Israeli strikes hit north Beirut suburb, south Lebanon

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BEIRUT - An Israeli strike hit an apartment building in a northern Beirut suburb that had been targeted a day earlier, Lebanese state media said on March 14, also reporting strikes in the country’s south.

This comes after Iran-backed Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem said his group was ready for a long confrontation with Israel.

“We have prepared ourselves for a long confrontation, and God willing, they (Israelis) will be surprised on the battlefield,” Mr Qassem said in his second televised address since the latest war began. “This is an existential battle, not a limited or simple battle.”

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when the Tehran-backed militant group attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a US-Israeli strike.

An AFP correspondent in north-east Beirut saw rescue workers at the scene, and damage – including a hole in a building – outside Hezbollah’s strongholds in the capital’s southern suburbs.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “an Israeli strike targeted the Nabaa-Burj Hammoud area for a second day”. The same building had been struck on March 13 without causing casualties.

Burj Hammoud is a densely populated, mixed area known for its large Armenian-Lebanese community.

Mr Levon Ghazalian, 42, who lives in the building next door, said this was “the first time this happened” in the area, which was spared in the previous conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2024.

“All the neighbours are afraid,” he told AFP, staring at the scene with his daughter.

Ms Hanadi Hachem, 50, who was in her pyjamas, said: “There’s no safety any more... you never know where a strike will come from.”

She said she and some family members were sleeping in their car out of fear.

In the suburbs of the southern coastal city of Sidon, state media reported that a strike had targeted an apartment in the Haret Saida area.

An AFP correspondent there said the strike hit a residential building in the densely populated area, causing a fire, with rescue workers at the scene.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on March 14 that Israeli strikes had killed 26 paramedics and wounded 51 others since conflict erupted between Israel and Hezbollah.

Earlier in the day, the health authorities said an overnight Israeli strike had killed 12 doctors, paramedics and nurses working at a healthcare centre in the southern town of Burj Qalawiya, following another strike on the town of Sawaneh that left two paramedics affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal dead.

The Israeli army said on March 14 that a day earlier it had struck Hezbollah operatives “who were bringing rockets into a weapons depot” in Majdal, around 7km from Burj Qalawiya.

According to the NNA, Israel on March 13 destroyed a bridge over the Litani River between the towns of Zrariyeh and Tayr Falsay. The river bisects southern Lebanon, from east to west.

In a statement, the Israeli military described the bridge as a “key crossing” for Hezbollah “from northern to southern Lebanon, to build up its power and prepare for combat”.

The attack was the first on Lebanese public infrastructure to be acknowledged by Israel since the start of the Middle East war.

“This is just the beginning, and the Lebanese government and the state of Lebanon will pay an increasing price in damage to Lebanese national infrastructure used by Hezbollah terrorists,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on March 13.

He said Lebanon would suffer “loss of territory – until it fulfils its central commitment of disarming Hezbollah”.

Earlier this week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered to negotiate directly with Israel, but on March 13, he said he had not received a response.

The Israeli military bombed several roads in southern Lebanon on March 13, according to the official National News Agency, blocking access from the north of the Litani River and from the Bekaa valley, an eastern area Hezbollah uses to transport weaponry.

The NNA also reported that Israeli shells hit a United Nations base hosting Nepali peacekeepers in the southern town of Mays al-Jabal.

A spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General said they were aware of the reports and would provide further information “as soon as possible”.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.

‘Stop the war’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah to “stop the war” at the start of a visit to Beirut on March 13.

“My strong appeal to those parties, to Hezbollah and to Israel, is for a ceasefire to stop the war,” he said.

Mr Guterres launched a US$325 million (S$417 million) humanitarian appeal to support Lebanon as the country responds to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people by the war.

Israeli strikes had continued on March 13, including an attack that killed eight people in the south Lebanese village of Miyeh w Miyeh near the port city of Sidon, according to the health ministry.

In the nearby village of Irkey, Mr Mohammad Taqi buried his four daughters, aged six to 13, who were killed in an Israeli strike on March 12 along with five relatives.

“The Israeli enemy says every day that it is targeting infrastructure,” he told AFP at the funeral, his head wrapped in a white bandage and his face covered in wounds.

“Is this the infrastructure? Have you seen it?“ he asked, gesturing to his daughters’ bodies.

“I’ve lost four daughters. I don’t have any others. Zainab, Zahra, Malika and Yasmina,” he said, adding that he had also lost his parents, brother, nephew and brother-in-law in the same strike.

Propaganda leaflets

Hezbollah also launched attacks against Israeli forces on March 13, as part of what it said was a Quds Day operation.

Quds Day is an annual demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause in Iran, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

Israel’s military also renewed its evacuation warnings, including for Beirut’s southern suburbs, and launched several strikes on the area according to the NNA.

On March 12, it had issued a similar warning, expanding the evacuation zone in southern Lebanon to reach more than 40km from the Lebanon-Israel border.

Israeli planes also dropped leaflets over Beirut on March 13.

One of the leaflets, addressed to the Lebanese people, said: “You must disarm Hezbollah, Iran’s shield” and “Lebanon is your decision, not someone else’s”. AFP