Beirut: Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut Wednesday afternoon without warning, hours after a ceasefire was announced in the US-Israeli war with Iran.
A Lebanese security source described the latest wave of bombardment as the heaviest the country has witnessed since the conflict with Israel began.
Israel has said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, although mediator Pakistan said it does.
Israel’s military called it the largest coordinated strike in the current war, striking more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa valley.
Israel renewed its strikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday, state media reported, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the Iran war truce does not include Lebanon.
Black smoke towered over several parts of the seaside capital. Booms interrupted the honking of traffic on what had been a blue-sky afternoon. Ambulances raced toward open flames. At least one apartment building was struck. Emergency responders searched charred vehicles.
Israel has rarely struck central Beirut since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2 but has regularly struck southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Before the wave of new strikes, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that the group was giving a chance for mediators to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon, but “we have not announced our adherence to the ceasefire since the Israelis are not adhering to it.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly.
The Hezbollah official said the group will not accept a return to the pre-March 2 status quo, when Israel carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon despite a ceasefire being nominally in place since the last full-blown Israel-Hezbollah war ended in November 2024.
“We will not accept for the Israelis to continue behaving as they did before this war with regards to attacks,” he said. “We do not want this phase to continue.”
Hezbollah had fired missiles across the border days after the US and Israel attacked Iran, sparking a regional war. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,530 people in Lebanon, including more than 100 women and 130 children. The Israeli military has said it has killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters. More than one million people have been displaced in Lebanon.
