Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanese health officials, as Israel announced it had struck more than 100 Hezbollah infrastructure sites across the country — the most intense single day of bombardment since the current round of hostilities began.
The Israeli military said the operation targeted weapons storage facilities, tunnel networks, and command-and-control centers belonging to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese political and military movement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking from Jerusalem, said the strikes were the opening phase of a broader campaign. “We will not stop until Hezbollah is stripped of its offensive capabilities,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
The escalation came hours after Netanyahu vowed to “crush” the group following a drone attack that killed two Israeli civilians near the northern town of Kiryat Shmona. The attack marked one of the deepest Hezbollah infiltrations into Israeli territory since the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war.
Lebanese officials said residential areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley were among those hit. At least 40 people were wounded, and rescue workers continued to search collapsed structures through the evening. Among the dead were three medics responding to an earlier strike in the town of Bint Jbeil, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which maintains a peacekeeping presence along the Israel-Lebanon border, said it was “deeply concerned by the significant increase in military activity.” The force called on all parties to “exercise maximum restraint” to prevent a wider regional war. A UNIFIL spokesperson said peacekeepers had shelter-in-place orders but remained in position.
Hezbollah confirmed that three of its fighters were among the dead but said the group’s military capacity remained intact. In a statement, the group said it had responded to the strikes with rockets fired at an Israeli deployment site in the disputed Shebaa Farms area. No Israeli casualties were reported from that exchange.
The strikes signal a sharp departure from the relative ceasefire that had held along the northern border since late January, when a temporary pause in Gaza hostilities briefly reduced cross-border hostilities. Analysts say the Netanyahu government’s decision to expand operations reflects a strategic calculation that military pressure on Hezbollah serves as leverage in broader negotiations over the Gaza war’s endgame.
Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas, condemned the strikes and accused Israel of using the temporary Gaza ceasefire — agreed in principle last week — as cover to open new fronts. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Parisa Frough said Iran was “prepared to exercise all available options” if Hezbollah requested military support under their mutual defense agreement, though she did not specify what that would entail.
Regional powers and the United States have urged de-escalation. The White House said it was “monitoring events closely” but stopped short of calling for a halt to Israeli operations. A State Department spokesperson said the United States had been in direct contact with both sides throughout the day.
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, with responsibility for monitoring the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 — which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war — called an emergency session for Wednesday morning. The resolution prohibits Hezbollah from maintaining armed forces south of the Litani River, a provision Israel says has been systematically violated.