Hezbollah fired rockets and drones at Israel on Monday, saying the strikes were to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel answered with airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and targets in southern Lebanon, in what Lebanese officials called a dangerous escalation that they sought to limit to avoid a broader regional war.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 31 people in the Hezbollah-controlled southern Beirut suburbs and parts of southern Lebanon. Residents fled the southern suburbs on foot and by car as roads clogged; more than a dozen powerful explosions shook the capital beginning around 2:40 a.m. (00:40 GMT).
The clashes widened a confrontation that began after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend. Hezbollah, formed in 1982 with backing from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, is one of Tehran’s main regional allies.
Israel blamed Hezbollah for the escalation after the group said it had launched rockets and drones to avenge “the pure blood” of Khamenei and in response to repeated Israeli attacks. The Israeli military reported no injuries or damage on its side.
The assault was Hezbollah’s first on Israel since the 2024 war, and Israel’s bombardment of the southern suburbs was its heaviest action there since that conflict. Israeli Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir said Hezbollah “opened a campaign against Israel overnight, and is fully responsible for any escalation,” and warned of “many prolonged days of combat ahead,” adding that Israel had begun an offensive campaign against the group.
Lebanese state officials condemned the rocket fire but also denounced the Israeli strikes. President Joseph Aoun criticized the bombardment while warning against letting Lebanon become a platform for wars “we have nothing to do with,” saying that would put the country in danger. State media reported that the public prosecutor, after a call from Justice Minister Adel Nassar, ordered security forces to arrest those who fired rockets.
Hezbollah’s arsenal has long divided Lebanon, still shaped by a 1975–1990 civil war, and calls for the group to disarm grew after the 2024 conflict. That war, the report said, left Hezbollah weakened and saw the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with thousands of fighters. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the rocket launches irresponsible and said they endangered Lebanon’s security.
After the initial exchanges, Israel warned residents in dozens of southern and eastern Lebanese villages to evacuate. The Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah sites across Lebanon, including senior figures in the Beirut area. Hezbollah claimed it had targeted an Israeli missile-defence facility south of Haifa; Israel said several projectiles that crossed from Lebanon landed in open areas and that one was intercepted by the air force.
Since a U.S.-backed ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in 2024, Israel has regularly struck sites it identifies as Hezbollah targets, accusing the group of rearming. The recent strikes were the first on the southern Beirut suburbs since Israel killed Hezbollah military official Ali Tabtabai in November. Lebanon’s presidency said the U.S. ambassador had told officials Israel would not escalate against Lebanon provided there were no hostile acts from the Lebanese side.
