Israel launches forceful airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs following Hezbollah’s rocket attack

Beirut/Jerusalem: Israeli warplanes carried out intensive airstrikes at Monday dawn in Beirut’s southern suburbs, hours after rockets were fired from Lebanese territory toward Israel, local television channel al-Jadeed reported.

The Israeli strikes targeted Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, prompting residents to flee their homes amid fears of further escalation, according to the report. Ambulances rushed to the affected areas to evacuate casualties. No official toll was immediately available, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said in a statement that it had launched rockets and drones toward Israel in retaliation for the Saturday killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint Israeli-US strikes on Iran.

“In retaliation for the pure blood of the Guardian of the Muslims … which was unjustly and treacherously shed by the criminal Zionist enemy, and in defense of Lebanon and its people … the Islamic Resistance (in Lebanon) targeted, shortly after midnight between Sunday and Monday, March 2, 2026, the Mishmar HaCarmel missile defense site south of the occupied city of Haifa with a salvo of advanced rockets and a swarm of drones,” the group said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the rocket attack and warned against dragging the country into further conflict.

“We will not allow the country to be dragged into new adventures, and we will take the necessary measures to apprehend those responsible and protect the Lebanese people,” Salam said.

“Regardless of the party behind it, the rocket launch from southern Lebanon is a reckless and suspicious act that endangers Lebanon’s security and safety and gives Israel pretexts to continue its attacks,” he added.

On the Israeli side, its military said it launched “forceful” airstrikes across Lebanon on Monday in response to projectiles fired by the Iran-aligned Hezbollah, noting it began operating “against Hezbollah’s decision to join the campaign.”

While the military did not specify the targets, Israel’s state-owned Kan 11 TV news reported that several strikes targeted Beirut’s Dahieh district.

The Hezbollah attack with rockets and drones triggered air raid sirens in Haifa, the Upper Galilee, and the Golan Heights. The Israeli military said some projectiles were intercepted while others fell in open areas. No casualties have been reported.

IANS