Lebanon sucked deeper into war as Hezbollah, Israel trade blows

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 3 - Lebanon was pulled deeper into the war in the Middle East on Tuesday as the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah launched missiles at Israel for a second consecutive day and Israel sent troops into the south and carried out waves of airstrikes.

The theatre of numerous conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon was drawn into the spillover from the war between the United States, Israel and Iran on Monday, when the group opened fire with drones and missiles.

With dozens of people killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes, Hezbollah's move to enter the conflict has sharpened long-standing divisions in Lebanon over its status as an armed group - the only Lebanese faction to keep its weapons after the 1975-90 civil war.

THOUSANDS FLEE FROM BORDER AREA

The government on Monday took the unprecedented step of outlawing Hezbollah's military activities. The pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper condemned this as a "capitulation to dictates, which could even lead to the outbreak of civil war".

Israeli strikes sent thick plumes of smoke billowing over Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs and across hilltops in southern Lebanon.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement he had authorised the military to advance and take control of additional positions in Lebanon, where Israeli troops have held several hilltops since a war with Hezbollah in 2024.

Many thousands of Lebanese have fled homes in areas that bore the brunt of that war. The Israeli military has ordered residents of dozens of south Lebanon villages to evacuate.

"This displacement is harder than the last one," said Nuzha Salame, a woman sheltering in the city of Sidon after fleeing her village. "Now we're in hardship and deprivation, and we're still out in the streets."

The United Nations said that, by Monday, at least 30,000 people, including 9,000 children, had sought protection in shelters, while many more were expected to join them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would increase its strikes in Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's attacks, and said the group was dragging the Lebanese people "into a war that is not theirs".

The U.S. embassy in Beirut said it was shutting until further notice due to regional tensions.

ISRAELI INCURSIONS

The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed at least 40 people and wounded 246 since the start of the escalation. It said an incorrect death toll of 52 was issued on Monday.

There have been no reported deaths in Israel as a result of Hezbollah's attacks.

The Israeli military said it had deployed additional forces to southern Lebanon overnight, saying this was to take up defensive positions to guard against any potential Hezbollah attack.

UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, said Israeli soldiers crossed the border in four areas before returning south of the frontier, and that dozens of rockets and missiles had been fired into Israel over the past two days.

Witnesses said the Lebanese army had pulled out of at least seven forward-operating positions along the border.

Israel had been carrying out near daily strikes targeting Hezbollah since the ceasefire in 2024. Hezbollah's attack on Monday was its first since that conflict.

Hezbollah announced at least four separate attacks on Tuesday using attack drones and missiles and saying these had targeted military facilities in northern Israel. It also claimed to have shot down an Israeli drone in the south.

The south, predominantly Shi'ite Muslim, has long been a key Hezbollah stronghold, where it has drawn political support and deployed weaponry ahead of the 2024 conflict. The Lebanese army has moved into the area and seized its weapons caches since that conflict, from which Hezbollah emerged greatly weakened.

ROCKET HITS HOUSE IN ISRAEL

A missile from Lebanon hit a house in northern Israel, Israeli media reported. Israel's ambulance service said a man was treated for glass shrapnel injuries.

Overnight, an Israeli airstrike hit the headquarters of Hezbollah's al-Manar TV in Beirut. Footage shot overnight by a Reuters camera overlooking Beirut's southern suburbs showed explosions and outgoing projectiles.

The Israeli military reported more airstrikes in Beirut on Tuesday, saying it had hit "command centres, weapons storage facilities, and satellite communication components belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut".

"These assets were operating under civilian cover," it said.

The Israeli military said it had taken steps to mitigate civilian harm, including the use of advance warnings.

After its attack on Monday, Hezbollah said it acted to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader and also in defence of Lebanon. On Tuesday, the group noted continuous Israeli attacks since 2024, and said that its actions were "a reaction to aggression, for national reasons first and foremost".

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has given no statements or speeches during the latest escalation. REUTERS