported. Near Nabatiyeh, the Lebanese military said a soldier was killed while driving his motorcycle in an Israeli drone strike.
The Israeli military reported that a soldier in northern Israel was killed by a Hezbollah drone attack and two reservists were wounded.
Diplomatic Efforts and Regional Fallout
More than one million people in Lebanon have been displaced by the conflict, and at least 3,269 have been killed in Israeli strikes, with over 9,800 wounded, according to Lebanese authorities. On the Israeli side, Netanyahu's office reports at least 23 soldiers and a defence contractor killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians killed in northern Israel, mostly by drones.
Lebanese and Israeli military officials are scheduled to hold security talks in Washington on Friday. Hezbollah has dismissed these negotiations and instead reaffirmed its alignment with Iran, which has made ending the war in Lebanon a condition for its own talks with Washington, brokered by Pakistan.
The escalation has drawn concern across Europe. France and Sweden have pushed the EU to restrict trade with Israeli settlements, reflecting growing unease among member states. Meanwhile, Italy under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has distanced itself from US and Israeli positions, signalling a shift in Rome's foreign policy. The humanitarian toll continues to mount, with no end to the violence in sight.
