Israel Bombards Southern Beirut, Attacks Lebanon's Infrastructure, Escalates With Iran

On March 2, widespread Israeli airstrikes struck Lebanon, hitting southern towns, the Bekaa and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

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The strikes followed Hezbollah launches of rockets and drones toward northern occupied Palestine, breaking a ceasefire that had been in place since November 27, 2024.

Mondoweiss

According to the reporting, Israel ordered full evacuations of areas south of the Litani River, all of Beirut’s southern suburbs and six Bekaa villages.

Those evacuations and the intensifying strikes displaced more than 1.2 million people across multiple regions.

The escalation deepened Lebanon's political fractures.

The Lebanese cabinet met urgently and declared Hezbollah's military actions 'unlawful'.

The New York Times

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the state would ban Hezbollah's military activity and asserted that decisions of war and peace rest with the Lebanese state.

Right‑wing parties accused Hezbollah of dragging Lebanon into a war 'for Iran'.

Hezbollah's parliamentary leader Muhammad Raad defended the attacks as a response to repeated Israeli violations and was reported killed in the initial strikes on Beirut's suburbs.

Monitoring groups and officials described the March escalation as a rupture of an already fragile ceasefire that had seen extensive reported violations.

“War in theMiddle East Advertisement Supported by The strikes were the most intense bombardment since a cease-fire deal in late 2024”

The New York Times

Monitoring groups recorded over 15,000 breaches in 15 months and nearly 500 Lebanese deaths prior to the March fighting.

Initial casualty figures from the early March exchanges varied between sources, but officials reported that by March 6 at least 217 people had been killed and 798 wounded amid the bombardment.

The bombardment produced widespread civilian terror and displacement.

It prompted operational and strategic shifts inside Lebanon.

The New York Times

Reporting highlighted scenes of residents fleeing Beirut’s southern suburbs and other targeted towns.

Reporting also noted that the Lebanese army withdrew from some southern border positions after government leaders rejected an army push to confront Israeli forces.

President Joseph Aoun ordered the pullback.

The crisis intensified domestic divisions over security, sovereignty and Hezbollah’s role.

Mondoweiss situates the March fighting within a wider pattern of cross‑border strikes and retaliations.

“On March 2, millions of people across Lebanon woke up to a barrage of Israeli airstrikes”

Mondoweiss

Hezbollah framed its March 2 attack as retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader and for repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Mondoweiss

The reportage frames Israel’s campaign as part of ongoing violations that had already been recorded at high rates.

Those accounts present the March escalation as both a tactical exchange and a significant political rupture with major humanitarian consequences.