Lebanon | News

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military will hold southern Lebanon up to the Litani River and prevent residents from returning, citing security for northern Israel. Katz accused Lebanon of failing to disarm Hezbollah and vowed continued operations against the group

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich insisted that a south Lebanon occupation would provide Israelis with a necessary security buffer, 'like the Yellow Line in Gaza and Mount Hermon in Syria,' as the IDF moves to evacuate all residents below the Litani River and demolish infrastructure near the border

Israel should extend its border with Lebanon up to the Litani River deep inside the country’s south, Israel’s finance minister said ​on Monday as Israeli troops bombed bridges and destroyed homes in the area in an escalating military assault. The comments by Finance Minister ‌Bezalel Smotrich were the most explicit yet by a senior Israeli official on seizing Lebanese territory in a fight that Israel claims targets Hezbollah. Lebanon was pulled into the regional war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel. Since then, Israel has ordered all residents to leave the area south of the Litani River as it pummels the area with air strikes, ​terming it a Hezbollah stronghold. Lebanese authorities say the Israeli air and ground assault has killed more than 1,000 people, and more than a ​million have been driven from their homes, with Israel having ordered residents to flee swathes of the country. ‘The new Israeli border must be the Litani’ Smotrich told an Israeli radio programme that the military campaig...

• IDF ordered to destroy all bridges over Litani River • Key Qasmiyeh bridge near Tyre damaged in strikes • Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemns attacks, calling them a ‘prelude to a ground invasion’ BEIRUT: The Israeli military on Sunday announced it was expanding its ground campaign in Lebanon, warning of a lengthy operation, after Beirut condemned what it called Israel’s flagrant violations of Lebanese sovereignty. Israel struck a main bridge linking Lebanon’s south to the rest of the country on Sunday after ordering its military to destroy all crossings over the Litani River and to step up the demolition of homes near the southern border. The destruction of bridges and homes marks a significant escalation in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. International law generally prohibits militaries from attacking civilian infrastructure, and the United Nations human rights chief has criticised Israel’s actions in Lebanon, particularly its use of widespread evacuation orders that have displaced more than a ...

For Lebanese Muslims, there was little to celebrate on Friday during Eidul Fitr as a displacement crisis prompted by Israeli strikes and fears for the future cast a dark shadow over the end of Ramazan. Eid this year has been dampened by fallout from the war that began with the US and Israel launching strikes on Iran. With fighting going on between Hezbollah and Israel as well, Lebanon has also been dragged into the regional conflict. A displaced child from Beirut’s southern suburbs looks on from inside a van on the day worshippers attend Eid prayers to mark the end of Ramazan, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, in Beirut, Lebanon, March 20, 2026. — Reuters Israel’s strikes across Lebanon’s south, east and its capital Beirut have killed more than 1,000 people and the Israeli military’s evacuation orders have forced more than a million people to flee their homes. In downtown Beirut, displaced Lebanese tried to shield themselves from bouts of heavy rain on Frida...

Forced by yet another Israeli bombardment on Lebanon to flee his home for the second time in just two years, and mourning lost relatives and friends, Hassan Kiki said he feels much older than 16. “War has aged us… We have lived through what no one else has,” the tall teen from south Lebanon told AFP in Beirut. “I miss my school, my friends… I lost two cousins and two friends in a massacre in Shehabiyeh,” he added, referring to a deadly Israeli strike in his town that killed at least seven people on March 11. Kiki is among more than a million people Lebanese authorities have registered as displaced since the country was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2. On that day, Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel to avenge the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israel, which never stopped bombing Lebanon despite a 2024 truce that sought to end the last fighting with Hezbollah, responded with widespread strikes, ground operations along the border, and an evacuation warning for swa...

Christian communities are opposing Lebanon’s involvement in the conflict while weighing whether Hezbollah’s weakening could open space for stronger state authority.

Built around the notion of resistance to the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon, the rise of Hezbollah manifested the strategic failure of the 1982 Lebanon War. But now the option of prolonged presence in southern Lebanon is surging again within Israeli discourse

After the past year, Lebanon has shaken off Syria's grip and its leaders now oppose Hezbollah. With a partner finally emerging in Beirut, will Jerusalem work with it and help strengthen its institutions, or opt for yet another all-out war?

