Lebanon: Israel trades fire with Hezbollah in south and east

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The Daniyeh suburb in southern Beirut, known for its Hezbollah links, came under renewed fire on MondayImage: Hassan Ammar/AP Photo/picture alliance

Israel‘s military said on Monday that it had carried out a strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killing Hussein Makled, who served as the head of Hezbollah‘s intelligence headquarters. 

Israel has conducted various strikes on parts of Lebanon since Sunday, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired into Israel in response to the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Prior to this, there was a delicate and imperfect truce in place between Israel and Hezbollah

A building is on fire following the Israeli attack on Beirut. March 2, 2026.
Israeli fire led to damages in southern Beirut and other parts of the country overnight and into MondayImage: Ankhar Kochneva/TASS/ZUMA/picture alliance

On Monday, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman called on residents in more than a dozen loactions near the de facto border in the south and east to leave the areas. 

“We have issued 18 urgent evacuation warnings for buildings used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the following villages and towns,” the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X along with a list of locations. 

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports 31 dead, civilians flee at-risk areas

The Lebanese Health Ministry on Monday repored 31 deaths amid Israeli strikes on sites in the south of the capital Beirut and nearer the border areas further south. 

Hezbollah, which was foundsed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, said it had fired into Israel to avenge “the pure blood” of Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, who was killed in bombing on Saturday.

It was the first barrage of Hezbollah missiles fired into Israel of its kind in over a year, and was followed by the most extensive Israeli strikes during the same period.

Israel said it held Hezbollah responsible for the escalation and that it deemed the group’s leader, Naim Qassem, to be a “target for elimination.” However it has so far not indicated that any kind of ground incursion is necessary or likely. 

Civilians jammed up major Lebanese roads in a bid to flee areas likely to be at risk, first overnight Sunday into Monday, and continuing past the dawn. 

Displaced people fleeing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit in traffic at a highway links to Beirut, in the southern port city of Sidon, Monday, March 2, 2026.
People rushed to get north, out of the perceived danger zones in the south like the port city of SidonImage: Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo/picture alliance

Lebanon’s government bans Hezbollah from military activities

Lebanon’s government in Beirut appeared to be trying to defuse the fighting on Monday as more explosions were heard in parts of the capital. 

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a Cabinet meeting on Monday, and afterwards said that the state rejected any military actions launched from Lebanese territory “outside the framework of its legitimate instructions and affirmed that the decision of war and peace is exclusively in its hands.”

Salam said that this “necessitates the immediate prohibition of all Hezbollah’s security and military activities as being outside the law, and obliging it to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state.”

Part of the uneasy truce brokered last year involved Lebanon’s government taking control of security in the south near the Israeli frontier and pulling Hezbollah forces away from the area

But whether or to what extent the Lebanese government can actually control Hezbollah, particularly now that the figthing in Iran is ratcheting up the tension, is a very open question.

Edited by: Karl Sexton

Israel‘s military said on Monday that it had carried out a strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killing Hussein Makled, who served as the head of Hezbollah‘s intelligence headquarters. 

Israel has conducted various strikes on parts of Lebanon since Sunday, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired into Israel in response to the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Prior to this, there was a delicate and imperfect truce in place between Israel and Hezbollah

A building is on fire following the Israeli attack on Beirut. March 2, 2026.
Israeli fire led to damages in southern Beirut and other parts of the country overnight and into MondayImage: Ankhar Kochneva/TASS/ZUMA/picture alliance

On Monday, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman called on residents in more than a dozen loactions near the de facto border in the south and east to leave the areas. 

“We have issued 18 urgent evacuation warnings for buildings used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the following villages and towns,” the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X along with a list of locations. 

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports 31 dead, civilians flee at-risk areas

The Lebanese Health Ministry on Monday repored 31 deaths amid Israeli strikes on sites in the south of the capital Beirut and nearer the border areas further south. 

Hezbollah, which was foundsed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, said it had fired into Israel to avenge “the pure blood” of Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, who was killed in bombing on Saturday.

It was the first barrage of Hezbollah missiles fired into Israel of its kind in over a year, and was followed by the most extensive Israeli strikes during the same period.

Israel said it held Hezbollah responsible for the escalation and that it deemed the group’s leader, Naim Qassem, to be a “target for elimination.” However it has so far not indicated that any kind of ground incursion is necessary or likely. 

Civilians jammed up major Lebanese roads in a bid to flee areas likely to be at risk, first overnight Sunday into Monday, and continuing past the dawn. 

Displaced people fleeing Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon sit in traffic at a highway links to Beirut, in the southern port city of Sidon, Monday, March 2, 2026.
People rushed to get north, out of the perceived danger zones in the south like the port city of SidonImage: Mohammed Zaatari/AP Photo/picture alliance

Lebanon’s government bans Hezbollah from military activities

Lebanon’s government in Beirut appeared to be trying to defuse the fighting on Monday as more explosions were heard in parts of the capital. 

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a Cabinet meeting on Monday, and afterwards said that the state rejected any military actions launched from Lebanese territory “outside the framework of its legitimate instructions and affirmed that the decision of war and peace is exclusively in its hands.”

Salam said that this “necessitates the immediate prohibition of all Hezbollah’s security and military activities as being outside the law, and obliging it to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state.”

Part of the uneasy truce brokered last year involved Lebanon’s government taking control of security in the south near the Israeli frontier and pulling Hezbollah forces away from the area

But whether or to what extent the Lebanese government can actually control Hezbollah, particularly now that the figthing in Iran is ratcheting up the tension, is a very open question.

Edited by: Karl Sexton

Israel‘s military said on Monday that it had carried out a strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killing Hussein Makled, who served as the head of Hezbollah‘s intelligence headquarters. 

Israel has conducted various strikes on parts of Lebanon since Sunday, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah group fired into Israel in response to the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Prior to this, there was a delicate and imperfect truce in place between Israel and Hezbollah

On Monday, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman called on residents in more than a dozen loactions near the de facto border in the south and east to leave the areas. 

“We have issued 18 urgent evacuation warnings for buildings used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the following villages and towns,” the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X along with a list of locations. 

The Lebanese Health Ministry on Monday repored 31 deaths amid Israeli strikes on sites in the south of the capital Beirut and nearer the border areas further south. 

Hezbollah, which was foundsed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, said it had fired into Israel to avenge “the pure blood” of Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei, who was killed in bombing on Saturday.

It was the first barrage of Hezbollah missiles fired into Israel of its kind in over a year, and was followed by the most extensive Israeli strikes during the same period.

Israel said it held Hezbollah responsible for the escalation and that it deemed the group’s leader, Naim Qassem, to be a “target for elimination.” However it has so far not indicated that any kind of ground incursion is necessary or likely. 

Civilians jammed up major Lebanese roads in a bid to flee areas likely to be at risk, first overnight Sunday into Monday, and continuing past the dawn. 

Lebanon’s government in Beirut appeared to be trying to defuse the fighting on Monday as more explosions were heard in parts of the capital. 

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a Cabinet meeting on Monday, and afterwards said that the state rejected any military actions launched from Lebanese territory “outside the framework of its legitimate instructions and affirmed that the decision of war and peace is exclusively in its hands.”

Salam said that this “necessitates the immediate prohibition of all Hezbollah’s security and military activities as being outside the law, and obliging it to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese state.”

Part of the uneasy truce brokered last year involved Lebanon’s government taking control of security in the south near the Israeli frontier and pulling Hezbollah forces away from the area

But whether or to what extent the Lebanese government can actually control Hezbollah, particularly now that the figthing in Iran is ratcheting up the tension, is a very open question.

Edited by: Karl Sexton

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