Lebanon · 21 August, 2026 · 3 min read
Israeli Drone Flies Over Beirut as Israel Shells Southern Lebanon
Israeli drone flies over Beirut's southern suburb as southern Lebanon is shelled. Arab Salim strike kills a newlywed woman amid intensified southern Lebanon attacks.
Attribution for the Israeli strikes.
6 of 8 outlets skipped it: phosphorus shells used in shelling.
Antiwar was read line by line by the Watchdog: 3.5. See the score →
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Same story, two versions
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Al Jazeera
“Israel says a series of attacks came after Hezbollah launched two drones at Israeli troops.”Read the original ↗
Aarabi21
“These developments come as the Israeli occupation continues its military operations against villages and towns in southern Lebanon,”
Translated from the original.
Read the original ↗Al Jazeera attributes strikes to Hezbollah drones; Aarabi21 frames it as ongoing escalation.
Drone, shelling, blasts
Beirut, Lebanon, saw a new escalation on Friday as an Israeli drone flew at low altitude over the southern suburb of Beirut while shelling hit areas in southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese National News Agency said occupation forces carried out an explosion in the town of al-Manasouri.
“flight of an Israeli drone at a low altitude over the southern suburb of Beirut”
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that the towns of Houlwa and Wadi al-Salouqi were subjected to artillery shelling by Israel, alongside gunfire from light weapons, without information at the time about injuries or the extent of damages.
In al-Manasouri, the agency said occupation forces carried out during the early hours of the morning a blast described as massive, with the exact nature of the targeted site or the extent of the losses not being immediately clear.
The same reports placed the escalation within ongoing Israeli military operations against villages and towns in southern Lebanon, despite a diplomatic path between Beirut and Tel Aviv under American sponsorship that included discussions of a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territories.
Security zone and vows
In southern Lebanon, Israeli artillery shelled the town of Zoutr el-Sharqiya and areas including Beit Liva and Srebin, according to the Lebanese National News Agency, which said the shelling ignited fires after an Israeli Merkava tank targeted neighborhoods in Zoutr el-Sharqiya from Mivdod’s side.
The Lebanese National News Agency also said the Israeli shelling at dawn struck al-Mansouri, Majdal Zoun, and Bayt al-Siyad before spreading in the morning to the vicinity of Beit Lif and Srebin, with intermittent artillery fire continuing on Zoutr el-Sharqiya and the outskirts of Mivdod.
After the Israeli army announced on Thursday that it had completed operations in the Ali al-Tahar heights in southern Lebanon and said it had cleared two main underground tunnels belonging to Hezbollah, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant linked any Israeli withdrawal to Hezbollah’s disarmament.
In a statement quoted by The Times of Israel, Galant said: "Israel will not withdraw from the security zone in Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed across Lebanon" and added that "Control of Ali al-Tahar is an important step toward achieving this goal."
Casualty toll and displacement
Lebanon’s authorities and allied outlets tied the continuing Israeli operations to a wider humanitarian toll, with Al-Bawāba al-Hadaf al-akhbārīya saying that since March 2 the escalation has resulted in the martyrdom of 4,346 people and 12,301 others injured, and the displacement of more than one million people.
“Since March 2, the escalation has resulted in the martyrdom of 4,346 people”
The same source said the escalation continued despite Lebanon and Israel signing under American sponsorship on June 26, 2026 an “Framework Format” agreement that envisions a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Lebanese territories in exchange for the Lebanese army’s deployment there and the disarmament of armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah.
Al-Jazeera Net described a dense wave of Israeli artillery shelling and air raids at dawn on Saturday, saying phosphorus shells were used and that the Lebanese official News Agency (NNA) reported that not a single house remained intact in Bayt al-Siyad.
It added that the agency did not immediately report information about human casualties resulting from the raids, shelling, and explosions, while noting that the raids and explosions came amid ongoing Israeli assaults in southern Lebanon following Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli troops as described by Israel.