The IDF says that it wants to control the area of Lebanon south of the Litani River – but Hezbollah's presence there has been limited since 2024 ■ Meanwhile, Trump hopes to break the Iranian siege on the Gulf and weighs damaging Iran's oil facilities

Countries including Germany and the U.K. warned that a prolonged Lebanon campaign would have 'devastating humanitarian consequences,' as Israel's Defense Minister pledged to prevent displaced Lebanese civilians from returning to their homes 'until the safety of Israelis is guaranteed'

Opposition MK Benny Gantz echoed the defense minister's warning for hundreds of thousands of civilians in southern Lebanon 'not to return home.' Fellow opposition party head Yair Golan warned against a prolonged conflict like in Gaza

Army Radio reported that Ron Dermer – who resigned as strategic affairs minister in November 2025 – visited Riyadh to discuss a Lebanon deal after the fighting with Hezbollah ends. Saudi sources denied the report, while Israel's foreign minister said negotiations are not imminent

A SITE in the Haret Hreik, a neighbourhood in southern Beirut which was struck by Israel.—AFP • Death toll for paramedics this month rises to 31 after clinic bombing • France offers to host negotiations in Paris; urges Israel to halt its offensive • First direct talks since conflict expected in coming days, Haaretz reports BEIRUT: An overnight Israeli strike on a healthcare centre in Borj Qalaouiya killed at least 12 Lebanese medical personnel, Lebanon’s state news agency said on Saturday, as diplomatic efforts intensified amid reports Israel and Lebanon may hold their first direct talks to de-escalate the war. The health ministry said the death toll was preliminary, with rescue operations underway to search for those still missing under the rubble and the Israeli attack killed doctors, paramedics, and nurses working at the facility. This strike brings the total number of paramedics killed in Lebanon since the start of hostilities to 31, a grim statistic highlighted by the ministry as it accused Israel of rep...

While IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir seemed assured of a lengthy conflict, a source told Haaretz that no political approval had been given for a far-reaching campaign in Lebanon, although decisions could be made soon

The IDF called on all Lebanese residents south of the Zahrani River, about 40 km from the Lebanon-Israel border, to move north due to "Hezbollah activity in the area." According to Lebanon, more than 820,000 people have already been registered as displaced and 687 have been killed since the start of the war

Israeli army says warning should have been clearer as roughly 200 launches were detected from Lebanon overnight, wounding two in northern Israel

Israeli strikes have killed 570 people in Lebanon, the health ministry said on Wednesday, including 86 children. Meanwhile, the IDF announced that it will reinforce Israel's northern border with combat forces transferred from the country's south

Pakistan on Tuesday called upon the international community to take “urgent” action against Israeli military aggression in Lebanon, the Foreign Office (FO) said. Lebanon was dragged into the US-Israeli war on Iran this month when Lebanese group Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel, which responded with heavy bombardment across the country. A total of 486 people have been killed in the war so far and 1,313 injured, of which 259 are children, according to the World Health Organisation. In a statement, the FO condemned “Israel’s continued military aggression against Lebanon,” which it said has resulted in the “death of hundreds of civilians and the displacement of nearly half a million people”. FO maintained that Israeli actions were in “contravention of international law” and were “undermining the efforts of the government of Lebanon to ensure peace and stability in the country”. It held that Israel’s recent actions “have the potential to further exacerbate the ongoing security and humanitarian cri...

Members of the Lebanese Civil Defence extinguish a fire in a building after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.—Reuters • Lebanese parliament postpones legislative elections for two years • Lebanese president says Hezbollah risks state collapse, suggests full truce, direct talks BEIRUT: The Israeli onslaught in Leb­anon has displaced nearly 700,000 people, with reports of children among the casualties, as the conflict with the Leba­nese resistance group Hezbollah enters its second week, a UN agency said on Monday. “Mass displacement across Leb­­a­non has forced nearly 700,000 people including around 200,000 children from their homes, adding to the tens of thousands already uprooted from previous escalations,” UNICEF Reg­ional Direc­tor Edouard Beigbeder said. “Children are being killed and injured at a horrifying rate, families are fleeing their homes in fear, and thousands of children are now sleeping in cold and overcrowded shelters.” Lebanon, a country of 6 million, has turned its largest sport...