Israeli Army Launches Raids Targeting Hezbollah Infrastructure in Southern Beirut After Evacuations

Explosions echoed in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday evening, March 5, hours after evacuations were urged by the Israeli army.

In a one-sentence post on X, the Israeli army confirmed that it had launched a wave of raids targeting Hezbollah's terrorist infrastructure in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Al-Akhbar al-Yawm

In an interview with franceinfo, Lebanese ambassador to France Rabih Chaer estimated that more than 300,000 people had already fled the capital, calling it unprecedented in Lebanon.

The franceinfo live update also said Emmanuel Macron urged Israel to refrain from any ground or large-scale intervention on Lebanese soil and announced immediate delivery of humanitarian aid for civilians fleeing southern Lebanon, including several tons of medicines and shelter and aid solutions.

After threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to strike Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon sent a message of support to Tehran and said it could intervene in the event of a U.S. attack on Iran.

Anadolu Ajansı reported that Hezbollah’s border security official Nevaf el-Musevi said that when we reach the bridge, we will cross, according to Al-Mayadeen.

Al-Jarida Al-Bilad

The same Anadolu Ajansı report said Trump warned the Iranian government that it would face an even more severe attack if it did not reach an agreement and urged Tehran to sit quickly at the negotiating table to achieve a just, fair, and mutually beneficial agreement.

The Anadolu Ajansı account also cited Ali Shamhani, adviser to Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, posting on X that Iran would respond in an extensive and unprecedented manner to any attack, even a limited one.

The franceinfo report said evacuations were urged by the Israeli army and that the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would arrive in the Mediterranean on Saturday, with the flagship expected to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday evening or the night from Friday to Saturday.

“Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen: Groups warn they will support Iran in the event of a U”

Anadolu Ajansı

It also said an Air France plane chartered by the government to repatriate French nationals from the Middle East was forced to turn back due to missile fire in the area while en route to Dubai, and that the minister Philippe Tabarot said the situation shows the region’s instability and the complexity of repatriation operations.

In parallel, The Times of Israël described social media in Lebanon as flooded with videos criticizing Hezbollah after its decision to join the Islamic Republic of Iran in the fight against Israel.

The Times of Israël quoted a Lebanese Shiite in a video circulating for a few days saying, "You are not a resistance movement; you are Iran's arsenal in Lebanon," and it also quoted Moran Levanoni of the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies as saying that criticisms coming from the Shiite community were unprecedented.